The Historic District

Willa, an internet search will result in pics of mattocks, limb lobbers, and...well...Lily already posted a pic of a spud bar.

A limb lobber will let one cut roots slightly below grade level so nothing protrudes (as would happen with a sawzall). Everything you posted pics of can be removed in 30 mins. or so.

I would take the "ask a neighbour" approach to finding someone to remove them. Who knows....maybe someone knows a teenager willing to do it for $10-20.

A Sawzall with a tree pruning blade will let you get down in to the dirt. It lets you cut in ways you'd never dream of with a chain saw. Sure it's slower than a chain saw but you also don't have the danger of a chain dulling, getting stretched, and then whipping around and taking your head off either.

Copper sulfate poured into some holes bored in the stumps will kill the roots. You can also use brush killer if you are being a little less picky about what gets killed. The copper sulfate goody will work really well on the ones up against your foundation. Copper sulfate is commonly sold in the plumbing departments of lumber stores as a root killer for drains. It'll be a blue/green crystal powder.

As far as the leaves go. I'd just mulch them with a mulching mower at this point.

Olson185 wrote:Willa, an internet search will result in pics of mattocks, limb lobbers, and...well...Lily already posted a pic of a spud bar.

I have the internet, too !

I don't have a lot of upper body strength, so my results with the most appropriate hand tools are going to be, well, not so great.

I'm reluctant to purchase (ie order online, plus the extra costs of shipping and duty ) as they have none of these at my local hardware store. If I had the choice between spending $ 300 -500 on tools, or paying the same amount to someone experienced with their own tools, I would pay the person.

There is no tool library in my community, either, so I can't borrow a tool to see the limitations of my strength/skill.

Off to local CL, to get some quotes.

Thanks, everyone.

I had some that looked about the same. I dug down just a bit - minimal effort there - and cut it off below grade with a sawzall like you suggested. Repeat if anything comes up again. None of mine came back.

The yellow bark ones against the brick wall with the blackened ends look like mulberries, which are more common, more notorious for growing back from stumps and roots. Saw off the blackened ends with a pruning saw down a couple inches to live wood and poison the cut. Do this to every shoot for 3-5 years and that will kill it off.

The one in the open with the taller shoots is coppicing. I don't think it's a mulberry and has the bark coloring and growth characteristics of a paulownia. Almost doesn't matter what it is since its growback is aggressive. That's all the matters. Same treatment as the mulberry: cut each shoot down to about 12 inches above the stump and poison. Every year, cut 2-3 inches down to healthy wood and poison again.

https://www.na.fs.fed.us/fhp/invasive_p ... s-tree.pdf
https://www.nps.gov/plants/alien/pubs/m ... c/moal.htm

Alsatian ND - I am in southern Ontario - zone 6a. I don't know if the paulownia grows this far north ? The bark on the new shoots is bright olive green to almost bronze colored, and not hairy, no seeds pods on the bush, none in the area.

I think the one against the brick wall is probably wild grape, as there are giant brown vines (mostly dead as far as I can tell) snaking outwards from it, and along the chain link fence and up through a couple of trees.

Hmm, I didn't know that there were pruning blades for Sawzalls. A friend has one, so if I buy some blades that seems like it would make quick work of most of the stumps and stumplets, at least getting them down to ground level.

I was thinking a hand tool pruning saw. Ten to twenty bucks. http://www.homedepot.com/p/Worth-Garden ... /205582381

But then again, I prefer hand tools and rarely even consider power tools.

AlsatianND wrote:I was thinking a hand tool pruning saw. Ten to twenty bucks. http://www.homedepot.com/p/Worth-Garden ... /205582381

But then again, I prefer hand tools and rarely even consider power tools.

one of those and one of these (or similar) http://www.homedepot.com/p/Corona-32-in ... /206178697

Between those two you will be able to do most of what you might attempt with a sawzall with more safety.

Or perhaps you just need one of these

Ugh, Mick ! I really do not want one of those !

A young dude who is not wearing protective gear is not someone I am going to hire. No shirt, no gloves, no safety glasses.