How productive that will be will depend on the soil so you need to start there with a good, reliable soil test. You may want to get a copy of Mel Bartholomews "Square Foot Gardening" to learn more about close planting and yields. Also dig in with these simple soil tests, 1) Structure. From that soil sample put enough of the rest to make a 4 inch level in a clear 1 quart jar, with a tight fitting lid. Fill that jar with water and replace the lid, tightly. Shake the jar vigorously and then let it stand for 24 hours. Your soil will settle out according to soil particle size and weight. A good loam will have about 1-3/4 inch (about 45%) of sand on the bottom. about 1 inch (about 25%) of silt next, about 1 inch (25%) of clay above that, and about 1/4 inch (about 5%) of organic matter on the top. 2) Drainage. Dig a hole 1 foot square and 1 foot deep and fill that with water. After that water drains away refill the hole with more water and time how long it takes that to drain away. Anything less than 2 hours and your soil drains too quickly and needs more organic matter to slow that drainage down. Anything over 6 hours and the soil drains too slowly and needs lots of organic matter to speed it up. 3) Tilth. Take a handful of your slightly damp soil and squeeze it tightly. When the pressure is released the soil should hold together in that clump, but when poked with a finger that clump should fall apart. 4) Smell. What does your soil smell like? A pleasant, rich earthy odor? Putrid, offensive, repugnant odor? The more organic matter in your soil the more active the soil bacteria will be and the nicer your soil will smell. 5) Life. How many earthworms per shovel full were there? 5 or more indicates a pretty healthy soil. Fewer than 5, according to the Natural Resources Conservation Service, indicates a soil that is not healthy. and as this is added I can hear the sighs and see the roll of eyes from some here who think this is repeated to often and is unnecessary. Since organic gardeneing starts with the soil this is the place to start.

I've read several techniques for getting rid of tree stumps - one of the most intriguing is the Amish, who apparently dump a whole big pile of manure on top of the stump, and it just goes away in a year or so. I have had to remove 7 large willow trees from my property over the past 5 years. Generally, I cut them off as close to the ground as possible, drill numerous, 1/2" dia holes in the remaining stump and fill those with potassium Nitrate (saltpeter) which is sold as "stump remover", and leave it for a year. I've tried to burn it; the saltpeter is, theoretically, supposed to turn whats left into some thing more flammable than soggy roots, but lets say my results don't live up to the hype. So on a lot of the stumps, I continually fill the drill holes with a high nitrogen fertilizer, which seems to help the decay, and I plant grass all around. It takes a year for the grass to get established. About 3 years down the road, I'll see a huge bloom of mushrooms coming up all around where the roots were. The stump is still there, but I have to really look. I don't notice much soil slump, so much of the root ball must still be there or something, however there was no bulge when the tree was growing either. The last one, a 5' diameter tree that was shading the front sidewalk and driveway in the winter thus creating a skating rink and numerous falls, I cut down, drilled, and put, over a summer, 3 lbs of the saltpeter. That winter, I lit it off and using a reversed shop vac, so it served as a blower, burned the thing out, 2 ' down, in two days. Clouds of sparks in the snowy night. I filled that with top soil, and thats now a slight mound with grass growing all over it.

I'm very late coming to this discussion. It is now May 2019. I live in Nanaimo on Vancouver Island, zone 8. I grow an extensive collection of roses, all of which are no spray. If any of my plants show enough black spot to defoliate the plant, or rust for that matter, they are shovel pruned without hesitation. However that doesn't stop me having an entire yard of roses. For Toronto consider the Canadian bred roses grown on their own roots. They are all wonderful plants. 'Campfire' is outstanding. I also have great success with 'Violet's Pride' and 'Edith's Darling' from the Downton Abby series. An outstanding rose is 'Julia Child'. This yellow rose is in it's second year in my garden. Already a very sturdy plant with no disease problems at all. So the point is, don't stop growing roses. Grow roses with superior genetics. Also make sure you have good growing conditions. That means soil that is friable and water retentive, but not water logged. I use a combination of steer manure and peat moss mixed together to create excellent soil. When watering, don't wet foliage if possible. Water the root area. Make sure your roses are getting enough sunlight.

hey mike.. i could never get away with that in my sandy soil ... in MI the rotting wood leaches all available moisture from the near sand... and they become so dry by about this time of year ... they arent even rotting ... unless they are dry rotting ... most of the rotting in my MI ... is spring and fall when there is ambient moisture ... i could never grow anything.. IN the stump ... unless i was willing to water it every single day ... [again ... big garden vs small garden dilemma] trees i cut when i moved here 14 years ago ... are just to the point of rotting to the point where i can kick off the exposed part ..... with 5 months of ground freeze .. and the dryness of july/august ... thats not a lot of rot months per year ... comparing to mike in the PNW ... i am often amazed at how different it all is ... heck.. up the UP of MI ... there are still stumps from the clear cut at the turn of the 20th century ... 1900s ... and they are colder than i am ... but they have the same sand that i have 350 miles south .... thank you mr glacier .... [ever wonder about the global warming.. that made the glaciers recede 10,000 years ago ... one thing for sure.. it wasnt my fault] but i digress ken