A couple of years ago I covered a portion of the front yard with plastic, landscape fabric and bark mulch to smother some stubborn poison ivy. A couple of weeks ago I removed the plastic, fabric and bark mulch. Today was a lovely, dry (for a change), and fairly warm day (61*), so I started working on some stumps that needed to come out.
This is a crop of a photo I took in 2016 after starting the smothering project. Note there are 3 stumps; a large one in back, a smaller one directly in front of it, and another to the right and furthest to the front.
I started by scraping away some of the soil with a hoe, but quickly ran into a tangle of roots. I decided to go right to work on the stump on the left. For a lark, I struck it with a point of the hoe blade and found that it entered the wood quite easily. To be fair, there were a lot of insect holes, and I found quickly that the wood was quite punky. Between the hoe and a shovel, I made fairly quick work of that stump. The stump to the right was not quite so easy as it wasn't as punky and I found it had grown around a decent sized rock, but I was still able to use the hoe and shovel to tear most of the stump apart. Then I grabbed the 5' crow bar and moved the rock out of the way so I could get to the part under ground.
One stump gone and the second mostly gone - the rock is still there
Both stumps and rock gone. That large stump is still quite solid, so it will be there for a while.
The rock (thankfully, just a teenage/young adult rock)
I also took out most of a small stump behind the rock wall. I didn't realize until I took this picture just a little while ago that I hadn't removed the whole thing :O . My excuse was I was being wary of the poison ivy vines that were wrapped all around, and covered the top of it. Yes, the PI has been dead a couple of years, but the oils can stay volotile for some time. I think I had filled my last bucket so started loading up the truck and figured I would get to it when I got back from the dump. Obviously I didn't .
I took all that to the dump then started raking leaves over by the swamp. Although it had been raining most of the week, it was never heavy so it wasn't too wet over there. After 2 more trips to the dump for disposing of leaves and, branches and dead stalks, I'd had enough.
But, I did take time to enjoy the beauty of some phlox along the rock wall by the garage. That is a hosta growing up thru the plants.
It was a productive, enjoyable day. There was enough breeze to keep the bugs mostly away and keep me cool while working in the sun. Tomorrow we are back to dreary, heavily overcast, rain and high temps in the 40's & 50's that will last for the next 5-6 days. Same stuff we have been seeing for a month.
Wonderful, wonderful - and lovely! I like the look of a stump, now and then; but, now I know what to send you on the next gifting occasion: an axe. That, at least, is what I use to attack stumps that I don't find lovely. I bought a wedge, but I drive it into whatever with Dad's old sledge hammer (the handle to which I had replaced a few years ago) too far and then can't get it out. Yes, I know, wedges are normally used to split firewood that is already cut to length. Not one of my brighter ideas.
Posted by: Cop Car | May 12, 2019 at 02:34 PM
P.S. Wow! 5' is a long crow bar. Since we keep our 3' crow bar in the shop (in the basement) and my 18" prybar isn't long enough, I keep a 5' length of 2x4 in the garage as a lever - usually used in regard to the riding mower.
When I get the mower stuck in the mud, I can lever the sucker out. When I need to remove a wheel assembly from the mower, I use that 2x4 to lift that quadrant of the mower, then insert a concrete block (fake rock) on end with a 2"x6"x10" scrap of lumber flat atop it to support the mower at that corner. (Your dad just shakes his head.)
Posted by: Cop Car | May 12, 2019 at 02:41 PM
I meant to write "pry bar" instead of crow bar. It is about 15 pounds with a nice pointed tip so it can be slammed into the ground to get under the rock/root, trunk or whatever you are trying to pry up.
Posted by: bogie | May 13, 2019 at 06:04 PM
I should have known since you have previously written about using your pry bar.
Posted by: Cop Car | May 15, 2019 at 08:33 AM