Advice on Pine and Sweetgum - trunks too close?

[Jp_over]

Friends,

I'm clearing some overdue fence at a family member's house and need advice on 2 trees. I have a very mature pine with a sweetgum growing immediately adjacent to the trunk. Should I remove the sweetgum? Sweetgum always grows back and I'm not sure on leaving the stump or trying to remove it and risking damage to the mature pine.

Here are some photos of the situation:

Thanks!

 

[Jp_over]

I've done a bit of searching and reading on this and from what I gather I should remove the sweetgum and cut it back until it dies, then allowing the stump and roots to simply decompose. Any pros/cons of this approach?

 

[Jed1124]

You can remove the sweet gum and treat the stump with Tordon so it doesn’t resprout. That being said those trees won’t be a problem for each other for a very long time.

 

[JTM]

I've done a bit of searching and reading on this and from what I gather I should remove the sweetgum and cut it back until it dies, then allowing the stump and roots to simply decompose. Any pros/cons of this approach?

That’s what I would do. Stump it then bust off the green re-growth a couple of times a year. Doubt it will last more than a couple of years. I can’t see any cons.

 

[Jp_over]

Jed & JTM,

Thanks for the advice, I'll give it some thought.