Finally, cover the whole top of the stump with a plastic sheet to keep off the rain and secure in place

We saw statues of slave traders come tumbling down and emblems of British ness and colonialism c o me under scrutiny and challenge. We saw parts of the UK get into what the late Civil Rights activist John Lewis called: “ good trouble, necessary trouble” . The best time to apply stump killers is from autumn to winter. Avoid treatment in spring and early summer when the sap is rising Grubbing out by hand or mechanical mini-excavator removes the majority of the root system. Removal is easiest if trees are cut down so that a significant length of trunk remains to give leverage to help in removal. Landscape contractors are often skilled at stump removal, but you can hire mini-excavators and operators separately.For smaller trees the stumps can be pulled out with a winch. These can be hired by gardeners with the knowledge to use them safely. For leverage it is necessary to leave a good sized stub on the stump (up to 1.2m (4ft) high) rather than cutting it off at ground level. Apply a weedkiller directly to the stump, concentrating it in the outer ring of live tissue just beneath the bark Weedkillers for gardeners (Adobe Acrobat pdf document outlining weedkillers available to gardeners - see section 1a and 4) Safety precautions

Weedkiller is best applied to fresh stumps, as live tissue is needed for its uptake. If the stump is only a few weeks old, you may be able to expose live tissue by cutting the top off to expose a fresh-cut surface This is the best solution. Ideally the stump should be removed entirely, but if this is not possible alternative methods usually give satisfactory results. Although it is not a legal requirement to wear protective clothing when handling and using amateur/home pesticides, the RHS recommends wearing gloves, Wellington boots and other protective clothing as a sensible precaution. Links Stump and root killers currently on the market are those containing glyphosate (e.g. Roundup Stump Killer,Doff Tree Stump & Tough Weedkiller and Westland Resolva ProTree Stump killer) or triclopyr (Vitax SBK Brushwood Killer).

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Always follow the dosing, application and health-and-safety instructions given on the label of the product concerned. It is worth specifying how deep you would like the stump ground to. Shallow grinding, 20-25cm (8-10in), is normally sufficient for laying turf, but you should allow for deeper, 30cm (1ft), or more if replanting or landscaping. Also think about what you want to do with the sawdust. It can be left to fill in the hole, used as mulch in other areas of the garden, or taken away by the contractors. Specify which of these you would prefer before the work is started and be sure to have any diseased wood removed completely. Alternatively, machines known as stump grinders will mechanically grind out the main root plate, leaving fine sawdust. Although stump grinders can be hired, they are potentially hazardous and are only for gardeners confident that they can use machinery safely. Some roots will inevitably be left in the ground but the majority should eventually rot down. Always follow the manufacturer’s preferred method. This may involve treating the entire cut surface of the stump, drilling holes around the living edge of the stump to pour the granules into, or using a chisel or axe to make wedge-shaped incursions around the edge of the bark (often used for standing trees). These notches can then be filled with granules or brushed with the liquid weedkiller