In some cases, cutting down a tree doesn’t necessarily kill it. The stumps of some trees will send up suckers and this means that their roots are still alive. If the tree was planted near a septic tank or a sewage system, the roots can still get into the pipes and clog them and quite possibly break them. This can create an expensive mess for the homeowner to clean up. So how are tree roots removed once and for all?

One way to kill the roots is to grind away the stump. The operator should use a grinder with carbide teeth. The stump should be ground at least half a foot below the surface of the ground. The hole should then be filled with soil, and then an auger should be used to take out any tree roots in the pipes.

Another way to get rid of a stump quickly is to use chemicals, though these should be used with care and kept away from children and animals. The gardener will need to drill holes in the stump and pour in the chemicals. These can be sulfuric or nitric acid, sodium disulfite or potassium nitrate. The gardener will need to follow the directions on the packages of these stump removers carefully. When the stump is finally destroyed, copper sulfate can be flushed down the toilet to kill and take away any roots that remain in the drains.

The stump and roots can also be simply dug up. Sometimes a gardener can do this with hand tools, but big stumps may need a backhoe to tear them out of the ground. Any roots that are left will simply decay.

The gardener or homeowner can also burn the stump out, though he or she will need to check with the local authority that regulates building codes to see if this is permissible. The gardener should cover the stump with kindling as they would a fireplace. The stump needs to be closely monitored until it’s completely burned. The gardener should also take into account that a stump can burn for weeks.