Killing the roots of a tree.

[Jaswant Virdee]

Hi,

I have a tree, approx 12ft high and trunk about 7 inches in diameter,
currently growing about 4ft from the wall of the rear extension so it
must be cut down to prevent the roots from damaging the foundations. How
can I/should I kill the stump that will remain? Someone has suggested
creosote or diesel.

Thanks,
Jas.

[Tony Polson]

Permanganate of Potash was the traditional solution to the problem. You
simply augered several holes into the stump, poured in a saturated
solution of the potassium permanganate and waited a few weeks. After
this you could light a fire around the stump and it would slowly burn
away to nothing.

I have not done this for many years. Perhaps Health and Safety
legislation now prevents this being done?

--
Tony Polson, North Yorkshire, UK

[Patrick Carpenter]

I was taught that trees hate copper and an old way of killing one was
to bang in copper nails. A technique suggested to me was to bore holes
in the stump and pour in copper sulphate (but take steps to protect
children and pets).

Pat

[Chris]

I've had great success with a product called "Root out" available from garden
centres. It's a white crystal like substance that can be mixed with water and
used as a weed killer or used in the crystal form poured into holes bored into
tree stumps. It worked great on a large laurel stump.

Chris Twibell
remove -nojunk- for correct address

[Lawrence Milbourn]

Jaswant Virdee wrote:

> Hi,

>
> I have a tree, approx 12ft high and trunk about 7 inches in diameter,
> currently growing about 4ft from the wall of the rear extension so it
> must be cut down to prevent the roots from damaging the foundations. How
> can I/should I kill the stump that will remain? Someone has suggested
> creosote or diesel.
>

> Thanks,
> Jas.

Cut it down to ground level. Bore a few large holes in the top and fill
them with "root out" or equivalent. Sprinkle some on the surface as well
and cover with a ploy bag. Replace the crystals after a week or so if they
have disappeared.

Within a few months a willow and an ash (diameter about 12 inches) had
vanished.

--
Lawrence
Nottingham
Email "mailto:milb...@innotts.co.uk"
Web Site "http://www.innotts.co.uk/~milbourn/"
College Web Site "http://www.high-pavement-6th-form.ac.uk/highpave/"
Centre for the Rehabilitation of the Paralysed
"http://www.innotts.co.uk/~milbourn/crp/"

[leo]

In article <39181E2D...@ftel.co.uk>, Jaswant Virdee
<J.Vi...@ftel.co.uk> writes

>Hi,
>
>I have a tree, approx 12ft high and trunk about 7 inches in diameter,
>currently growing about 4ft from the wall of the rear extension so it
>must be cut down to prevent the roots from damaging the foundations. How
>can I/should I kill the stump that will remain? Someone has suggested
>creosote or diesel.

Please could you tell us what sort of tree it is, as some trees will be
completely killed by being cut down.

--
leo

[Martin Salter]

Be careful; trees are a major source of subsidence / heave due to their
influence on soil moisture. If a tree is extracting moisture but the house
is OK for instance removal sometimes results in more moisture and heave; in
these circumstances trimming can be a more practical approach. Sorry,

Jaswant Virdee <J.Vi...@ftel.co.uk> wrote in message
news:39181E2D...@ftel.co.uk...

> Hi,
>
> I have a tree, approx 12ft high and trunk about 7 inches in diameter,
> currently growing about 4ft from the wall of the rear extension so it
> must be cut down to prevent the roots from damaging the foundations. How
> can I/should I kill the stump that will remain? Someone has suggested
> creosote or diesel.
>

> Thanks,
> Jas.
>

[Phil]

I have killed 3 treess, 2 old apple & 1 old (large) hawthorn simply by
cutting down just below ground level and then burning the stump to black
carbon by lighting a small fire with dry sticks on top of it (keeping it
burning for an hour or so to ensure it really carbonises the top of the
stump. Nothing has appeared in the past 10 years since I did this, so I
guess it is dead.