Dallas Morning News – January 20, 2022

Stump Management and Removal

When trees have to be cut down, for whatever the reason, stumps have to be managed. One choice – stumps can be left in place to be bases for plants in containers or sculpture, but the most practical removal approach, if the budget allows, is to hire a tree care company to use a stump grinder for mechanical removal. It’s quick, always successful and doesn’t cost all that much.

When trees have to be cut down, for whatever the reason, stumps have to be managed. One choice – stumps can be left in place to be bases for plants in containers or sculpture, but the most practical removal approach, if the budget allows, is to hire a tree care company to use a stump grinder for mechanical removal. It’s quick, always successful and doesn’t cost all that much.

To do yourself, cut the stump flush with the ground, then drill holes – larger, deeper and more the better. Fill holes with sugar, syrup, old jellies, jams, candies, molasses or buttermilk. Old fertilizer can also be used – especially if it’s organic.

This is a flowering cherry stump drilled, salt Peter applied to holes and all watered in

What you should never do is pour any toxic herbicides, such as 2,4-D into the holes – as is commonly recommended unfortunately. The toxins are dangerous to you, your pets and wildlife plus they will eventually seep out of the stump and contaminate the soil and the roots of nearby desirable plants. Plus, the toxic products are not needed. Food products and other low or non-toxic products work just as well or better.

After treatment, moisten the stump thoroughly and cover with a thick blanket of mulch. Shredded native tree trimmings is as usual the best choice. Potassium nitrate (saltpeter) can also be the choice treatment and added to the holes to act as an oxidizer to speed up the rotting. Sold under brand names such as “Stump Killer” or “Stump Remover” look for potassium nitrate on the label under ingredients. It’s usually not in the product name.

These are saltpeter commcercial products. Look for Potassium Nitrate on the label ingredients

How long does the rotting take? Well, it depends on the type of tree. Bois ‘d arc will take the longest to rot using this or any other technique. Hardwood trees in general take longer than the soft wooded junk trees.

For small stump removal there are strong tools on the market that can “wrench” stumps out of the ground. Smashing with a sledge hammer and then jamming a tin can over the stumps and pounding both into the ground can actually work pretty well – and it’s fun. The can will rust and decay and the stump and roots will die and rot.

Flowering cherry stump after rotting for a while. Should be covered with mulch to finish the job

For those of you with farms or ranches, mesquite and other problematic tree stumps can be killed with a 50/50 mix of molasses and diesel. Not a pure organic approach but it works well and thanks to the molasses, the diesel breaks down quickly and doesn’t cause long term contamination.

One more tip on mesquite and other similar trees such as huisache. Larger, single-stemmed trees should be left alone. They self control seedlings from sprouting around them, livestock enjoy the shade and native grasses are able to grow around these trees because of openness of the canopies. The problems start when these trees are cut down or bulldozed, growing back as a multi-stemmed, bushy mess of a problem.