How to Remove a Stump Naturally

Tree stumps can be a pain. They stick up out of the ground (usually in inconvenient places) and unless you decide to use it as a picnic table it takes up space and looks like an open wound upon your landscape.

There are several different ways to remove stumps from your yard; you can pour chemicals on them, continue to cut on them or even dig them out of the ground. Unfortunately all of these methods either require you to buy something or work really hard.

Our ancestors, knowing that stumps will rot away all by themselves since they are made of wood, had an ingenious method that not only allowed the stump to decompose naturally but required almost no effort at all.

After cutting the stump down as low as they desired, they would heap mounds of leaves and other organic discards over the stump. If you want to contain the size of the pile, encircle the stump with a piece of discarded fence, allowing several inches of space between the stump and the enclosure.

Cover that stump with anything organic: leaves, grass clippings, even vegetable compost from the home (no animal matter like meat, however) and then plant squash seeds, pumpkin seeds or even potatoes in the mound of rotting material surrounding the stump.

The moisture, air and bacteria held close to the stump by the organic discards and fresh plants will not only encourage the stump to decay faster than normal but you will also have the added benefit of an organic decoration in your yard that will provide food for your table while you patiently allow Nature to do what it does best.

Is this an instant fix? No. Does it work? Yes, and without hazardous chemicals, added work or the cost involved with commercial methods. The only thing it really requires is a little patience.

Reference:
"How to Survive Without A Salary;" Charles Long; 1993.