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What should I do with these stumps (cheaply)?

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  • How difficult would it be to dig into the ground, cut the main roots with a saw, and rock the stumps out by hand?
    (Maybe waiting until after a heavy rain to loosen the soil)
    I wouldn’t have found it too hard when I was a younger woman … it’s not something I would try now I’m a much older one. 

    It depends on your level of fitness and preparedness for a bit of hard work. It’s certainly cheaper (and more enjoyable IMHO) than a gym membership 😉 

    I'm a physically active man in his 20s, so I fit the criteria for tackling some hard garden work :)
  • DovefromaboveDovefromabove Posts: 88,147
    edited August 2022
    Oooh you’ll be so honed and toned 😎 … we could even have some before and after pics … of the garden of course 😉 


    Even get a mate around for the day and plan a bbq and a beer for afterwards … bribery has its uses 👍 

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





  • a1154a1154 Posts: 1,108
    edited August 2022
    Get a nice big bowl and balance that on top for water and screw some bird feeders on. 
  • ErgatesErgates Posts: 2,953
    As you are young and fit, I’d recommend digging out as much as you can. You will need a mattock, and a decent sized wrecking bar will be useful too. OH and I dug out a massive conifer stump by hand, when we were young ( in our late fifties/ sixties! ) so it can be done. Just a bit of patience and brute force needed. 
  • Lizzie27Lizzie27 Posts: 12,494
    I find my mini mattock/pick from Screwfix extremely useful for getting smallish stumps out of the ground and I'm in my seventies. They do a larger size which would probably be better for you. I use the mattock end (small axe) for chopping through the roots and the pick end for digging up the soil around the stump and/or heaving up the roots. Start digging around the stump about 2ft out and cut through the roots as you go. Then you will be in a position to undercut the stump tap roots and rock it back and forth.

    Good luck.
    North East Somerset - Clay soil over limestone
  • Oooh you’ll be so honed and toned 😎 … we could even have some before and after pics … of the garden of course 😉 


    Even get a mate around for the day and plan a bbq and a beer for afterwards … bribery has its uses 👍 

    ;)

    Ergates said:
    As you are young and fit, I’d recommend digging out as much as you can. You will need a mattock, and a decent sized wrecking bar will be useful too. OH and I dug out a massive conifer stump by hand, when we were young ( in our late fifties/ sixties! ) so it can be done. Just a bit of patience and brute force needed. 

    Im trying to convince my partner to help with the removal but she's not overly keep haha.
    I've got my eye on a B&Q mattock with a lifetime guarantee, so even if I snap it hopefully I can get a replacement.
    Lizzie27 said:
    I find my mini mattock/pick from Screwfix extremely useful for getting smallish stumps out of the ground and I'm in my seventies. They do a larger size which would probably be better for you. I use the mattock end (small axe) for chopping through the roots and the pick end for digging up the soil around the stump and/or heaving up the roots. Start digging around the stump about 2ft out and cut through the roots as you go. Then you will be in a position to undercut the stump tap roots and rock it back and forth.

    Good luck.

    I'm tempted by the little mattock because there isn't much room to maneuver next to the wall and fence. But I'm not sure a little one would make it through these roots. I'll probably end up getting the big one because I can still access 3/4 of the roots without restriction, so I'll probably need the big one to get through those quickly.
  • FireFire Posts: 19,096
    I just leave mine in.
  • thevictorianthevictorian Posts: 1,279
    I had to remove a decent sized eucalyptus recently and dug around and under the stumps and then went to town with a mini axe. We had left a 4 ft trunk but it was still hard work to sever all the roots as it was near a wall where access was impossible. 
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