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

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.

"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.

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.
--
Please remove AT to reply

"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?) ?

--
M Stewart
Milton Keynes, UK
http://www.megalith.freeserve.co.uk/oddimage.htm

"Malcolm Stewart" wrote in
message ...
"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?) ?

--
M Stewart
Milton Keynes, UK
http://www.megalith.freeserve.co.uk/oddimage.htm



Very difficult as it's one of the parts for making gun powder.
Would a sodium chlorate / sugar mix replace it?

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.

"Draven" wrote in message
.. .

"Malcolm Stewart" wrote in
message ...
"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?) ?

Very difficult as it's one of the parts for making gun powder.
Would a sodium chlorate / sugar mix replace it?

Ask a chemist or a charcuterie.
Since it's also part of the way to making Salami and Salt Beef.

--
J.P. in London.

"JP in Lon" wrote in message
...
"Draven" wrote in message
.. .

"Malcolm Stewart" wrote in
message ...
"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?) ?

Very difficult as it's one of the parts for making gun powder.
Would a sodium chlorate / sugar mix replace it?

Ask a chemist or a charcuterie.
Since it's also part of the way to making Salami and Salt Beef.

....and I forgot, Bacon.

--
J.P. in London.

thanks for all your suggestions,someone also said hammer copper nails in to the top of the stump,might do that and leave it and break off any new shoots and make a feature out of it,thank you kaz44

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?) ?
I don't know. I do know that my farmer friend was able to get it. Try
your local Agricultural Supplier and Fertiliser Merchant. Or maybe a
wholesale chemist might be able to help. I know that saltpetre is used
in the manufacture of explosives so it might be a problem. Have you
googled for it?

--
Please remove AT to reply

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?) ?
A search of google brought up:
http://www.thechemicalshop.com/index...RODUCT&product
id=31
Remember google is your friend!

--
Please remove AT to reply

The message
from "Draven" contains these words:

Very difficult as it's one of the parts for making gun powder.
Would a sodium chlorate / sugar mix replace it?

Only as gunpowder.

--
Rusty
Emus to: horrid dot squeak snailything zetnet point co full-stop uk
http://www.users.zetnet.co.uk/hi-fi/

In article ,
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

Cut channels or grooves into the top of the stump (I used a chainsaw on
large hawthorn bushes - a bow-saw would be *much* harder work) and brush
Amcide onto the stump. I used to get 100 per cent results. Amcide is
ammonium sulphamate and, ironically, is sold by the Organic Gardening
Catalogue!

The message
from kaz44 contains these words:

thanks for all your suggestions,someone also said hammer copper nails
in to the top of the stump,might do that and leave it and break off any
new shoots and make a feature out of it,thank you kaz44

Copper nail treatment is *VERY* long term.

A shorter-term method would be to bore some deep holes into the top,
pour in some sulphuric acid (from an old accumulator would do), then
seal the tops of the holes with some screwed-up polythene, or something.

But be careful not to squirt any of the acid while doing this - it's bad
news for eyes, skin and fabric.

--
Rusty
Emus to: horrid dot squeak snailything zetnet point co full-stop uk
http://www.users.zetnet.co.uk/hi-fi/