Stump killing

[Roger Chapman]

This post has been prompted by the thread Roundup or What? which reminded me that I have a number of thorn tree stumps that have re-sprouted after being cut off at or near ground level.

I have a vague idea that the accepted trick is to drill a few holes in the stump (presumably in what was the sapwood outer edge), pour in some Roundup and plug the holes but I am extremely hazy on the detail and a quick google hasn't helped.

I have some commercial strength glyphosate (360gm/l) so:

How much do I need to dilute it to turn it into stump killer?

How much dilute solution is needed to kill a moderate sized stump - say

6" diameter?

And what is the best time of the year for the application? I appreciate that it is now too late in the season to do anything worthwhile this year.

[Andrew Mawson]

appreciate

I understood that glyphosate was absorbed by the leaves and is ineffective on contact with water (or sap?). I've sucessfully killed large stumps by drilling a few largish holes and pouring battery acid in them.

AWEM

[The Natural Philosopher]

hire a stump grinder or a mini digger and smash that bar stewards to bits.

Petty sure glyphosate wont work,,.you need a different poison.

[Peter Scott]

Get some sodium chlorate weedkiller and wine corks. Use a flat drill, about the size of a wine cork, to drill several holes into the side of the stump, sloping downwards. Spoon a couple of teaspoons of chlorate into each hole and cork. No more growth and the stump will rot after a year or so.

Peter Scott

[Huge]

The sale of sodium chlorate was banned over a year ago and its use forbidden in May this year.

[TMC]

I was told by and old gardener

drill 3/4 dia holes in top of stump mix brushwood killer and engine oil pour into holes cover with a bit of plastic bag an leave

worked for me

[S Viemeister]

Copper sulphate.

[Tim Downie]

Bl**dy hell. Life gets less and less fun with every passing year. :-(

What "interesting" chemicals haven't been banned yet that I should be stocking up with? ;-)

Tim

[nicknoxx]

You won't touch a six foot stump with a mini digger

[Andy Burns]

But how about a six inch one?

[Frank Erskine]

In that case my local ironmonger is likely to have some :-)

[george [dicegeorge]]

Leave a dent/hole in the top so rainwater will collect it and it will slowly rot away [g]

[The Natural Philosopher]

yes..that's what a friend did. It works.

[The Natural Philosopher]

IIRC its available but with fire retardant.

[The Natural Philosopher]

IIRC he said six *inches*..

[The Natural Philosopher]

easy peasy. dig a moat round and break the main side roots, then heave under with a digging bucket.

Did all the stumps up to 12" like that. one big one took several hours and a bit of axework, so that's about the limit for a mini digger.

[Roger Chapman]

I have an elderly and crap mini digger and it has great difficulty with even minor roots. I did try with one stump somewhere between 6" and 12" but most of the digging and cutting was eventually done with a mattock and the remains pulled out with a real tractor which is how I had dealt with some stumps that had to come out previously. However access is a problem for most of the stumps. The ground slopes too steeply to trust machines on it. I don't want to dig these stumps out, just kill them off.

[Roger Chapman]

Adverts for Roundup stump and root killer say it contains glyphosate but not at what concentration nor what else it contains. Does anyone have a container of the stuff to see what it consists of?

[Tim Downie]

Don't think so. The fire retardent stuff has been around for years but now that seems to have been banned too.

Tim

[george [dicegeorge]]

after digging the moat and cutitng most of the roots I use a winch, having left 4 or feet of stump going up for leverage. [g]