Leylandi stumps

mendel

Hi all,

I recently had around 25 leylandi cut down. I'm looking for advice as to options for dealing with the remaining stumps, some of which are still high.

If I try and kill off the stumps, firstly how do i do this, how long would it take, would i then be able to dig them up ?

An alternative i have is to build up the topsoild in the area to hide the stumps, what do you think of that

Regarding the digging up, they leylandi were about 30-40 feet high.

Any advice welcomed

looksee

You will probably need more topsoil anyway as there will not be much goodness in the soil where the trees have been. If you don't want to dig them out you could put on some topsoil, you don't have to cover them, then plant vigorous groundcover. Any stumps that are particularly tall you could consider putting a honeysuckle or a clematis to grow over them. Eventually they will rot away and you could pull out any remaining woody remains.


Possible ground cover would be periwinkle (vinca). Wild strawberries - very vigorous and flowers and berries over a very long season. Nasturtiums - almost instant cover, throw in a few handfulls of seeds now and have flowers while you think about it! They are summer flowering.

What way does the area face and are you proposing to put in fencing?

mendel

Looksee,

thanks for that advice, the trees ran along one boundary of our site, so would have blocked off the west facing sun mainly. the open space will need to be at least camoflaged, there is a wall but quite low. We have thought of planting something but nothing dense or anything that would grow to high, any suggestions? We are positioned on top of a hill which is making it seem bare with the trees gone.

Delighted they are gone though, they were awful and blocking out house /light completely.

I think you are right with build up the topsoil, and plant over the areas. you don't think i need to do anything to encourage the trees to die off? my mam told me she had holesdrilled in a tree and caustic soda put into a tree that she cut down??

thanks for help

looksee

You would have to actually kill some tree stumps as they would just grow again, but leylandii will not sprout so it probably doesn't matter. I'm guessing there though, maybe someone else would have better information.

As to what to put in, why not just an intermittent row of trees that do not grow too big. Silver birch, rowan, golden ash, crab apple, hawthorn, would all look natural and decorative without cutting too much light.

Sonnenblumen

These stumps can take a very long time to decompose. They can be removed eg dug out with a mini digger or mechanically pulled out with chains. Perhaps the most cost effective way will be to grind out the stumps.

Once removed you can expect large craters to remain which can be filled with topsoil, less soil required if you stump grind and the waste from the stumps can be re-used as an excellent soil conditioner. Best long term solution and is not too expensive.

Just The One

Drill a number of holes in the stumps and fill with dried urea - most farmers have bags of this stuff for spreading on fields. The concentrated amount of urea in the holes will act as an overdose rather than fertiliser.

From time to time... ask any males to pee into the holes.

This is not a quick solution but will rot the stumps from the roots and after about 12 months you should be able to knock the stumps out of the ground with a few knocks of a sledge hammer.

bothyhead

I cut down a Rowan tree a while ago, and my local garden centre gave me a product called Altix 240. It's supposed to do the job very well ... but I never had the nerve to apply it due to the tree's proximity to a hedge. It's expensive mind you, about 30 eur for a half litre. For tree stumps you dilute it down with paraffin or diesel, and In weaker (aqueous) solutions, it can be used on weeds such as docks.

kwacker84

Weed Killer around the cambium will make sure nothing grows again. But your best bet is to take them down to ground level and get a stumpgrinder in! Or take the stumps to a low level, poison them and put a raised bed in after a while once the poison has done its job!

flutered

you need
a drill battery operated is handiest
wood or steel bit
container of brushwood
drill a 4 to 6 inch hole in the stump
fill with the brushwood solution
cover the hole with a little earth
be carefull not to get the brushwood on your skin
be patient
watch the stumps turn to dust
q.e.d.