Stump Removal: A Guide to Stump Removal

While removing a large tree stump can be difficult and time-consuming, it can be necessary. In addition to being visually unappealing, the space can be better served by removing the tree stump.

Additionally, tree stumps can come with extra upkeep. Overgrown grass, flowers, and suckering sprouts can grow from the trunk over time, camouflaging the tree stump. Suckering sprouts turn into branches, but never a new tree, and the branches will need to be cut down regularly. This unsightly stump poses a hazard, which people could stumble and hurt themselves on or crash a lawnmower into. Without proper tree care, old tree stumps can attract wasps and termites, rot, or develop a fungal disease that can spread to other trees, and create sunken spots in the lawn.

The safest method is to leave it to removal service professionals, who have the necessary tools and know-how to remove stumps safely. Do-it-yourself tree stump removal is possible with the appropriate tools, but whoever handles the tree removal must wear protective gear and exercise caution. Here are a few stump removal methods:

1. 1. Stump grinding: The most common method used by tree care professionals, stump grinding keeps suckering growth from forming around the perimeter of the spot, and chews a stump down below ground level. Homeowners can rent or purchase a stump grinder, a heavy-duty machine that weighs about 1,000 pounds, from a home improvement store. The process also requires a shovel, chainsaw, and rake. The end result will be a 4-inch deep hole that you’ll need to fill with mulch, dirt, fertilizer, or the wood chips grinding leaves behind.
2. 2. DIY stump removal: Getting a stump out by hand is not easy and requires a chainsaw or limbing saw, a pick mattock, a shovel, a digging bar, an ax, a four-wheel truck, and a chain. First remove any lower branches, then remove the top of the trunk. Once you’ve exposed the root system and cut the major roots away, push and cut the trunk until it’s completely uprooted. Tie the chain around the stump and attach it to a truck, moving until the stump is out of the ground.
3. 3. Chemical stump remover: This process requires a power drill, a chainsaw, potassium nitrate, an ax, and fuel or kerosene. You’ll drill holes in the stump, pour in large amounts of potassium nitrate and follow up with water. Wait four to six weeks for the stump to become spongy, then use an ax to break it apart.
   
4. 4. Burning: For this step, you’ll repeat the steps for chemically removing the stump, but will follow the potassium nitrate with hot water until the potassium nitrate has dissolved. Fill the holes with fuel oil and kerosene. Place scrap wood on top of the stump and light it, then wait for it to burn down. Finally, use an ax or chainsaw to break up large tree roots or stump pieces that are left. Fill in the remaining hole with soil as needed.
5. 5. Rotting: As you would in the chemical and burning processes, use a ½ drill bit to create holes in the stump. Then cover the stump with a high-nitrogen fertilizer, ensuring that the holes will fill. Pour water into the holes. Chip off pieces as it softens and fill in with dirt as needed. In lieu of fertilizer, it’s possible to use epsom salt as a drying agent.

If tree stump removal isn’t an option, you can also allow it to be a part of the design. Coppicing is the ancient practice of cutting down a tree trunk stump to ground level, encouraging new sprouts to grow that will later be used for firewood, fencing, or woodworking. The process can be done for decades repeatedly.

In a garden, the stump can also be used as a base for potted plants, a part of a larger sculpture, or a whimsical craft or picnic table.

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