One more - What's the best frugal green way to rot out a tree stump?

[IrishAyes]

I can't burn it because I'm afraid of underground fires even though I know we don't have the right conditions for one here. I'm just super careful about fire.

[Curmudgeoness]

1. I know of no way.

The only green and frugal thing I know is to let it rot. I have a stump that is finally starting to fall apart now. The tree was taken down when I was a child, and I am 60 now. But I used it for years to put flower pots on.

I would think that stump grinding is the only way to safely get rid of it, although I have seen people burn them without problems. Or get yourself an ax and just start whacking on it, day after day until you make progress....you won't need a gym membership.

Could you leave it in place? Plant vines that will climb all over it, or something that grows tall enough to hide it all around it?

Sorry. I am not any help.

[IrishAyes]

7. You're always a great deal of help, and I look forward to your posts.

I should've mentioned up front about the fact that I have dogs I don't want to expose to chemicals. But at 2 and 3 years old, they no longer try to dig up everything in sight. They are digging around the stump right now, but I imagine they'll get tired of it soon and then maybe I should plant hosta around it. Hosta almost grows wild here, which surprises me because we have severe winters. One thing for sure, the vinca - which I also love - would overrun things and hide the stump remnant in no time. So maybe that's what I'll do, if I can keep down the tree's suckers. They could be selected for a little selective salt spraying, I guess.

I always wanted to order one of those giant hostas anyway, but had run out of space to put it. This would be perfect, and I could bury the bulb in a wire basket to keep the dogs away - they keep moles or anything else bad away.

[Viva_La_Revolution]

2. like this

http://homeguides.sfgate.com/make-pine-stump-rot-quickly-85934.htm

[hollysmom]

3. I cut my stump down to the ground and put a planter on top until the stump rotted away. n/t

[Erich Bloodaxe BSN]

4. Drill a lot of holes into it to make it more attractive to bugs?

And 'seed it' by finding some rotten, bug-infested wood and setting it up against the stump?

We had a 20 year old cherry that came down in the sheer winds from Hurricane Ike, and the upper part had rotted away by last year; this year I almost twisted an ankle when I stepped on the spot and it sagged into the ground.

Are you just looking to have a nice flat spot again asap, or are you wanting to actually be able to dig and plant underground in that area?

[LiberalEsto]

5. Toss grass clippings on it.

And manure, if you have any.
The nitrogen from green vegetation and manure will help break down the carbon in the stump.

We lost several tall black cherry trees in a hurricane about 10 years ago, and couldn't afford to have the stumps ground down. I planted hostas and daylilies around the stumps to conceal them and kept applying grass and manure, They are well broken down now.

[kentauros]

8. That looks like this "hugelkultur" method:

[font size="3"]Hugelkultur: The Ultimate Raised Garden Beds[/font]
(image-intensive site)

hugelkultur raised garden beds in a nutshell:
grow a typical garden without irrigation or fertilization
has been demonstrated to work in deserts as well as backyards
use up rotting wood, twigs, branches and even whole trees that would otherwise go to the dump or be burned
it is pretty much nothing more than buried wood
can be flush with the ground, although raised garden beds are typically better
can start small, and be added to later
can always be small - although bigger is better
You can save the world from global warming by doing carbon sequestration in your own back yard!
perfect for places that have had trees blown over by storms
can help end world hunger
give a gift to your future self




Looks like a great way to break down logs and stumps you can't use in other ways

[justhanginon]

10. Very interesting. I have some pretty well rotted

parts of trees and a large maple that fell last year. I have a raised bed that is 4 feet by 8 feet and surrounded by concrete blocks. I think I will clear the tomatoes out and give this a try. I need to read some more but at first reading it sounds promising.
Thanks for posting this.

[IrishAyes]

6. Thank you, everyone. Many fine suggestions.

[Thor_MN]

9. Dig.

I have pulled a 5 foot diameter Silver Maple stump, a 4 foot diameter Ash, and 2 foot diameter Red Maple and Pine stumps from my lot. It's a long, slow process, but you can dig and cut roots out, eventually the stump is free. It helps greatly if there is a section of the tree left to use as a lever, but stumps can be dug out of the ground regardless.

[fasttense]

11. Make it into a mushroom factory

It has been awhile since I researched anything but oyster mushrooms, but it seems to me there is a mushroom that eats dead tree stumps while giving you fresh mushrooms to eat. It's pretty easy to inoculate a stump with mushroom spores. You drill holes in the stump, hammer in some mycelium infested wooden plugs, brush with wax then wait. You can buy the plugs on line from most.mushroom spores companies. They can help you with the type of mushroom you need along with when and how to grow it on your stump.

Look into it. It is natural, nontoxic and wont hurt any animals.

[IrishAyes]

12. Sounds great.

I'd have to fence it off from my dogs though. This spot gets a good deal of sun. I'll have to find out if any mushrooms grow w/o shade. The people I bought my house from showed me a spot where they said morels used to grow - that's where I'll plant them when I get a chance. EVERYTHING has to be fenced off from the dogs!

[fasttense]

13. Here's a link to the site of the man who wrote the bible on growing gourmet mushrooms.

http://www.fungi.com/shop/grow-mushrooms-on-logs-and-stumps.html

The site has a lot of info on growing mushrooms. If the stump gets too much sun just put a tarp over it for shade.
He recommends hardwoods for the most mushroom production but you can use a softer wood too, you just don't get as many mushrooms.

I have that same problem with my dogs. All our gardens and chickens are fenced off from them. Over a period of 2 years, all 3 of our old dogs passed away and I ended up with no dogs. I didn't realize how much they did to keep domesticated and wild animals away. Without them, I got skunks, cats, raccoons and hawks after my chickens; tons of rabbits and rodents in my gardens and deer roaming and trampling everything. Even had several coyotes come visit one of our further flung gardens in broad daylight. So, we got 3 more dogs. It's a trade off.

[IrishAyes]

14. I could live w/o mushrooms if needed, but never my dogs. They're as necessary as air and water.

[dennisdavid]

15. go green

go green

[CountAllVotes]

16. Big pick-up truck, a hitch and a chain

That is how I got rid of 10 of the damned things last year. My neighbor pulled two of them up and it damn near blew out the transmission on his truck though!

After that, I found a "tree specialist" to come over and do the same thing to the other 10 trees that HAD TO GO and he charged me $20.00 a tree and hauled them away to be recycled. I know I got off dirt cheap deal but I'm sure glad the trees are gone.

The were English Laurel trees and don't ever plant one as the grow to be very large and they became totally out of control.

So remember, big ass truck w/hitch & don't forget the chain to wrap around the stump and off you go. Best to do it when the ground is wet as they'll come up a lot easier!

& now English Laurel tree free to boot!

[OkSustainAg]

17. Getting rid of stumps easily.

Cut a X in the stump and use buttermilk. The enzymes will immediately start working on the stump.