Homeowners who have trees cut down in their yard and leave the stumps inevitably want to know if there is something they can do to speed up the rotting of the stumps.
There is, but obviously, the larger the stump, the longer it takes.
A large tree will have a stump with many roots growing out into the soil. You can cut the surface roots away, but the entire woody system remains. As wood decays in large roots, the soil might give way and holes develop in your landscape.
It’s always better if the stump is cut as low to the ground as possible. Next, scar the top of the stump to make slits, lines, or holes. This increases the surface area of the top.
Then water the area around the stump. Water the stump’s surface and 5 to 10 feet beyond it.
Try to keep the soil and stump moist, not wet. Water-saturated soils and wet stumps don’t support rapid wood decay.
The decay of a stump requires moisture and oxygen, so don’t limit or block oxygen movement into the soil or stump.
Now you can apply a general purpose fertilizer to the stump top and surrounding soil. The ideal fertilizer would contain nitrogen and phosphorus. The nitrogen should be in both slow-release and fast-release forms.
It’s helpful too, if it’s in both nitrate and ammonium forms for release into the soil. But you don’t have to do extensive shopping for the perfect fertilizer. Just mainly one with nitrogen in it. Adding nitrogen to the soil and stump top will help the fungi grow and speed the decay process along.
Thinly covering the stump top with soil or organic mulch will help keep it moist and shade it from sunlight and drying winds. Don’t use plastic to cover stumps because it blocks oxygen.
Using rock salt or a commercial stump remover will do much of the same thing. If you want to use these, try the following. Get a drill and drill holes in the stump with the largest drill bit you have.
Drill several holes in the stump. With the ones drilled toward the sides of the stump, drill another hole at an angle until it reaches a hole you drilled straight down. This will help oxygen get down to the bottom of the hole.
Fill the holes with the above materials. Over time, keep applying them.
I once rotted some good size pine trees in two years using this method.
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