The Lombardy poplar root situation in Boise took me 3 weeks

I spent 6 days trying to grind out a stump from a 40 year old Lombardy poplar and the roots just kept hooking into the sewer line. The rental grinder kept jamming on the root mass so I finally called a local guy who showed me how to use a high pressure water jet to expose the roots first. It took 2 more weekends but the water method cut the job time in half once I figured it out. Has anyone else fought with these things near their lateral lines?

1 comments

1 Comment

the_sean1d ago

That water jet trick is exactly what saved me a few years back with a cottonwood, not a poplar, but same kind of nightmare. I spent a full weekend with the rental grinder and it just bounced off the root ball like it was concrete. The pressure washer turned that whole fight into a different job. Once I washed the dirt away I could see exactly where each root ran and which ones I actually had to cut. I also dug a test trench on the far side of the tree first to check for the lateral line, that saved me from slicing into something expensive. Your 3 weeks sounds about right though, those roots have no respect for property lines or pipes. Take this with a grain of salt but I'd never plant another one of those near any utility again.