Janet Baraclough wrote:
The message
from gra contains these words:


Hi Guys
i have a plum tree bang in the centre of my garden that i want to get
rid off, as i am putting up some climbing frames for my kids. However i
am not sure how to remove the tree, its not very big, its about 18ft
tall max, and is thin, the thickest part of the tree is at the bottom
and measures 20 or so inches around, i was thinking about simply cutting
it down ( safely and do it so i can control where it falls lol) but not
sure what to do with the stump, or how much stump to leave? should i dig
the stump out or use one of the many stump removal products etc? because
the garden is used by my kids i want sure if the stump removal products
were safe etc, so would appreciate any help if possible

I would get rid of the stump completely. It's a quick and easy job
this way:
Cut off the trunk about 2 ft above ground level. the tall stump is
going to be a temporary lever. Then use a mattock, spade and elbow
grease to excavate the earth from around the base of the trunk (radius
of one foot, just enough to get to the roots where they join the
trunk).
Saw , lop or chop off with axe, all roots as you uncover them. Use the
2ft stump as a lever to rock and loosen any remaining roots until they
can all be severed
and the stump is free, lift out the severed stump and fill hole. The
roots left underground and will just rot harmlessly.

Unless you are exceptionally short of stature leaving 4 or 5 feet of
stump on the tree will give you a lot more leverage. I'd dig around a
foot away from the tree and also find a couple of scaffold poles and a
very heavy piece of wood. Be very careful using levers they can be
extraordinarly damaging if you put flesh into the nip. It is about the
cheapest low tech way to do it though.

Dope the residual bits of root with some rootout or glyphosate and a
trace of copper sulphate and pot nitrate to encourage rot fungi.

Shame the plum tree has to go. Are the fruits no good?

Regards,
Martin Brown