Large shrubs and their stumps/trunks

Sorry should be they’re pedants ?

Drive some copper nails into stumps to kill them, or there are copper mixes you can buy (Internet.)
Otherwise grow hardy geraniums or whatever you fancy to froth over the stumps.

Thanks lemongrove it’s just there isn’t much room to plant in between the roots to actually plant things.

Interestingly, (or not, as the case may be?), we have been dealing with stumps this past week. Mostly very old conifer bushes and because of the amount of material that would need carting away we called in a tree surgeon we know and he got most of the roots out. One was a pyracantha and he cut the stump down as far as he could, drilled holes into it and put some brushwood killer in the holes and capped them. That particular wood is as hard as iron, and he was worried about where the tap roots might meet up with drains and stuff - they seem to run for miles - so played safe. We have covered it in soil and put a stone on the top. I would imagine that if you put in very young plants that don’t need much depth to start with, the roots will soon find their own spaces.

We dealt with a laurel stump by removing as much soil as we could from around the stump and building a small fire on top of the stump. We kept the fire going by putting barbeque charcoal on top (so it was smokeless) and after a couple of hours the stump had burned down to below soil level. When the fire went out we doused it with water and replaced the soil. The deeper roots can continue to rot under neath but we can plant bedding and smaller perennials now and no trace of the stump is left.

You could cut away all the growth down to ground level and then stand some pots in the space you create, that way you get a good depth of soil to plant into and the beds don't look bare.

Thanks for all the ideas I think I’ll end up combining some of them or maybe try them all apart from the bonfire don’t think my neighbours would like that one.

Tanith, it was not a large bonfire, only about one foot or so across. We used as all amount of charcoal so it was smokeless but it does depend on the location of your stumps and how likely it is to annoy your neighbours. Good luck with whatever method you choose to use.

A small amount...

Niobe I cant justify it because I moan so much if I sniff a fire or even BBQ I’m a moany so and so ?

Ah, that explains it? !

I know the problem tanith.

I had two huge birch trees cut down years ago...decades ago..because their roots were lifting the drive and were quite close to the house. The lawn on which they grew was a dry as dust underneath. Not only that the stumps sprouted some incredible fungal growth, huge mushrooms the like of which I had never seen before!

Despite winter rain and snow the area of lawn where the roots ran (most of it!) was always dry and dusty. In the end I sprinkled bulbs around and planted them in small pockets between the underground roots which were only just under the surface.. I had a nice, natural colourful display in the spring at least!

Drill holes in the top of the stump then pour in Epsom salts then slowly pour in water.
homeguides.sfgate.com/mix-epsom-salts-kill-stumps-93347.html

I wrote on here about 2 huge pampas plants in the front garden of our new house. We cut them well back and poured some vicious stuff onto the stumps, but I see a few new growths.
At the time I read that the only way is to hire a digger and dig out the whole root system.