Making Trees More Beautiful

Posted on: 22 March 2020

When you cut down a tree in your yard, you are left with a tree stump to contend with. Many people hire a professional to grind up the tree stump, breaking it up into mulch. However, that is not the only way to deal with an old stump. You can also manually remove the tree stump or chemically break down the stump. Here are a few things you need to know about each of these removal methods.

Manually Remove the Stump

If the tree stump is on the smaller side, you can manually get rid of the tree stump. This works well on small as well as medium-sized stumps; manually removing a large tree stump may not be worth the work it requires.

In order to manually remove the stump, you are going to want to use a special tool called a mattock. A mattock has an end that allows you to dig and another end that is sharp. You will use the sharp side to slice through the roots you will encounter as you dig up the stump.

Dig around the old stump, and then dig under the stump in order to pull it out. This could take a couple of hours or all day, depending on how large the stump it. It is a good idea to have a small saw on hand as well for breaking up larger roots.

Chemically Break Down the Stump

Another way to deal with the stump is by chemically breaking down the stump. This is a good method to use if the stump is on the larger side. When you chemically break down the stump, you are essentially accelerating the decay process.

Using chemicals is a process that requires patience; chemicals require time, up to a few months, to break down the stump completely. Alternatively, you can use the chemical method to break the stump down a bit, and then manually remove the remaining material.

To chemically break down the stump, you are going to need to take a saw and cut the stump as short as possible. You want to get the stump as short as possible so there is less stump that needs to be broken up with chemicals. Then, take out a drill bit and drill holes every few inches around the stump.

Soak the stump with water. Next, fill the holes using a fertilizer that has really high nitrogen levels. After that, spray the ground surrounding the old stump until it is soft. Then put a tarp over the stump. This will lock in the moisture and help accelerate the break-down process.

Add organic mulch on top of the tarp. Keep the mulch wet to add weight to it. This will cover up the stump as it rots. Once a week, remove the tarp and add more fertilizer to the holes and moisten everything again. After a month or two, the stump should be soft enough to easily break apart and remove.

If you don't want a big hole of mulch from grinding a stump, you can manually dig it out or use chemicals to accelerate the natural rotting process. Both methods will help you get rid of that unwanted stump.

Reach out to a stump removal company to learn more.