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

[SidecarFlip]

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.

 

[jrems]

Cut them down to the ground, but wait until the new shoots come up. Just keep hitting the new chutes with roundup and it will die.

 

[SidecarFlip]

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.

 

[ClintonH]

Paint w/ Brush-b-gone when they're fresh-cut. Kills the cambium layer. Brush-b-gone is just uber-concentrated Roundup (glyphosate) IIRC.

 

[captjack]

drill some holes in it or cut some slices with your saw - dump diesel fuel on it and light it up !

 

[Poindexter]

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.

 

[bioman]

I use this http://www.ruralking.com/dow-tordon...EpywyUJKt3fm-WPdMp5K_apPgpmqrR0VqUaAvnJ8P8HAQ

 

[TreePointer]

Paint w/ Brush-b-gone when they're fresh-cut. Kills the cambium layer. Brush-b-gone is just uber-concentrated Roundup (glyphosate) IIRC.

This ^^

Painting the fresh cut is what you want. Targeted killin.

 

[Oldman47]

On a fresh cut even diesel fuel will kill it. It simply dissolves the nearby sap and the cut cannot resprout.

 

[Ram 1500 with an axe...]

As jj walker used to say.... Dyno....Mite!

 

[bags]

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.

 

[Sleepy Callis]

I once heard about drilling holes them dumping salt on them

 

[FTG-05]

drill some holes in it or cut some slices with your saw - dump diesel fuel on it and light it up !

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.

 

[Oldman47]

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.

 

[CenterTree]

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.

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.