Stumped
July 31, 2015 10:19 PM Subscribe
We need to take out a plum tree. Mr. K can easily cut it down, it's still small, but it will leave a stump and roots where we'd like to plant something else. How to get rid of the stump?
No poisons, and no way to use anything except muscle power; it's tucked into the corner of our tiny yard.
(sorry for the title of the question, couldn't resist, heh heh)
No poisons, and no way to use anything except muscle power; it's tucked into the corner of our tiny yard.
(sorry for the title of the question, couldn't resist, heh heh)
Best answer: Or just pile soil and mulch over it, plant whatever you want, and call it a hugelkultur mound.
posted by aniola at 10:35 PM on July 31, 2015 [2 favorites]
posted by aniola at 10:35 PM on July 31, 2015 [2 favorites]
pulling out a stump with a come-a-long
(note that the guy in the video is standing in a sort of dumb place and will get a faceful of chain if something breaks)
posted by ryanrs at 10:37 PM on July 31, 2015
(note that the guy in the video is standing in a sort of dumb place and will get a faceful of chain if something breaks)
posted by ryanrs at 10:37 PM on July 31, 2015
How small are we talking? If it's just been planted there for a few years you can likely skip the chopping and just dig it right out with a shovel. You'll even create a nice big hole to plant a new tree in while you're at it.
posted by contraption at 10:50 PM on July 31, 2015
posted by contraption at 10:50 PM on July 31, 2015
I saw a YouTube video for using Epsom Salt to encourage the stump to decompose. You'd probably need to dig out a bit and add topsoil afterwards if you wanted something else to grow there? IDK. Looks like it might take 6 months to get something you could easily dig out.
I like the mushroom idea. A lot!
posted by jbenben at 12:40 AM on August 1, 2015
I like the mushroom idea. A lot!
posted by jbenben at 12:40 AM on August 1, 2015
My other thought was to rent a jack hammer, but that might be really dangerous. I'm also afraid of chain saws, personally.
You could also rent a small backhoe (mini excavator rentals, per Google) but it might trample your backyard.
Check Youtube for ideas. There's always some inventive contraption someone has rigged featured that might suit your needs.
posted by jbenben at 1:27 AM on August 1, 2015
You could also rent a small backhoe (mini excavator rentals, per Google) but it might trample your backyard.
Check Youtube for ideas. There's always some inventive contraption someone has rigged featured that might suit your needs.
posted by jbenben at 1:27 AM on August 1, 2015
Although commercial stump grinders/chippers are hefty, they also come in smaller sizes more like a large lawn mower. If it's a really tight corner it might not work, but if it's a stump more than a hand-span across it might be worth hiring one?
posted by AFII at 1:44 AM on August 1, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by AFII at 1:44 AM on August 1, 2015 [1 favorite]
Just use a shovel and a mattock. This isn't that big a job, remove soil until you're bored of doing that, then use the axe on the lowest roots you can access, it'll come out fine, put soil back, fill stump hole with more soil and plant. Speaking from experience here.
posted by wilful at 2:20 AM on August 1, 2015 [2 favorites]
posted by wilful at 2:20 AM on August 1, 2015 [2 favorites]
Just use a shovel and a mattock. This isn't that big a job, remove soil until you're bored of doing that, then use the axe on the lowest roots you can access, it'll come out fine, put soil back, fill stump hole with more soil and plant. Speaking from experience here.
As long as it is small, this is totally correct. I found a pulaski axe to be the easiest tool for chopping through roots, but it's good to have a few chopping tools on hand because there is always an awkward angle on one root next to the fence or whatever. Dig out the soil, chop roots, and repeat until the stump comes loose. It can be physically hard work but it's not complicated.
If it is big, then you will want equipment, either a stump grinder or a machine big enough to dig it out. You can rent those at your local rental place or pay someone to do it, depending on your comfort level and any site complications. (Some of the suggestions above sound like the person has never personally removed a stump, but I guess that is the beauty of AskMe sometimes.)
posted by Dip Flash at 4:50 AM on August 1, 2015 [1 favorite]
As long as it is small, this is totally correct. I found a pulaski axe to be the easiest tool for chopping through roots, but it's good to have a few chopping tools on hand because there is always an awkward angle on one root next to the fence or whatever. Dig out the soil, chop roots, and repeat until the stump comes loose. It can be physically hard work but it's not complicated.
If it is big, then you will want equipment, either a stump grinder or a machine big enough to dig it out. You can rent those at your local rental place or pay someone to do it, depending on your comfort level and any site complications. (Some of the suggestions above sound like the person has never personally removed a stump, but I guess that is the beauty of AskMe sometimes.)
posted by Dip Flash at 4:50 AM on August 1, 2015 [1 favorite]
Pumpkins and hosta are two plants that will basically bury the stump and enjoy having the broken down wood as a source of nutrients while hastening the decay. Hosta doesn't hurry up the decay as much as pumpkins do but they are a perennial and you can get free plants from someone who is dividing up one that has gotten too thick. Then you can plant and forget.
If it were my stump I would experiment with hollowing it out using fire because I am never going to have a chance to build a dugout canoe; but you may not be obsessed with primitive technology like I am.
I wouldn't add epsom salts or anything else to my property unless I was sure that it was an essential plant nutrient that was in short supply and it would improve my soil.
Maybe search images "garden stump ideas" to see if any exciting ideas jump out at you that will help you rethink the idea of must-get-rid-of-this-eyesore.
posted by Jane the Brown at 7:05 AM on August 1, 2015
If it were my stump I would experiment with hollowing it out using fire because I am never going to have a chance to build a dugout canoe; but you may not be obsessed with primitive technology like I am.
I wouldn't add epsom salts or anything else to my property unless I was sure that it was an essential plant nutrient that was in short supply and it would improve my soil.
Maybe search images "garden stump ideas" to see if any exciting ideas jump out at you that will help you rethink the idea of must-get-rid-of-this-eyesore.
posted by Jane the Brown at 7:05 AM on August 1, 2015
Response by poster: I'm going to make me a hugelkultur mound! I'd never heard of one five minutes ago, and now I'm a convert. Thanks, aniola!
However, if anyone reading this has had a terrible experience with one, I'm interested in the details. :-)
posted by kestralwing at 8:13 AM on August 1, 2015
However, if anyone reading this has had a terrible experience with one, I'm interested in the details. :-)
posted by kestralwing at 8:13 AM on August 1, 2015
Best answer: I thought you should only hugelkulter with dead wood and not a live stump. You do run the risk of the tree just growing right up through the new soil. I'm all for improving the soil with dead wood, but I think the stump and route needed to come out first. It is really quite simple to accomplish.
Step zero: get some nice beer because you will deserve it when finished.
Step one: start digging the soil away from the base of the stump.
Step two: when you come across a root co-op through it with an axe
Steel three: continue around the stump piling the soil somewhere out of the way.
Step four: keep going around the stump also removing the soil underneath it until all the way around.
Step five: remove the stump from the hole when it is loose. It can be easier if there is a bit out trunk left to give more leverage.
Step six: drink the beer.
posted by koolkat at 10:16 AM on August 1, 2015
Step zero: get some nice beer because you will deserve it when finished.
Step one: start digging the soil away from the base of the stump.
Step two: when you come across a root co-op through it with an axe
Steel three: continue around the stump piling the soil somewhere out of the way.
Step four: keep going around the stump also removing the soil underneath it until all the way around.
Step five: remove the stump from the hole when it is loose. It can be easier if there is a bit out trunk left to give more leverage.
Step six: drink the beer.
posted by koolkat at 10:16 AM on August 1, 2015
BTW I am speaking from experience. I literally just got done digging out a tree at my fiancée's father's house about ten minutes ago. It was the turns tree I've removed this year and was about 8 inches in diameter
posted by koolkat at 10:18 AM on August 1, 2015
posted by koolkat at 10:18 AM on August 1, 2015
Best answer: Plums do tend to be vigorous sucker producers, so I agree that hugelkulter is probably going to result in a lot of suckers growing up through the soil. That's not the end of the world, as you can just keep cutting them, but be aware that this is likely and don't plant things that would make it difficult to remove suckers. I would think that the deeper the stump is buried the better.
There are options to prevent suckers, but I think they are all fairly strong pesticides, which you may or may not be comfortable with.
posted by ssg at 10:52 AM on August 1, 2015
There are options to prevent suckers, but I think they are all fairly strong pesticides, which you may or may not be comfortable with.
posted by ssg at 10:52 AM on August 1, 2015
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Innoculate it with mushrooms. You can buy mushroom plugs off the internet. They will help the stump decompose more quickly, and maybe give you something for your salad! I don't know which kind you'd want for a plum tree.
posted by aniola at 10:34 PM on July 31, 2015