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Dealing with Sycamore stumps

theend00theend00 Posts: 48
in Problem solving
Hi there ! Hope you are all doing well :3 

I have recently , along with my uncle and father ,felled three 50? year old full grown sycamore trees. They were becoming very annoying with their self seeding.

Naturally I couldn't uproot the tree entirely, and want to kill the remaining stumps. The trees however are surrounded by many ornamentals such as bluebells and alliums . I want a method of killing the tree , without causing any harm to the soil and surrounding plants . I am quite apprehensive about doing this , so I thought it would be worth a try asking here :3 What risk averse options do I have ? 

Thank you as always ! John :D 

Posts

  • Ladybird4Ladybird4 Posts: 37,906
    Morning John. It is possible to buy a stump killer which will eventually penetrate to the roots. Use a drill with a large bit and drill holes all over the stump face. Put the stump killer in the holes and seal the holes with candle wax. Cover the stump up and wait. It will take a while. My brother treated an ash stump like that for me. I think that there is a gadget called a stump grinder that you may be able to hire from a tool hire shop but I'm not too sure about that. I may have invented it!
    Cacoethes: An irresistible urge to do something inadvisable
  • BrexiteerBrexiteer Posts: 955
    Stump grinders do exist ☺😊
  • Kitty 2Kitty 2 Posts: 5,150
    Hi John. If you want to avoid disturbing the surrounding plants the drill and stump killer method will work. It's slow but simple. How long it takes to rot away would depend on the size of the stump.

    I've never used a stump grinder. Seems to be a quicker way to get rid of stumps, but could be a bit messy. I think almost the whole stump is gone straight away, and you are left with a clear planting area.
  • Ladybird4Ladybird4 Posts: 37,906
    Thank you BirminghamMarc1972
    Cacoethes: An irresistible urge to do something inadvisable
  • DovefromaboveDovefromabove Posts: 88,147
    I should add that it’s quite possible to ‘target’ the work with the stump grinder and avoid surrounding plants ... there are a lot of clippings and sawdust of course, but most of that was raked up and taken away by the tree surgeon .. had I thought it could’ve gone on the compost heap bit by bit.  The surrounding plants and shrubs weren’t damaged and pretty soon you hardly knew anything had happened. 😊 

    Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.





  • Ladybird4Ladybird4 Posts: 37,906
    Whichever route you decide to take I hope it all goes very successfully for you theend00. My ash stump has completely gone and I've been able to plant over where it was.
    Cacoethes: An irresistible urge to do something inadvisable
  • SarahKateSarahKate Posts: 37
    I had, with consent, two sycamores felled a few years ago.   They were on a shared bank dividing my property from my neighbour's.   We used to keep the shoots sprouting from these stumps trimmed back each year.   New neighbours moved in and they let the new shoots grow on their side of the bank so that by now there are young sycamore 'trees'  -  sycamores can grow 8ft a year.   I still keep my side trimmed but the tall growth takes all the sun from my garden now.
  • theend00theend00 Posts: 48
    I'll have a look around for how much it will cost to hire a stump grinder for the weekend, they appeal to my destructive inner teenager 

    Otherwise I'll have to be patient and kill it slowly. The stump killer looks like a good budget option, at the moment it's hard as steel , maybe a bit of time with stump killer will allow me to speed it up with an axe . Thank you for the feedback everyone ! I was very worried about accidentally killing all my mother's bluebells haha , there are few things else she would murder me for :3

    Thanks Marc , Ladybird , Dove and Kitty :) 
  • theend00theend00 Posts: 48
    Yeah Virginia I was really shocked to see how quickly they spread themselves and recovered from being felled , I knew it wouldn't kill immediately but 8 feet a year is just infuriating 

    My neighbours infest my garden with them too , along with ivy and mares tail which they don't deal with :P Suppressing dark thoughts of sabotaging their garden (wasteland) with a lot of herbicide haha 
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