Many summer residents at least once face this problem: the trees on the site inevitably age, suffer from diseases, break down in a strong wind. After their removal, stumps remain. If the tree was small, then uprooting will not be too problematic. But the remains of large trees can cause a lot of trouble.
All options for dealing with unwanted wood residues can be divided into 2 groups-fast and slow. Let’s take a closer look at what are the ways to remove the stump from the site.
For hurriers
those who want here and now, all at once, choose the appropriate methods. they require large physical, energy and financial costs.
- Digging out
a small root of a young tree is not very difficult to just dig up. in addition to the shovel, this work will probably require an axe (to cut the roots) and a crowbar or similar object (to use as a lever).
you can dig out and take out the whole not only a small stump, but also quite a decent one. only you will have to dig in a larger area and longer, and to pull the stump, you will need a winch. it is often fixed to another tree of suitable size growing nearby. when clearing the site, when there are a lot of stumps nearby, you can install a winch on a nearby stump. and if there is nothing strong enough nearby, then the mechanism that increases the traction force is attached to a tripod.
- Shredding
Whatever the size of the stump, the onslaught of the physical strength of a purposeful person, supported by tools, it will not withstand. the stump can be cut into pieces, split them into smaller elements, dig in-and eventually extract all the pieces. minus: this activity is for those who are not deprived of physical abilities, that is, for the young and healthy.
- Professional shredding
In the arsenal of garden and park farms there is special equipment-stump grinders, stump grinders, rooters. Basically, they are divided into 3 varieties — through, disk and rotary. The first are attachments (for example, on a tractor) in the form of a horizontally located multi-toothed cutter. When working, the cutter is buried in the soil, grinding stumps, roots, small stones. after the passage of such an aggregate, called a mulcher, a smooth, well-loosened surface remains.
Of course, such a technique for removing a single stump should not be invited. But for clearing an abandoned and overgrown area-quite. pass-through shredders are especially good for removing young growth of trees and shrubs, because large stumps can pose a certain problem for them.
Disc and rotary stump shredders operate point-by-point. And just they are most well suited for destroying the remains of large old trees. They are used in parks and on city streets: such equipment can work in cramped conditions, and after the end of the work there is a pile of chips and shavings mixed with the soil — you can immediately plant a new tree.
At the disk shredder, the working body is a disk with cutting teeth. The rotary stump shredder is a large drill that works like a pencil sharpener, only in reverse.
For those who are not in a hurry
If the removal of a tree stump does not become the only important thing for you that requires immediate solution, you can get rid of it by chemical or biological means. experts advise not to delay the removal of stumps, but to remove them immediately after cutting down trees. This is especially true for chemical methods of exposure — so that the drug used penetrates deeper into the wood by moving the sap of the tree.
- Saltpeter and urea
Autumn is the best time for such operations. In the stump, you need to make depressions (for example, cut the surface with a saw or drill a large diameter drill). In the recesses, do not skimp on sodium, ammonia or potassium nitrate.
All 3 substances are ordinary fertilizers sold in stores for gardeners. then moisten everything thoroughly, tie the stump with plastic wrap to prevent the active substance from being washed off by rain, and leave it in this form for a year.
Next fall, you need to make a fire on the stump, and the saltpeter that has soaked the wood during this time will ensure rapid and complete combustion of not only the aboveground part, but also the rhizome. Potash nitrate burns especially actively, and it is not for nothing that it is used for the manufacture of gunpowder and pyrotechnic products. When burning a stump, do not forget about caution and safety: this method can not be used on peat soils and near other combustible objects.
If you do not want to burn anything, then after another year the stumps treated in this way will rot and therefore be uprooted with much less effort. For the decomposition of wood, another fertilizer is also suitable — urea. in addition to these substances, you can try to find special preparations for chemical removal of stumps.
- Salt or herbicide
If the stump is “alive” (left over from cutting down a live tree), then, in addition to removing the stump itself, the issue of dealing with root growth may arise. You can kill the tree’s thirst for life by treating a fresh cut with a strong herbicide or generously sprinkling with table salt.
- New instead of old
Another slow way to destroy a stump is to plant a new tree in it. Make a recess in a large stump, fill in the fertile soil and plant a seedling in this “pot”. A new tree with its roots will eventually destroy the stump. For such an operation, it is better to cut the trunk as close to the ground as possible, and also pre-treat the stump with saltpeter.
- Mushrooms
Another way is to populate the stump with mycelium of xylotrophic fungi (growing on dead wood). In a few years, the mushroom colony will turn the stump into a pile of dust, which will be an excellent substrate for planting plants. This method is not fast, but it allows you to have a harvest of mushrooms on your site. The disadvantage of this method can be the potential danger of infection with wood-destroying fungi not only unnecessary stump, but also weakened or diseased trees in the garden.
For aesthetes
If you do not consider the presence of stumps on the site an evil that must be fought, there is an option to include the remains of the tree in the landscape design.
- Garden furniture and art objects
If the stump is well located on the site, has sufficient size and a beautiful shape, it can be turned into garden furniture — a table or chair. Or a garden sculpture. You can just leave it as it is — and enjoy the whimsical shape, expressive surface texture and bending of the roots.
- Flowerbed
An old stump can be used as a flowerbed, making a recess in it for the soil or using it as a decorative stand for a container with annual flowers.
- Rotary
Particularly outstanding for their decorative clumsiness, specimens can become the center of a whole landscape composition in Rotary — in the garden of roots..
Do you know any other method not described in the article, how to remove a stump from the site? Share in the comments, we will all be very interested.