Subject: Re: best way to get rid of roots?

From: [email-masked]
Date: 7 Apr 95 09:20:11 -0600

Ah, these stump-removal stories remind me of a conversation I overheard
a couple of years ago at a restaurant.  I don't normally eavesdrop, but
the storyteller had a loud voice, and was having *such* fun with it...

He was an older gentleman, about in his early 70's, I would guess,
growing up on a farm that seemed to grow more rocks than anything else.
One rock, the above-ground portion of which was about the size of
an automobile, particularly offended his father, who hated having
to plow around it.  

An article in Wallace's Farmer about using dynamite to clear
stumps and rocks from fields inspired his father to procure
a few sticks of the stuff, and he spent the winter reading up on
how to do it.

One spring morning, he called the kids together so they could watch
the rock demolition.  His family safely ensconced behind trees, he
placed and detonated the dynamite.  Rock didn't bulge, but the
pressure wave blew out the windows in the Methodist church half
a mile away.  Dad was mad, kids giggled, dad went off to get
more dynamite.  The second placement of dynamite blew the rock
straight up in the air; then it settled, intact, into its hole
once again.

Dad's fury knew no bounds.  Not only had the dynamite not worked,
but it cost him a goodly sum for the church window repair.  In
a fit of anger, he kicked the rock... which then disintegrated 
into into tiny shards...

Dynamite is still used around here to blast big rocks and good
sized stumps, but it's probably not the stuff you want for
stumps in the yard.

My usual method for stump removal, in keeping with my lazy gardening
techniques, is to take a BIG drill bit... the sort that is used
to make holes in walls for cable installation... and drill a bunch
of holes in the top of the stump and any surface roots.  I then
go find some really rotten wood, of the same or related species, and 
toss it in the blender with a little water.  Pour this mixture
into the holes, and refill a couple of times.  Then I let the
fungi take over.  I usually park a big planter on the stump...
overrunning water from the planter soaks into the stump, and
the stump acts as a pedestal for the planter.  Usually, within
a year or two, the stump is rotten enough that I can remove the
above-ground portions with a few good kicks and maybe a crowbar
or two, then resod.

Kay Klier  [email-masked]