number 306

did I hear (see) somebody say (type) that conifers don't survive if you cut them below the foliage? Does this apply to all? I was walking the tripod yesta=erday and found a stump somebody had recently chucked away - still had plenty of fibrous roots, and a quick scratch test sugested it was alive (probably frozen like captain america in the arctic). Would it be worth going back to retrieve if or should I get me coat?

Your coat might be the way forward with this one.

will baddeley wrote:Your coat might be the way forward with this one.

Unless it's a Yew. can you find out?

Nothing ventured nothing gained as they say and if you are successful in getting it to develop new growth I for one would be very interested to hear how you did it. Go for it and good luck!

Far from nothing ventured, I would say. Digging it out and boxing it up is more than likely to be a total waste of considerable effort.

That said, a Yew could sprout, as Will intimated. Almost any other conifer will not. If it is a yew, you should see pale yellow sapwood under the reddish bark and an almost equal proportion of purplish/red heartwood. Is there any sign of dead foliage on the ground? If so, what shape is it?

Kev Bailey wrote:Far from nothing ventured, I would say. Digging it out and boxing it up is more than likely to be a total waste of considerable effort.

That said, a Yew could sprout, as Will intimated. Almost any other conifer will not. If it is a yew, you should see pale yellow sapwood under the reddish bark and an almost equal proportion of purplish/red heartwood. Is there any sign of dead foliage on the ground? If so, what shape is it?

not a yew. the foliage didn't resemble it at all.

I'd conserve your energy and space then. Keep a keen eye and eventually you will turn up something much more worthwhile.