No idea, but if we knew how big your tree stump was, and what kind of tree, and how long since the tree was cut down, someone might have some suggestions.

Jackie

Can you provide a link to the discussion of this method, Helen?

@jacqueline9CA I don't know the name of the tree but I it's a pretty aggressive type in California. It's a baby tree of a bigger mother tree. I forgot about it and it turns into a big tree pretty fast. It was cut down 2 years ago. Here is the pic. The tree stump is about 2ft.

@rifis (zone 6b-7a NJ) You can do a Google search for "kill tree stump epsom salt" https://www.google.com/search?q=kill+tree+stump+epson+salt&oq=kill+tree+stump+epson+salt&aqs=chrome..69i57.8353j0j7&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8

Ew, Japanese Privet. They have panicles of tiny white flowers resembling lilacs, but don't smell good like them. Each flower sets a dark blue/purple berry and every seed germinates. At one time, it was used as the root stock upon which to graft lilacs. They have massive, invasive root systems and are infamous for invading sewer and septic lines; water lines and damaging hardscape and foundations. They grow RAPIDLY and are impervious to most things, even out growing gophers. The most effective method is to have someone physically dig it out. I'm sorry if that doesn't work with where it is.

You COULD allow the shoots to grow from the stumps then mix herbicide in a five gallon bucket and carefully bend them over and into the herbicide in the bucket. Tie them in place and cover the bucket with plastic to prevent it from evaporating or something getting in to it. The shoots in the herbicide will absorb it and continue wicking it into the root system, eventually killing it. For something that woody and extensive, spraying or painting it on the stumps will never provide enough of the herbicide to kill the tree. Repeating the wicking method each time something grows from the stumps will eventually kill them. Fun, I know.

@roseseek Thank you for the suggestion Kim. I think I will try that. We inherit the mother tree from the previous owner. We removed the mother tree and now are trying to take care of this baby stump because its roots are choking on my roses. Helen

It's the method suggested for saplings and woody weeds such as poison oak and poison ivy. It also works on Algerian Ivy, though because of its glossy leaves, you need to wound it to provide openings for the herbicide to soak into. Your privet is likely to be similar due to its waxy cuticle (leaf surface). You can fold or scrape the leaves to open wounds for the herbicide to enter. You can also cut the tips of the shoots off to provide entry wounds that way. The more exposure of tissue not protected by the glossy "skin" for it to soak in through, the faster and more efficiently it will work. Good luck! It ain't fun.

Privet sounds pretty bad after reading this. They recommend high concentration glycophosphate painted onto a fresh cut and also onto active growth.

https://www.aces.edu/blog/topics/control-invasive-plants/control-options-for-chinese-privet/

The down side of having to paint it on fresh cuts is you have to continue repeating it until the plant dies. That often requires new, fresh cuts and a longer period of time. Making up a container of it, anywhere from a gallon on up, permits you to secure growth in the solution and allow it to wick the herbicide into the growth until deteriorates past the point of being able to suck it down.

Look up tree stump herbicides.

Triclopyr (e.g. Garlon) and picloram (e.g. Tordon) are both highly effective, but I might worry about using any such herbicide near ornamentals. I would not want to risk residual getting into soil. Both can be brushed onto exposed cambrian where stump is cut, though for a large ligustrum, I would plan on needing a second application.

In *my* yard, Kim's strategy would result in a toppled bucket of herbicide, otherwise might be another route to go.

I killed a suckering tree stump by having my husband drill large holes into the stump itself and pouring roundup in the holes. They were about 5 inches deep. Nothing died around it and the suckers stopped. We only had to do it once.

I've never tried this but some people drive copper nails into the stumps. One of the big vendors sell the nails for that purpose. I would pre drill holes for the nails as they may bend if the stump is hard wood.

Also, Spectracide sells a stump remover liquid that you pour on after cutting grooves in the stump.

Hope I haven't violated any rules naming a company, if so, sorry....

We had a privet hedge that we cut down. I wound up cutting off any suckers and using Round up on the fresh cuts, it worked, I think by the end of one summer they were all dead for the most part. Good luck!

Thank you everyone for all the helpful suggestions. I know I can count on you :)

@joeywyomingzone4 This sounds easy to do. I will also give it a try.

@toolbelt68 I don't think naming a product that helps solve a problem will break any rule.

@Dingo2001 - Z5 Chicagoland Talking about privet hedge reminds me there was a time that I looked for a way to create a privacy hedge and one of the options is a privet hedge that I saw someone on our street has it. I'm so glad that I didn't use that option. Instead I go with a trellis with 3 Edens. Here is the pic.

Even though 3 Eden are gorgeous as a hedge, they don't repeat as much as other roses in my garden so I will give 2 Eden away to a friend and put 2 other climbers in their places.

I also copied Ben and planted 4 roses in my neighbor's garden (Ingrid Bergman, Liv Tyler, Peace, Rock & Roll) to make room for more new roses, lol. Helen

No, your mentioning a product isn't an issue. If you are selling that product so your mention of it is advertising, then that is a problem as you aren't paying HOUZZ for the privilege of advertising your goods on their site.

Privet - Ha! My FIL grew up in our house, and when we moved in he gave me a tour of the garden. I was startled and amused by the way he said "PRIVET!" - he made it sound like a curse, and I think it was.

One thing I would like to add - you may see privet seedlings popping up in your garden. Even if not from your old tree, if there are other mature trees in your neighborhood the birds spread the seeds around. Anyway, privet seedlings grow straight and tall really fast, and are fairly small in diameter for a while. My advice is, when you see them - pull them up. They come up very easily until they are over about 3 feet tall. Just pull straight up, and they will come out of the soil, root and all. If you let them get taller and wider, they become impossible to pull up, and then impossible to dig up easily, and you are left with stumps after you cut them down. Better to not let them get that big in the first place. They are sort of fun to pull up when they are 2-3 ft. tall. Of course, you can always pull them up before they get that big, that works too.

Jackie

Yup, and those nasty things are EXTENSIVELY used in landscaping because they are cheap, fast growing, easy to produce and respond splendidly to being whacked, hacked and sheared to produce topiaries, hedges and small "shade trees" and privacy screens. They will tolerate lack of drainage as well as marshy sites. They create smaller shade trees quite easily and become dense, dark green "balls" by being sheared annually. I had gardening clients who had them as their lawn trees with Wheeler's Dwarf Pittosporum and various ground covers under them. My clients wisely listened and had theirs sheared just as they began to flower each year while their neighbor LOVED the "pretty flowers". Monthly, I spent hours pulling seedlings from all over their yard while the neighbor simply weed whacked his until they became so thick and strong he had to have them professionally removed. They germinate everywhere, like Washingtonia (trash palms), even in the expansion cracks in the sidewalk and any separation between hardscape sections. But, if you live in a newer neighborhood where there is little to no privacy and the yards are postage stamp sized, and you wish shade and privacy, there are few better choices to provide your desires. What makes them undesirable is also what makes them perfect for those uses. They are opportunistic and immortal, unless fed "Vitamin R" or physically yanked out.

Yes, here in my very old neighborhood there are privet hedges all over. We have a photo of the house my DH's ancestors lived in across town in 1895, and it shows a neat privet hedge at the street. We visit that same house at Christmastime every year (it was purchased and rehabilitated a few years ago, with the help of our old photos), and, low and behold, there is a row of HUGE privet trees along the same place at the street where the hedge was. I agree - they are immortal!

Jackie

Plus privet smells bad to some people, myself included.

Yes ma'am. I've heard some remark how "sweetly" it smells. To me, it's like dirty feet.

As for killing a stump, drill deep holes all over the surface of the stump and then fill the holes with stump killer. There are different kinds. My Dad used to use one that was potassium nitrate, which is an ingredient in fertilizer, but it works like a charm for this. The one he used you had to pour hot water into the holes as well to activate the chemical. In a short while the stump will rot away and become easy to remove.

Here's a link to an article about different kinds of stump killers. The only one I know anything about at all is the potassium nitrate kind. I noticed that one of them uses the ingredient triclopyr which is n herbicide. I would be leery about using it near plants I did not want to put at risk, such as your roses.

https://gardenbeast.com/best-tree-stump-killer/