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Old 12-07-2019, 10:27 PM posted to rec.gardens.edible
T[_4_] T[_4_] is offline
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First recorded activity by GardenBanter: Jan 2015
Posts: 1,112
Default need help with stump removal

On 7/11/19 7:18 PM, songbird wrote:
T wrote:
Hi All,

Okay, I know a bit misleading subject line, but ...
You were thinking back hoe, dynamite, swearing, etc..

I have little trees growing all over the place. I think they
are either cotton wood or some kind of aspen. The have very
long tap roots. If I pull them when the are 6" tall, I can get
the 10" tap root too and that is the end of them.

BUT, if they get any bigger , I can not get the tap root out
and they keep growing back and back and back. I have
tried cutting them flush to the ground. I have tried
stripping all the bark and leaves off. And they adore
vinegar. They keep coming back and back and back.

So I have a bunch of little 1/4" to 1/2" stumps that
keep regrowing. How do I kill off these stumps. (I do
not want to use roundup do to my wife's chemical
sensitivities.) Small firecracker?


you actually have more than one issue here, but
the first part is solved by being consistent in your
efforts and the second part is solved by improving
your soil to the point where pulling a plant out
will actually remove it.

the quickest way to get rid of them without pulling
is to cover them with something so they won't get any
light. no plant will survive being consistently
smothered.

so find some cardboard and put a few layers over the
area you wish to clear. after a few months they'll
be dead if they are just starting out. once they
are established you have to cover them long enough
that it exhausts the energy in the root system that
remains. the more you can cut off to keep the plant
from getting energy to the roots for storage the
sooner the roots will run out of energy.

the other harder approach is to continually cut any
new growth off when it appears. check often and keep
cutting. they will run out of energy eventually - you
just have to be very determined.

as for the longest term approach, getting your soil
improved to where you can pull things out easily, that's
a lifetime effort in poor soils, but over the years it
does improve.

we have many thousand small maple trees from this
year's helicopters sprouting all over the place,
gradually we'll get them all pulled. they are free
worm food like any other organic material we can grow
and then leave on the ground for the worms to feast
on...


songbird


Me thinks I will try you method with cardboard and
a big rock on top. Thank you!