Have you topped your tree yourself, or had a fallen tree and now your stuck with this unsightly stump in the ground?
It can seem like there’s not much you can do but leave the stump to naturally decompose. But when you consider that can take up to 10 years to happen, what can you do with this eyesore in the meantime?
Turn into Lawn Furniture
A popular solution is to get creative and transform your stump into a natural outdoor table, stool or some other feature. There’s lots you can do:
- Create a base for a water fountain
- Place a bird bath, bird house or feeder
- Turn into an outdoor table, chair or stool
- Place a potted plant on-top
Turn into a Planter for Flowers
A beautiful and very popular idea for idle tree stumps is to convert them into a planter. Homeowners can find that these features can suddenly become a stand-out focal point in their yard, and they can really be worth the effort; you may be surprised at just how common the practice is. There are all kinds of shallow-root plants you can grow; including herbs, small shrubs and even some vegetables. Essentially you’ll need to hollow out the center of the stump by chipping away, drill for drainage and fill with sand, soil/potting mix, then plant your seeds/plants.
There are lots of simple guides online to help you do this: Here’s a good one from Instructables.
Get Creative with the Children
Popular ideas include creating a fairy house, magical castle or an outdoor board game. The outdoors can be a magical and imaginative place for young children. A great way to encourage their sense of wonder is to help them turn your tree stump into a home for mystical creatures such as fairies, gnomes etc.. They can get creative with pebbled pathways, steps, doorways (which can be bought online, and there are LOTS of them on sites like Etsy.)
Or a super simple idea is to create an outdoor board game, just mark on the lines for say checkers, chess or any other popular board game, perhaps create some special outdoor pieces and away you go.
Have the Stump Professionally Removed
Not only can DIY stump removal be extremely tricky, it can be dangerous too. Sometimes homeowners disrupt water, sewer and gas lines, cause damage to their landscape and just cause themselves hassle.
A professional stump removal service such as Madd Beaver Tree Experts & Stump Grinding Service can use specialist tools and expertise to clearly and safely remove your problem tree stump from above. The roots may still remain but you won’t have the unsightly view of the stump anymore.