On 15/07/2014 22:32, David Hill wrote:
On 15/07/2014 22:15, Jeff Layman wrote:
On 15/07/2014 20:59, Vir Campestris wrote:

It's Chalara. The tree looks fine at the moment, but the back end of
last year it looked really bad.

That's a pity. Are there any others in the area showing signs of infection?

The stuff around it is growing fine. Far better than it ever did in our
old garden, which was on Bagshot sand.

The trunk is about 6 inches diameter, its about 2ft from the wall, and
about 20ft from next door's house. Given some of the other comments I'll
kill it anyway (ringbarking when in leaf will help dry the timber for
the fire).

Now - stump killer. I can't use sodium chlorate any more... so what
should I use?

Not a great choice, really - glyphosate or triclopyr
http://www.rhs.org.uk/advice/profile?PID=229#section-4

http://www.ehow.com/how_5686944_remo...m-nitrate.html

I'm fairly certain that it's probably illegal to use potassium nitrate
as a stump killer under pesticides legislation. Not so sure if the
stump is already dead, though, and you are using it to accelerate
decomposition. However, I doubt the claim in that link that the stump
will be removable in 4 - 6 weeks. This is from
http://www.acorntreestump.com/pdf_fi...%20methods.pdf :

"Many traditional products used to accelerate the degradation and decay
of stumps contain concentrated salts to dry the stump for burning,
attempt to infuse the stumps with potassium nitrate (saltpeter) to
assist with burning, contain alkalis or sulfiting agents used to break
down lignin, or contain enzymes which weaken wood cell walls. Many of
these materials or formulations have been used in one form or another
over many years. Few show any acceleration of decay in the short term.
At the recommended application rates, many products are damaging to
decay fungi. Over the long run, most products which increase nitrogen
in the wood and decrease the C:N ratio around the stump will accelerate
the wood decay process."

Also, it wouldn't be as cheap as using commercial stump killer. If you
drilled 8 or 10 holes as suggested, you would need at least a kilogram
of potassium nitrate to fill them. That would probably cost around £8
plus carriage.

--

Jeff