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Stump grinder for cypress knees -possible/ok?
Posted on 8/5/16 at 5:24 pm
Posted on 8/5/16 at 5:24 pm
is it ok/possible/feasible to use a stump grinder to grind down cypress knees. Have some around some trees at my house and it's impossible to keep the grass down with the lawn mower because it's like a mine field. Is it ok to grind them down to just below ground level? These aren't big beautiful ones, just tall enlist to wreck a mower deck. These are some well established trees so I wouldn't think it would harm them but don't want to pull a Harvey Updyke and kill them.
Thoughts?
Thoughts?
9
Posted on 8/5/16 at 5:27 pm to poochie
May want to try the charcoal trick also, I haven't done it on cypress but I don't see why it wouldn't work.
Posted on 8/5/16 at 5:32 pm to poochie
It will be fine. My grandpa put a circular saw blade on an edger and used it to grind down cypress knees on the bayouside years ago. The trees are still alive today.
Posted on 8/5/16 at 5:42 pm to poochie
Googled it, found this Will-removing-knees-injure-a-bald-cypress-tree
quote:
A: Answers vary among tree experts. A bald cypress, Louisiana's state tree, is more prone to send up knees in moist areas. According to LSU horticulturists, you can carefully remove the knees without harming the tree: Dig a small area to expose the knee a few inches below the soil level. With a clean, sharp knife or saw, cut the knee off horizontally, 1 to 2 inches below the soil level. Refill the area.
quote:
Will removing 'knees' injure a bald cypress tree? By Kathy Huber Published 6:30 am, Thursday, January 24, 2008 Bald cypress trees stretch toward the sky along the Post Oak Trail at the Mercer Arboretum & Botanic Gardens in Humble. Photo: E. Joseph Deering, Chronicle Photo: E. Joseph Deering, Chronicle Bald cypress trees stretch toward the sky along the Post Oak Trail at the Mercer Arboretum & Botanic Gardens in Humble. Q: Four bald cypresses send up "knees" in my lawn. The knees make it difficult to mow the grass. Should I cut them off? Will that hurt the trees? Is it better to leave them alone and plant something other than grass around them? - D.H., Montgomery A: Answers vary among tree experts. A bald cypress, Louisiana's state tree, is more prone to send up knees in moist areas. According to LSU horticulturists, you can carefully remove the knees without harming the tree: Dig a small area to expose the knee a few inches below the soil level. With a clean, sharp knife or saw, cut the knee off horizontally, 1 to 2 inches below the soil level. Refill the area. Texas Forest Service's Mickey Merritt has removed small knees as they developed from a 35-foot-tall cypress in his front yard. These have been about 60 feet away from the tree, well beyond the critical root zone. (The critical root zone is a circular area with a radius of 12 inches to every inch diameter of trunk, taken at 4 1/2 feet above the soil level.)
quote:
Trees for Houston's Matt Weaver does not recommend removing cypress knees. He says even though bald cypresses are tough and usually tolerate this practice, it will stress the trees like any mechanical damage.
Posted on 8/5/16 at 5:53 pm to mdomingue
I started counting them and quit at 70. Looks like I'll roll the dice on a stump grinder, ha!
Posted on 8/5/16 at 8:22 pm to poochie
Saws-all will do the trick.
Posted on 8/5/16 at 8:53 pm to poochie
If you do it at the wrong time of the year, it could stress the tree too much and kill it. It's almost like pruning a tree. Take too much off at the wrong time of the year, and you might just watch the tree die.
Posted on 8/5/16 at 10:19 pm to poochie
I've used a stump grinder on knees at my place
No damage to trees
No damage to trees
Posted on 8/5/16 at 10:59 pm to poochie
Cypress knees all have a thin root coming into them and one going out of them. It is very easy to dig to the root and cut it on each side. It would be very inefficient just to grind them down when you can cut each side and remove them. I don't know about how much it may harm the tree... But I have done this to many knees on mature trees without any noticeable problems.
Posted on 8/6/16 at 2:22 pm to poochie
stump grinder is the wrong tool for the job
you need a shovel and a sawzall
you need a shovel and a sawzall
Posted on 3/21/18 at 1:14 pm to poochie
What is the charcoal trick you mentioned to remove cypress knees, please? Thanks!
Posted on 3/21/18 at 1:53 pm to donna red
I don't know what I was talking about honestly. I just re read, I must not have read the entire or any of the OP for my reply. You can burn stumps by dumping charcoal on them, but that's not what the OP was looking to do so my reply above makes no sense. Sorry
Posted on 3/21/18 at 2:12 pm to poochie
Sitting at the doctor's office, and figured I'd check TD today.
Fun fact: No one has any idea why cypress trees produce knees. I've spoken with many hardwoods and baldcypress-specific professors about it, and they all agree that they have no idea.
Dig up around the knee, and hack up the root with an axe. I've done it plenty of times with no negative consequences. You're wasting time and money renting a stump grinder
Fun fact: No one has any idea why cypress trees produce knees. I've spoken with many hardwoods and baldcypress-specific professors about it, and they all agree that they have no idea.
Dig up around the knee, and hack up the root with an axe. I've done it plenty of times with no negative consequences. You're wasting time and money renting a stump grinder
Posted on 3/21/18 at 2:21 pm to Hammertime
This retard here.. 
Posted on 3/21/18 at 2:43 pm to TigerBait2008
?
Posted on 3/21/18 at 2:50 pm to Hammertime
Get a knob bobber that works on knees
Posted on 3/21/18 at 2:55 pm to Hammertime
quote:
You're wasting time and money renting a stump grinder
You read the part where the OP said he stopped counting at 70 knees?
Have fun swinging your ax. Id rent myself a stump grinder and go to town while drinking ice cold beer.
Posted on 3/21/18 at 3:07 pm to 4WHLN
Yeah, I missed that, but he'd definitely save on gym membership fees. Swinging an axe is a damn good workout Posted on 3/21/18 at 3:26 pm to Hammertime
The knees are essentially prop roots. The soil is loose and moist so a straight tap root doesn't always hold the tree up. It puts out knees to increase its surface area to prop itself up for wind and storms.
That's my take. Supposedly they aid in gas exchange a little, but prop roots make the most sense if you think about it
That's my take. Supposedly they aid in gas exchange a little, but prop roots make the most sense if you think about it
This post was edited on 3/21/18 at 3:27 pm
Posted on 3/21/18 at 3:40 pm to Ron Cheramie
Wouldn't knees only develop in soil where it was needed then? Pond cypress doesn't form them when placed next to each other. Other wetlands trees don't have big knees like baldcypress.
The other side of the argument is for them to get oxygen from above the oxygen-depleted soil in swamps.
Scientists have removed roots and studied all kinds of things. It's still a toss up. My guess had always been that they form to increase nutrient intake.
The other side of the argument is for them to get oxygen from above the oxygen-depleted soil in swamps.
Scientists have removed roots and studied all kinds of things. It's still a toss up. My guess had always been that they form to increase nutrient intake.
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