taproots are a myth

get a backhoe..

or better yet.. have it cut flush to the ground.. and just dont plant in a 3 foot circle around it.. where i presume you couldn't dig anyway ...

as you say yourself.. you dont need the spot... so why spend energy.. effort and money?????

ken

The word myth usually implies something that is not real. Taproots are real and therefore not mythical. The nature of taproots is often misunderstood and frequently exaggerated. Few types of trees retain a significantly prominent taproot as they grow older. Some do.

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Sure....You can get a stump dug out...Its all about the 'Benjamins' and accessibility. Then of course youll need to bring in some top soil to fill and grade.

Al

Grind smind. That stump is small.

Heck, tell them use a hand saw.

Really I would just cut it flush and forget about it if you can plant a couple feet away.

What are you going to replace it with? That is the fun part.

ya know.. i got 3 forums past this..

before i figured out who the benjamins were ... rotflmbo ...

of which i better send one to the cat

ken

This post was edited by ken_adrian on Mon, Sep 2, 13 at 20:03

Swamp Maple (Acer rubrum I presume?) wouldn't have much (or any) taproot to speak of. That doesn't mean you won't need a backhoe to get it out....

I use a shovel, ax, and a old pair of loppers to cut the roots on both sides of the ditch I dig around the stump. In some cases I use my old workhorse truck to pull them when I've cut enough roots.
I also plant Sedums on a stump occasionally.

Here's another.
Mike

Cut it down as low as you can then throw a few bags of charcoal on it and let it rip. it may take 5-6 bags and a full day of tending but your back will thank you and you can always grill some hit dogs or make s'mores over the coals! ;)

I've done that too! Several large old stumps burned for a week or more.
I have, and had, a lot of stumps on ten acres. I have heated my house with wood exclusively for 35 years. EPA certified stove, of course.
Mike

thank you for all the input. I should mention that there is no option to plant elsewhere but right at the tree location. This is in the middle of a section that is surrounded by a stone retaining wall and it would look freaky to not be centered.

I really don't want to go the nuclear option of a backhoe due to the mess and since I am cheap. I was hoping someone could tell me that some landscapers have means to pull over a tree, perhaps after digging out the far side with shovels and severing a few key roots. Or am I dreaming?

I'm not adverse to hard labor. Would I have any sort of chance if I dug out around the stump, axed all the major roots, and then tried to pull it out? That's why I asked about a root going straight down for which I would have no chance. How many roots would a maple have at the stump? It is not a particularly big tree at this point.

14" stump...piece of cake.

Dig that thing up if you want to plant in there right away. If you grind you have to remove the grindings or wait a year. The new grindings pull nitrogen from the soil.

There are several guys in my area that grind stumps 16" or less for $30 in my area. I wouldn't spend my time and labor digging for that price unless like I mentioned I wanted to plant in the same hole that same season.

Look at Craigslist or post the need for stump grinding if you go that route.

You don't want maple hinted BBQ?

can anyone who has taken out a maple suggest to me how extensive the root system will be below a maple? The eastern pine we had to remove last year had nearly nothing directly below it and we replanted in the exact same spot. Be great if I could do the same for this maple.

in my world.. a maple is a maple ...

i think this was the neighbors silver maple .. on a septic redo ...

looking at these pix.. one wonders what would be the point of having the trunk ground out .... in a 2 foot circle ...

ken
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