Kitchen Garden Forum

We are currently clearing some very over grown plots, which include unwanted brambles and trees. What is the best way to dispose of the trees? The problem if you cut them down is that the stump tends to remain in situ. Does ring barking eventually result in the stump rotting away to nothing or will we also have to dig it out?
From what I have seen, two cuts, 20cm apart are enough to kill the tree, if you remove the bark between the cuts. How low of the trunk should these cuts be made?

if you ring bark the tree to kill it and leave it , you will get a dead tree from which branches will fall off or the whole thing fall over when it feels like it. have you thought about the health and safety implications of this? i would say your choices are saw the trees off at a convienient height and harvest the firewood and then dig out or leave the stumps to rot or reshoot. or get a digger in to dig up the trees, pile them up and burn them, or stick them in a skip. which you choose depends on you particular circumstances.