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

Pack the holes with
saltpetre and plug the top of the holes with putty and leave it
all
winter.

As private individuals, how can we get hold of the saltpetre
(potassium nitrate?) ?

You just pop in to the nearest chemist's shop, and ask. A few quid
will cover it. Save the rest for next time you kill a pig and need to
make bacon and ham. Or, if you don't want pot nitrate for that
purpose, and
are less dramatically inclined, you go to the garden centre or B&Q
and buy a tub of sodium chlorate.

People make a terrible to-do about tree-stumps. Again and again, I
say this gardening lark is a simple business: I have personal
reservations
about leaving dead material in the ground, but most times a stump
won't do your garden any harm at all. Just leave it there, and it'll
rot away in a few years. Break off any shoots which come up from the
stump, and relax. Nature has been growing plants on this planet for
an awfully long time, and on the whole did it better before we
started interfering.

--
Mike.