ELM tree stump- cannot kill it

[Dave_S]

Almost 2 years ago, we hired a tree company to cut down a 60 foot high Chinese Elm with 24 inch trunk. Remaining stump is 3 inches high which they filled grooves with chainsaw fuel. They guaranteed this would kill the stump and prevent any regrowth. Not only has the stump NOT DIED, but constantly produces "hundreds" of new fast growing twigs all year.

Is too costly to have stump killed by grinding company. I sure could use suggestions for low cost methods and materials to kill this sturdy aggressive stump. The tree stump and new seedlings grows very rapidly, raised and cracked the city sidewalk and now is producing seedlings all over my property in lawns, flower beds.

Thanks, Dave_s

[brooklyn1]

Any tree removal company that could take down a 60' tree would have a stump grinder... they didn't finish the job... or more likely you chose not to pay for the complete job. I'd call them back to grind the stump, should take no more than 30 minutes tops, but of course now they have to make a whole 'nother trip to haul out their stump grinder, so now instead of the original $100 it will now cost $300. Your attempting to remove a 2' diameter hardwood stump chemically will take like 5+ years. This is a perfect example of how the cheap comes out expensive. Unless you feel like digging and hacking roots there really is no inexpensive way to remove that stump... least costly and quickest is to grind it. You can probably kill it by applying Roundup over a few days but you'll still have the stump.

[M.Paul]

Try drilling several 1/2 inch holes as deep as you can straight down into the stump and fill the holes with table salt. Good luck. M.Paul

[brooklyn1]

Don't forget the freshly ground black pepper... oil and vinegar too! LOL

Actually salt will act as a preservative, same as why salts are used for pressure treated lumber, salt will kill the composting organisms... and later will hinder other plants from growing in that spot. There are wood digesting proteases/enzymes one can buy to place in the holes, but they decompose very slowly, need to be reapplied often, and they're not cheap. If it's a stump one needs to be rid of in a relatively short time the only method is to remove it mechanically, either dig it up or use a stump grinder... and usually grinding doesn't remove the entire stump, just brings it down a few inches below grade to where it can be covered with earth, you'll still need to wait a couple three years before it fully decomposes.

[Phisherman]

I cut an elm down 3 years ago. The first year I kept filling the holes in the stump with 34-0-0 for a year, then gave up. The stump is still there, but grows one of the most delicious mushrooms. If the stump ever softens up, I'll take an axe to it. BTW, the fallen elm tree helped me create a very nice table with long-grain patterns and shades of chocolate-colored wood. The roughsawn stock air-dried nicely over a period of 2 years.

[dr-solo]

[brooklyn1]

That's just silly... once wood is carborized it won't decompose, the organisms in the soil won't touch it.... bury a bag of charcoal and come back in a hundred years, it'll still be just as you left it... even the slantiest foreheaded neanderthals knew that carborizing preserved their wooden tools. And since the OP speaks about living in a city what you suggest is probably highly illegal. Folks here in the boonies burn stumps during winter all the time when there's a good covering of snow, but the stumps have been pulled from the ground and heaped up with other debris in the middle of a large field to do a controlled burn until all that remains is ash.

[z]

first you got to kill it. if you don't, after the stump is removed, all the widespread roots will send up shoots all over the place. i haven't done it myself, but i think something like roundup poured into half inch holes drilled all over it is the way to go.

then if you want to rot out the stump, you can get stuff via home depot or lowes or wherever that does the job; that i have experience with. it's a powder, again you pour it into those half inch holes let it soak. it digests the lignin (what makes it wood) over a period of several months, maybe even a couple of years, leaving the cellulose, so you end up with sort of a cardboardy stump which is easier to get rid of; you can mechanically attack it as much as possible, then burn out the rest. as the guy said, you want to rot it out first before you burn it, not the other way around.

[stan]

Yeah but these chemicals (Roundup and such, which I believe is now illegal in some countries?) get into the ground water. From there it gets into aquifers, streams, rivers, lakes/ponds ................. city and town drinking water supplies etc. and is not necesssarily or fully removed by 'water treatement'! And it said to be not good for us humans. We have our original well, dug h nearly 40 years ago. I would NOT dare to use it for drinking/cooking today; too many neighbours splashing around the pesticides and herbicides. Hey, come to think; maybe that's why dogs belonging to two of my neighbours have over the years died of cancer?????