Draven wrote:

"Peter James" wrote in message
.. .
kaz44 wrote:

hi i have 2 sycamore tree stumps 2 1/2 to 3 feet wide,i want to kill
them because 1 is starting to sprout again,someone mentioned drilling
holes in the stump and putting some pellets in the holes,but i can't
seem to find any anyware,all i get in a search is the DEEP ROOT TREE
KILLER,does anyone knowwhere i can get it please?i have tried my local
garden centre,but they have'nt got any,i don't really want to go to the
expense of grinding them out.thank you kaz44
I am not too sure about the truth or otherwise of this suggestion, but!
A farmer once told me that the best and easiest way to get rid of tree
stumps was the following technique.
In the top of the stump, drill as many holes as you can using a brace
and a large bit and drill as deeply as you can. Pack the holes with
saltpetre and plug the top of the holes with putty and leave it all
winter. In the spring build a bon-fire on top of the stump and set
fire to it. He said that the bonfire would burn the stump away down to
the roots.
This is only hearsay, but it might well work. It won't cost you a lot
to try it. If it doesn't work you'll have to dig the stump out by hand,
or hire a stump chipper.

What if the stump is in your front garden?
Building a bonfire would be a strange thing to do in such a case.

I don't think that the idea is to build a large bonfire. Just one that
will generate sufficient heat to ignite the stump. I think one would
need to use a degree of common sense over this. As you suggest, too big
and the house goes with it. Not what the OP was hoping to achieve I
imagine. The other problem might be in deciding how far under the house
the roots of the stump go. That might be a problem, in which case you
would have to find some other way of getting rid of the problem.
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