Need some help/advice killing some stumps....

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SidecarFlip

SidecarFlip

Minister of Fire
Feb 7, 2010
5,273
S.E. Michigan
When the weather breaks (before things start getting green), I have a number of 'Tree of Heaven' that are growing up in my blue spruces that I'm going to cut off close to the ground. Is there anything I can put on the stumps that will kill them? This is the second time around. A couple years ago I did the same thing and they all came back.

PITA trees.
 
That sounds like a good plan. They are so close in to the spruce's trunks, I don't want to pull them out (with the tractor) for fear of damaging the spruce's roots. I'll use Roundup Ultra..... Lots stronger than what you can buy over the counter.
 
Paint w/ Brush-b-gone when they're fresh-cut. Kills the cambium layer. Brush-b-gone is just uber-concentrated Roundup (glyphosate) IIRC.
 
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drill some holes in it or cut some slices with your saw - dump diesel fuel on it and light it up !
 
I had one a year or three ago. The labels on the "stump killer" at Lowes-Depot all listed potassium nitrate as a main ingredient. I went to my local feed store and bought a 50# bag of KNO3 for about $20, way cheaper than stump killer. One and done.
 
On a fresh cut even diesel fuel will kill it. It simply dissolves the nearby sap and the cut cannot resprout.
 
As jj walker used to say.... Dyno....Mite!
 
Surprised copper nails weren't thrown out. Is it a myth? LOL! Drill numerous holes and fill them with chemicals or diesel. Maybe cut up a cheap green HF tarp and nail over the top too.
 
captjack said:
drill some holes in it or cut some slices with your saw - dump diesel fuel on it and light it up !
Click to expand...

I cut one down today. I drilled some holes in it, about 8" or so, then soaked it in almost full strength Roundup (18% concentrate).

I hope it works.
 
The problem with Roundup is that more is not better. If you double dose, you just get a top burn and do not kill what you were after. My dad found this out the hard way. He applied a double dose to weeds to prepare a new garden plot and then had to pull weeds by hand all summer because only the tops of those weeds had died. Roundup is a systemic poison but it needs time to settle into the roots to be truly effective. By killing the tops the systemic never reached the roots so he got a re-sprouting from the still live roots.
 
Oldman47 said:
The problem with Roundup is that more is not better. If you double dose, you just get a top burn and do not kill what you were after. My dad found this out the hard way. He applied a double dose to weeds to prepare a new garden plot and then had to pull weeds by hand all summer because only the tops of those weeds had died. Roundup is a systemic poison but it needs time to settle into the roots to be truly effective. By killing the tops the systemic never reached the roots so he got a re-sprouting from the still live roots.
Click to expand...
But with a stump, there is no "top growth".

I have had great success over the years by cutting the tree low to the ground, drilling several 3/8" holes down into the flat cut stump and spraying 50/50 mix of glyphosate (any brand) all over the surface. (filling the holes).

Once dry, I cover the stump with dirt and leaves and forget it.

Stump absorbs the RoundUp into the roots, roots die, stump rots. :)
 
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