I'm cutting down a ligustrum hedge and will be removing the stumps by first killing them with a liberal painting of 41% glyphosphate and afterwards drilling them out and applying either epsom salys or Potassium Nitrate to sped up the rotting. Anybody have any experience with this method? Comments? Which would work faster Epsom salts or salt peter. I want to try to have the stumps pretty much gone by the end of April so I can plant my Azaleas

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I would suspect a suitable amount of C4 would suffice and would be much quicker.

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So many S&W's, so few funds!!

How about renting a smaller stump grinder? Rent on a Saturday and you have Saturday and Sunday to get your boy to grind the stumps out.

I didn't make it past “cutting down.” The plan entailed too much work at that point.

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No school like the old school.

Years ago, dynamite was the preferred method.

It will work long before April rolls around.

I'm partial to the "stump grinding removal suggestion.
Less labor and more cosmetically appealing in the short and long run.

I keep several gnarly old chains, a chewed up 25 inch chainsaw bar, and a modified Stihl MS660 for "stumping!"

Good luck!

I don't think anything will make the stumps rot that fast.

If you grind them you will only be grinding down 6" or so so you will still be dealing with the roots.

If you want to get rid of the stumps that fast the best way is to get a back hoe or excavator in with a root ripper IMO .

I thought Glyphosphate was supposed to be applied to the foliage ?

Last hedge I took out had 4”-6” stumps. A little digging,chopping on the larger roots,a chain and an f250 in low range did the trick

I had several stumps that I tried the Salt Peter / Potassium Nitrate on and after six months those stumps were as happy as newborn pups. I eventually dug a deep trench around the perimeter and filled the pit with charcoal . Took two applications, but the stumps were gone.

Arjay—Hold my beer!

Paul vs stump - YouTube

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No school like the old school.

I had 5 stumps and 3 trees dug out last Tuesday. The excavator had a thumb on the bucket and he pulled out the roots. I didn't get dirty or tired and making the money to pay him was easier than me doing any of the work. I have a 45 HP tractor with a loader but that excavator can do more work in an hour than my little tractor can do in a day. Larry

I agree with what "arjay" said (^^^^ above). If you want the stumps gone by the end of April I think your best bet is to yank them out with a chain or cable attached to whatever vehicle you can get close enough to do the job.

I don't think ligustrum/privet has a very deep root system, so yanking them out shouldn't be very hard.

BTW, if you do decide to yank them out, you can forgo cutting them and just take the plants out whole....and then dispose of them.

Don

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Laus Deo! <><

My only experience was removing a stump that was too close to the house and underground lines to be able to use a stump grinder. I used the commercial stuff (potassium nitrate) and bored a bunch of holes in the stump. Six months later it was still firmly in place so I gave it another treatment. After one year I was able to kick the stump out fairly easily. Its a long process.

I hope his wife wasn’t home! 😱😂

Don't buy a large quantity of potassium nitrate or the Feds. may be knocking on your door. Potassium nitrate is the basic ingredient of home made bombs!

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Bill

If you can't get a machine or truck into the area to do the work with a chain.................

You might look into the use of a handy man Jack.
They can lift a lot of weight and go very high, in removing roots.
It is nice to have some help, if you can find it to balance the jack.

You didn’t say how many stumps but if you have very many hire a pro! Had a couple hundred pine stumps removed from a patch of East Texas piney woods last fall and it was worth every penny and left the soil enriched and plowed up enough to plant anything you want.

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Hue 68 noli me tangere

Cut them very slightly below grade. Drill a few holes and fill with Copper sulfate. Then top dress with dirt and plant grass seed. Then forgetaboutit.
They will be dirt in a couple years.

Save yourself the cost of glyphosate; cut them back to the stump, use a heavy application of regular de-icing salt around the stump and root system and liberally water it. That will kill the plant. Do you plan to let them rot, or are you going to dig up the stumps? Whatever you apply, it will still take a couple of years at least for the stumps to deteriorate. It's not a lot of fun, but digging the stump and major roots out is the best way to get rid of them. If you want to replant something in the same spot, don't even treat the roots with salt or anything else, just dig them out, or replant next to them if you can get the new plants close to where you want them. We do this all the time when revising a landscaped plat bed.

I have removed some big ones before and they can be dug up and pulled out. I would find some young guys and bribe them with cash to do the digging and chopping on the roots.

I have no experience using chemicals. My neighbors finally gave up after a year waiting for theirs to rot but I don’t know what they used.

Guess I’m lazy cause I pay a local guy I know to grind them out if they’re not close to the foundation. He digs if they’re near the house.

I like more instant results.

I buy it by the ton........Never had ANY inquiries..........Can't make corn or watermelons without it.

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S&W Accumulator

Good luck!

In the early 70’s, a friends mother wanted 4 or 5 large shrubs removed from her circular drive. She offered him $100 to dig them out.

That was a lot of money back then for youngsters and I had a rusted ‘69 Bonneville leper with a 428. Back then, cars only lasted a few years without rusting out, so late model beaters in Michigan sold for $400 - $500.

We wanted to go out and do our thing, so we used a tow strap and my car and had them out in about a half an hour. She balked at price when we were done, but a deal was a deal!

Innovation and raw horsepower beats hard work, all day long!

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"I also cook."

Stumps too close to the fence

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Not that I have the slightest idea of what I am talking about, but: If ya go the chemical route, keep those planned azaleas in mind. (I'm thinking chemicals strong enough to take out a tree stump may inhibit future healthy azalea growth.)

Neighbor had some big pines to take out and made the mistake of cutting them close to the ground. he needed a front end loader to dig them out but it would have been way easier if he had left 6ft or so of trunk to give some leverage. shallow stuff like your shrubs are probably best taken out whole so it give something to wrap a chain around. some wacks with an axe to the surface roots will help too.

I like the idea of using some gnarly old chains/bars of which I have a couple.
I'm just looking at getting them level to the ground and then planting Azaleas in between them for a new hedge.
The little Stump grinder still costs $265 a day from Iberia Rentals and as of now I do not have access to a pick up truck to go get it and I don;t think it will fit inside of blue

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Take a spud bar and poke several holes in the ground close to the stumps. Get them as deep as you can, 24” is good. Next, grab a pail of shelled corn and pour a out 1/2 handful down each hole. If some doesn’t make it into the hole, that’s okay. Now, you are ready to remove the stumps. Get one or two, old boar hogs and show them the corn on the ground around the stumps. By the time they get all of the corn, the stumps will be gone!

Kevin

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Unshared knowledge is wasted.

I’ve always had a bunch of nice fellas that don’t speak English but have a solid grasp on the US monetary system show up and grind the stumps out. . . .

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Wisdom comes thru fear . . .

Cut close to the ground they will grow back fast. I have removed a few by digging them up. I have also cut them down and watched them grow back when they got to big and tall. The ones I have dealt with were planted around 1957. They don't die easy.

As they say very few problems cannot be solved by the proper application of high explosives. It may however cause the local constable to visit so may not be the best way. LOL
Privit is tough stuff. No way will it be gone by April unless dug out completely. They root sprout like crazy.
Close to the fence and in a hurry honestly hiring some of our southern neighbors for a days worth of hard digging may be the best approach. You can sit in the shade and supervise and practice your conversational Spanish.

Counselor two suggestions. Times are tough and if you have a few extra bucks hire someone to remove them, it will be a two for one. You will avoid a nasty job and the people you hire will be grateful. Otherwise, cut the stumps at ground level, drill some holes in the stumps and fill them with undiluted Roundup, concentrate on the outer perimeter of the stumps as that is where the most nutrients or poison flows. You can then plant your new bushes between the stumps. A little mulch and you will be good to go. Roundup degrades quite quickly so don't buy the long lasting variety. I have employed both methods enumerated above and highly recommend the first!

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John. SWCA #1586

Go rent yourself a backhoe for the weekend, company should deliver and
pick up. You may find it fun to use the machine and find other things
around the place that needs some digging. Keep in mind they will simply
charge you per day, an 8 hour reading on the hour meter. You may have
the machine for 2-3 days but every 8 hours you will pay for another day.

Cajun - Glyphosate remains residual in the soil. A good friend of ours who manages a 100 acre estate with 122 specimen trees, many of them national record holders, recommends a product called Crossbow.
It's an effective foliar herbicide, biodegrades in the soil, and I find it effective on shrub stumps if sprayed, poured or brushed on fresh cut stumps. Our next door neighbors had a massive plantation of forsythia hedge along our fence line that invaded our adjoining gardens every year.
When they moved, I cut it all down, sprayed undiluted Crossbow on the stumps and all the English ivy growing under and within it. GONE.
None of it came back.
Southern States, Walmart, Amazon carry Crossbow, about $50/gallon full strength. I buy it by the gallon full strength, dilute 1.5, 2.5 or 4 oz/gal water for foliar application, brush or dribble it on full strength for stumps.
I doubt you'll get the roots to rot by April no matter what you apply. Around here (central Virginia) we plant azaleas in the fall. It's too hot in the summer for a fresh rootball of most any shrub to make it through the summer without shade and intensive watering maintenance. By fall, the roots and stumps should be rotted fairly well, especially if you keep them wet. Couldn't you plant your azaleas then?

Start a rumor that you have a half dozen one ounce gold eagle coins buried under the ligustrum hedge. Enjoy the sounds of strangers digging up the ligustrum hedge as you sip a bourbon indoors.

If you want it done faster, tell them it's ammo.

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The best I can with what I got

Sounds like a good excuse to buy a tractor :-)

Ehh, he's a Lawyer, so he's already on their list.

My dad always drilled holes in the stump and filled them up with buttermilk to accelerate the rot.

Call ODOT

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213th FBINA

this never gets old.

Well Caj, if it were me, I'd let it be known,,(On the sly of course) that there is a treasure of gold buried under some of those trees, then leave a shovel out by he trees..Maybe scuff up the area a little, to make it look like you or someone had already been digging, looking for the gold.

Then in a day or two, your problem should be solved.


WuzzFuzz

I don’t have a picture of the 3’ wide stump, but you can tell this tree was close to the house. A stump grinder could not be used here but the tree removal crew rented a jackhammer and busted it up in a few hours.

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What the blasting caps that were on here a few weeks ago?

I drill holes in the stump with a long spade drill and put the commercial stuff in the holes. Always worked well, but it does take time. One thing is you are assured they won't start to sprout again.

The 'yank 'em out' plan is probably the most expedient.

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"He was kinda funny lookin'"

Wasn't Jimmy Hoffa last seen near your place? Weren't the shrubs in question planted about the same time he disappeared?

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LIVE FROM THE DAWGHOUSE

Ya know sheepdawg under the laws of this great nation and state withnin which I reside, I don 't have to answer that question

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Ever watch any of the stump removal machines on You Tube? WOW!!!

Randy

Bekeart's Stump Removal Trick - used on hedges, crepe myrtle, and concrete base from clothes line poles.

DIG DEEP around the base - add water - repeat the next day.
Trick is NOT using a shovel - too difficult to get deep enough without getting too wide.

1) Get a tie-down anchor sold for shed or mobile home use.
------Note that it in resembles a part of (and will work as) a primitive post hole auger.
---------Use any convenient rod as a turning handle.
2) Auger the tie-down a few inches into the ground.
3) Lift the now loosened soil up and out.
4) Continue steps 2 ans 3 for additional depth.
-------Past the depth of root ball if possible.
5) Repeat step 2 at numerous locations around the root ball.
6) ADD Water to augured holes.
7) In a day or two the root ball will be less secure.
------You might want to add more water and wait longer.
8) Eventually Time for towing chain/rope and vehicle (slow low gear)

I have used this method a few times and impressed a few women friends and neighbors with the simplicity and efficiency of this method.

Bekeart