my poor apple tree

Post by **p.penn** » 01 Nov 2008, 17:46

Well, tomorrow my apple tree is coming down. It has been a good friend for the 31 years that I have lived here but sadly it is dead and has to come down.

My husband and son in law are doing the actual chopping but I am wondering about the stump. I know you can get people in to remove it butthey are expensive. I was looking at some weedkiller which apparantly removes stumps but not sure about the effectiveness of that - does the stump just lift out? also not so keen on using weedkiller in garden.

Is it possible to remover the stump ourselves? If so, please could you tell me how?

Many thanks, Helen

lancashire lass · Post by **lancashire lass** » 01 Nov 2008, 19:03

How about turning it into a mushroom stump? You can buy wooden dowling pegs impregnated with the spores (top of my head shitake but I think there are others available) and push them into pre-drilled holes of the stump.

Or turn it into a bird table (depends how much stump you leave)?

However, if you want rid - I'm afraid its down to good old digging. You won't need to dig it all up but saw off the main roots. Still a lot of hard work though. The "weedkiller" is only used for a living tree stump to stop it growing again, and the stump will only rot down naturally (which could take years).

kate egg · Post by **kate egg** » 01 Nov 2008, 19:09

We have a tree stump in the hen's run, and its just the right height for their water container so they cannot kick mud into it )t'

Its only about 3 or 4 inches high.

Post by Mo » 01 Nov 2008, 19:40

They recommend removing dead trees completely to avoid honey fungus getting a foothold and affecting other trees. So you'd need to get the roots as well.
If you are going to dig it out leave a stump tall enough to give you some leverage to pull on after you've dug down to loosen the roots.

Post by Mo » 01 Nov 2008, 19:42

I think the chemical is to kill the stump, so that the roots aren't so tenacious when you dig it out. But yours is dead anyway.

mikey · Post by **mikey** » 01 Nov 2008, 20:22

cut it off about 4 foot high and use as a base for a bird table, you can always grow a climer of some sort up it

chickenchaser · Post by **chickenchaser** » 01 Nov 2008, 20:51

If you use it to grow mushrooms, hopefully the honeyfungus won't be able to get a foothold but, otherwise if you leave a longish trunk and dig around the root area, it will make it easier to lever the tree out of the ground, using its own trunk.

It will still be very hard work, though.

4 french hens · Post by **4 french hens** » 02 Nov 2008, 16:28

To get rid of the stump use a product called stump clear or sodium chlorate crystals, I think.

You need to put splits in the stump and ram the crystals in, preferably with a hammer or similar.

This actually rots the roots down but it's a proccess that takes up to a year and you need to repeat the application every 3 months.

Mike

chickenofthewoods · Post by **chickenofthewoods** » 03 Nov 2008, 17:27

You can also hire a tool called a stump grinder from companies like HSS, this basically chews the stump right down to below ground level so that you can level and turf over immediately. It won't remove a root system or the entire root ball though and as has already been pointed out, might leave your lawn and any other trees nearby susceptible to honey fungus outbreaks. Obviously it's a much speedier solution than chemicals but they aren't cheap.

http://www.hss.com/g/62836/Tree-Stump-C ... etrol.html

This little piece I found about tree stump removal might be useful to you.

http://www.aie.org.uk/trunkline/aie_tr_stump.html

thehenhouse · Post by **thehenhouse** » 03 Nov 2008, 19:25

we have tree stumps in the garden sawn off at about 3 feet and then a large flat stone placed on the top, makes a brill wee table or bird feeder or for putting an ornament on top.. and i liked the growing ivy around it idea..

Maggi xx

Post by **p.penn** » 04 Nov 2008, 00:51

Thanks everyone for your replies. My poor tree is no more - cut down yesterday. As suggested we left a stump of about 2 ft high in case we decide to remove it by hand - we have young children n the garden and couldn't use dangerous chemical solutions.

Have not made a definite decision about how to remove it - grinder seems good but way too pricey at the mo. As we are hoping to build a new run, may try and incorporate it inside to give the girls some fun! Although had every intention of replanting in a couple of years or so.

But thanks again. Has certainly given me food for thought!