It’s common for gardeners to have to deal with tree stumps. Whether it’s an old stump you inherited after buying a house or you’ve had a tree felled yourself, you’ll have to make a decision about whether to leave the stump in place or remove it.
Stumps can also cause problems on commercial premises, where trees have been cleared and planting or building work is planned.
Photo by madaise
Should I remove tree stumps?
The answer is probably yes. Of course, the easiest course of action is to leave the stump in place. You can use a stump weedkiller to kill off the stump and hopefully prevent regrowth, and they can be made into a garden feature and will become a home for wildlife. But there are several disadvantages to leaving a stump in place:
- ‘Suckering’ can occur, even if a stump is treated with weedkiller. New shoots can grow from the roots which will need to be dealt with all over again.
- Roots underground can interfere with digging borders and new planting.
- Stumps can be a trip hazard in lawns.
- Root diseases like honey fungus can grow in dead wood, affecting other plants and grass.
Photo by Mike McCune
Removing a stump yourself
It is possible to remove a stump physically yourself. But there are drawbacks; physical removal involves a lot of hard labour digging the stump from the ground, which can be a serious undertaking if the tree was large and the root system extensive. You can use the tree trunk for leverage to remove the stump, but only if part of the trunk is still in place, which is unlikely to be the case for an older stump.
You could hire equipment to remove the stump – a mechanical mini-excavator, for example. But this obviously involves a cost, and you will need to operate the equipment yourself.
Professional Stump Removal
The other option is to get the stump removed by a professional. The advantage of this approach is that they will be able to bring in the right equipment, will be experienced in using it and can remove the stump quickly and without any hassle to you.
If you’re having a tree felled by a professional lumberjack, they will usually have access to stump grinding equipment, or a mini-excavator, and can remove the stump as part of the tree felling process. But this often carries an extra cost, and isn’t much help if you’re dealing with an older stump.
Alternatively, you can call in a professional to deal with the stump alone. Acorns Landscape and Gardening can help with professional tree stump removal in Oxford and surrounding areas. Our tree team uses heavy-duty stump grinders to make quick work of your problem stumps – just call and have a chat about how we can help.
Don’t be stumped, get it sorted!
For Oxford tree stump removal, click here to get in touch for a free, no-obligation quote.
