Topic: Any suggestions on how to kill off a tree (weed) please?

[Robert_Brenchley]

You're not the only one. Someone in my class had his briefcase blown up, and the Head had a visit from the local police regarding mysterious explosions in the shrubbery.

[Kepouros]

On VE night in  1945 we had a large bonfire and a firework display provided entirely from our own home made fireworks.

[lincsyokel2]

On VE night in  1945 we had a large bonfire and a firework display provided entirely from our own home made fireworks.

yes, but explosives and incendiaries were a bit easier to get hold of then. You try walking into a wholesale chemists and buying 8 Kg sintered carbon granules, 1.5 kg Potassium Nitrate and  0.5 Kg of flowers of sulphur, and see how far you get before two gentlemen from Special Branch call round.

[gp.girl]

theoretically...........

if you spent about a week keeping the hole topped up with glycerine, let it dry then spent another week dripping molar nitric acid in, there would be a slow reaction and cellulose trinitrate would form, replacing the timber fibres. All you have to do then is let it dry out, and hitting the stump with a large sledgehammer should create a large enough explosion to blow it to pieces...............

Could Mythbusters or Brainiacs try this?

[Froglegs]

Find a Ivy with a leaf you like and grow that over it for year round intrest.

[powerspade]

There are several Glyphosate preparations which will kill the stump. For getting rid of the stump I always used either Sodium or Potassium chlorate.  Although these are now banned for horticultural use both are still manufactured in  this country for other purposes and a search of the web will give details of suppliers.

An alternative is Potassium Nitrate (still available as a fertilizer), used as a strong solution poured into holes drilled in the stump and allowed to dry for several months - then light a fire on top of it and it will burn away.

My Grandad used Potassium Nitrate its really does work

[ipt8]

Hi
You really need to decide what tree it is. Most broadleaves will sprout from the stump, most conifers will not. Conifers that will are Redwoods, yew, and some others that do not come to mind at the moment.

Roundup at 20% in water brushed on all exposed bark will kill it.

Your local hire centre should have a stump grinder that will get in a garden and do the job, at a cost. The cheapest is to persistently cut off new growth and it will die, but you have to do it when its leaves not twigs turning into branches.

You did not say what diameter the stump is? A mini digger would also do it.