Post date: May 18, 2016 12:15:52 AM
OK. So the trees (Siberian Elm, Ulmus pumila, an invasive species) on my lot are not big — 2” to 6” diameter. I have cut some of them off. Mostly the badly formed ones, or those that don’t shade my house after early morning.
The first ones I cut as close to the ground as I could, generally 2-3” up. I soon discovered that leaves a nice tripping hazard. In addition, these trees sprout from the stump rather vigorously. So the last six I have cut about a foot and a half above ground level. That is enough to notice so that I don’t trip over them.
I want to get these out of the ground, or at least cut them off to where I can kill them and cover them with dirt. So I spent much of today digging around each stump about 3-4” down. The depth depended mostly upon how many roots were growing out from the stump.
This digging, of course, brought up many rocks (my nemesis). So I also raked up rocks. The little ones (1" and under) I have been removing off site. The larger ones go either in my drainage channels or around the base of my house. And while I'm on my knees, with digging tool in hand, I have dug up a lot of Field Bindweed, a very nasty invasive weed.
A friend (and soon-to-be neighbor) has a nice little electric chain saw, which I borrowed over a year ago when I was trying to clean up the little grove of trees. But the saw chain was in such bad condition that I couldn’t even sharpen it. This time I have arranged to replace the saw chain before I use it and return it like new.
All this will allow be to cut the stumps below ground level, drill deep holes in the stump, and add nitrogen fertilizer, which will help them rot quickly. While I have the chain saw here I can cut a few of the larger trees that are too big for my little pruning saw and I’ve wanted to fell.
Eventually I will replace all of this species with a more amenable native tree.