What can be done for a tree trunk that has been half eaten away by

Question

by termites. I has been sprayed and hopefully they're gone. The tree has newly leaved out.

Alice · Answer

Do you want to keep or remove the tree trunk ? I'm not sure what the tree looks like at this stage. If you want to keep it, it may come back strong.

Ardale · Answer

Since termites live under the ground and can't survive in the open air I wouldn't count on your spray completely getting rid of them all. I wouldn't risk those termites swarming later in the year and possibly infesting your home. If your tree is already half eaten away it poses a fall risk during storms and high winds. My suggestion would be to go ahead and bite the bullet and have the tree taken down as close to the ground and they can get it, then put a metal barrel or enclose it with some fence wire and burn the stump entirely out. If you have a big yard with no structures, trees or bushes near then you can omit the barrel or wire. The best way to start a fire is to take old used motor oil and add just a little bit of gasoline to it and put it in an old empty dawn dish soap bottle. Pile a few leaves on and around your stump then wet them with your oil/gas mixture, stand back 10 or 15 feet away and put a little of your oil/gas mixture onto the end of a tree limb light it then throw it onto your pile of leaves. As your fire burns down you will have to stand a few feet away and squirt a little more of your mixture until your stump is burning on its own. At this point if you have any small limbs left laying on the ground you can rake them onto your fire and they will help your stump burn better. Just keep a close eye on your fire until it dies down some. It will take days to completely burn out your stump it's a big tree but you will be assured it has also completely gotten rid of your termites as well as your tree stump. Once the ashes cool then back fill your hole and plant another tree of your choice in it's place.

V Smith · Answer

The poison was for the termites, not the tree, so either a seed got droped into the rotting stump and took root or the stump was once a surculose tree (willow, sumac, alder, poplar, locust, or English elm). The only way to get rid of a surculose tree is to remove the stump. The easiest way is to hire someone to grind it down.

Mr Dolly · Answer

Drill Holes in it n Pour Table Salt n Boiling Salt water on it in the holes to kill it off... it takes about a year Naturally

Archie · Answer

I agree with removing the tree. I also agree with burning the stump if you live in a place you can.

However, I would drill holes in it and pour kerosene in the holes for a few days and let the kerosene soak into the stump.

Then you can light it using some charcoal sitting on top of it or some old wood. Just have to be careful because of the kerosene. So not lean over it to light the fire.

It will burn down to the roots and smolder for a few days.

If you can't burn it, have the stump ground down to the roots. That shouldn't cost over $100 in most areas.

Ardale · Answer

We live in the country and have a huge yard covered with tons of trees. Our yard looks more like a forest that all the underbrush has been cleaned out of in a National Park rather then a private yard. We've burnt out many tree roots over the 36 yrs. we've own our place and we've never had a fire spread underground beyond the root system of the tree we were burning. Just don't burn on a windy day or you'll end up setting something else above ground on fire that you didn't intend on burning if your not careful. We don't have any gas lines running underground in our yard but if you do have gas lines burning your stump out might not be a good idea. If you have underground electric lines in that area then burning will also not be advised. We know exactly where our electric line is buried as well as our cable company lines so it's not a problem for us to burn our stumps out. If you unsure you might want to call your electric and gas company and find out where you lines are. If you live in the city limits then you probably can't burn your stumps but you might be able to call a tree service and ask them to come out and grind your stump out down to ground level and have them cut deep grooves in the remaining stump surface so you can put rock salt in the grooves. The salt will kill your stump so it doesn't put out any sucker shoots once the weather warms back up and it will eventually make the stump rot out on it's own.

Mar26205809 · Answer

Thanks for all your suggestions. I wondered if it was a good idea to fill the cavity with cement

Tom Stuart · Answer

NEVER use gasoline to burn out your stump, even mixed with something.

Don’t use regular table salt, sodium chloride. That prevents anything from growing. Your garden store should have a product with potassium salts which encourages decomposition.

i have several stumps due to high wind damage. I cleaned up the rough edges and planted ivy. One tree revived and the others slowly decomposed. You can use almost any plants to make a nice garden feature.

Michelle · Answer

We had our stump ground out and covered it with dirt/grass. The company ground it way down - I would use the less 'chemical method '

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