How can I get a stump to rot faster?

I cut down a couple of overgrown pines and an old arborvitae last summer and I would like to plant new trees and perennials where the stumps are. Is there some way to organically encourage the stumps to rot faster, besides just leaving them exposed to the elements?

Thanks
pam

I'd dig them out, but if you aren't up to that, here's a short piece from Progressive Farmer:

Stubborn Stump Solution

Want that unsightly tree stump to be gone in a hurry? Here's how to speed nature's rotting process.

By Dan Miller

You can grind it. You can hack away at it. You can burn it. You can blow it up. None of these approaches work well on roots designed to hold a tree up against 100-mph winds. The result of such heavy, manual labor is sweat and little satisfaction.

But there is another alternative-simply letting the stump rot. Slow, you say? Here's a way to speed up nature's process:

Use a chain saw to cut the stump as close to the ground as possible. It's an odd angle of cutting. Beware of kickbacks. Remember to avoid cutting into the ground. That rapidly dulls the cutting teeth and throws debris into the air.

# Drill large holes, a few inches deep, into the stump.

# Fill the holes with a source of nitrogen and add water. The nitrogen source can be manure or a home fertilizer high in nitrogen.

# Apply powdered milk to jump-start the work of fungi. Mushrooms show the fungi are working.

# Soak the ground around the stump.

# Cover the stump with a plastic tarp or dirt.

# Cover the tarp or dirt with mulch.

# Wet the mulch. You may want to add rocks to anchor the tarp.

# Remove the tarp and add water and a teaspoon of nitrogen occasionally. Then cover the stump again.

# Use a herbicide to stop new sprouts. However, the roots of one tree can graft with the roots of a nearby tree and kill it as well. The best way to remove sprouts is to just cut them when they are 6 to 8 inches tall.

# Add a bit of borax to red cedar and pine stumps. This prevents a fresh-cut stump from being inoculated by annosus root rot, a soil-dwelling fungus. The fungi spreads into the stump and roots and, potentially, onto healthy pines and red cedars through root grafts.

Okay, this is not how to make it rot faster, but...As I've posted before, the previous owner of my property cut down a lot of trees. He left a lot of stumps. There was one that was really big and wide and low to the ground, that I left and put a little figurine on top. Looks pretty. The rest were pretty much just tripping hazards...and I personally tripped on every one of them many times. We went to the handy rent-all in town and rented a large tree stump grinder. Picked it up at the end of the day and got the rental for half price when we returned it the next morning (that's the deal at our rent-all). In an evening we ground down about a dozen stumps. You grind a little, dig out the soil around it, grind some more. Now you can't even tell where they were anymore. It was a big machine and my husband handled it, while I directed him with hand signals, left, right, forward, stop, etc. He wasn't able to see the ground from where you control it. But all in all, it worked for us. No more stumps and all it took was one evening and a little bit of work. Of all the jobs around the house we've done, I'd rate this one as not too hard...if you're a handy sort of person.

This message was edited Apr 14, 2006 5:13 PM

I did the same thing but let the stump grinder do the digging. No stones to worry about. It was fun swinging back and forth like the Pit and The Pendulum. Ahhhhh Haaaa Haaa.

If you want to do it organically, go to fungiperfecti.com. You can get plugs for holes you can drill or oil for your chainsaw to inoculate the stumps with edible mushroom spores. most kinds only work on hardwoods but there are a few that work on conifers. This way you get rid of the stumps quicker without waste and get a tasty dish.

Maggie

I could send you some termites. I noticed a very active colony working on a stump in my yard today. I had a lawn statue on the stump. When I moved the statue, there were tons of termites under it .. blech.... Perhaps you could put a statue on your stump?

Peeing on your stump daily would help it decompose faster :-)
(a stump is primarily carbon, adding nitrogen, like urea, can spead up the decay)

If you delute amonium nitrate,(34-0-0)fert.in water,and spray it on the stump,periotically,it will decay much faster,within 2yrs.

I've seen the Amish, in OH, clear land by backing manure spreaders up to large stumps, completely covering them with a mound of stable manure(mostly horse), and within a year or two, they can hitch a team to them and out they come. Guess if you left it longer, or replenished with fresh manure on a regular basis, the stump would disappear after a time. This was mainly with hardwood stumps; don't know how well it'll work on pine - if there's a lot of resin in the heartwood, I doubt that anything is gonna break that down very rapidly.

We always used to have the stump decompose VERY QUICKLY with a urea bag soaked in diesel fuel and shooting it from a great distance with a deer rifle. HA HA. BOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!

Thanks everyone!!

Think I will drill and dump some hi-N and powdered milk on the stump and let 'er rip. Or rot, rather. :)

LOL soferdig and joepyeweed
Although that is a very tempting solution, the City of Fairmont (not to mention my neighbors) might have issues with me handling 1) explosives and 2) firearms within city limits. :) Not to mention 3) public urination.

pam

Well I would Move! Not a kind of place I'd live. LOL

I now know more than perhaps I wanted to about soferdig... :) :) :) LOL

You could, and I do know of some compost wackos who do this, pee in a container indoors and then pour it on your stump (or compost pile). That eliminates the public urination problem.

I have asked my husband on numerous occaisions to pee on my compost pile and he just looks at me like I am nuts...

We did get some contributions last summer when several of his friends were enjoying a few beers while grilling... and the topic of hte peeing on the pile was discussed.

Yeah, I could pee in a cup, it was just the mental image of squatting over a stump that had me giggling. :) DH has offered to pee around the perimeter of my veggie garden for pest deterrance, I might take him up on his offer if the deer are bad this year! :)

Just see the movie Never Cry Wolf. A good perimeter pee is all that is needed to define your area. I always marked my deer trail when I first moved in and it ended their prefrence to that area. Well that and my Jack Russell terrier.

Hm, I think I WILL encourage DH to mark my territory. Might have to be at night, though, since the front and side yards are quite visible to the neighbors (almost all of whom are retired and love to watch what we do...we're better than TV around here. :) )

pam

You did not see my past story on "Marking territory". I live in a neighborhood where my neighbors are captive elk. So I often walk and talk with them. Well one day a bull elk was scratching and bugeling at me through the fence during the "Rut". I was working in my garden on the other side of the elk fence when he raised up and started to strike at me and the fence. Well I can only take so much intimidation by the big guys. (I'm only 5'8") I decided to mark my territority the proper way and went to the refer and guzzled a couple of Rainiers. I let him have it right on the nose when he was scraping the ground with his antlers. He suddenly stopped and looked at me and backed away never to come to the fence that entire rut. So I felt quite powerful and strutted my stuff. Well the only problem is that April the lead cow of the herd has never left me alone since then, when I'm working along the fence. She walks along the fence back and forth smacking her lips and raising her head. (actually she is making sure that I know she is the real boss) LOL

LOL LOL LOL
That's a great story. :) I've heard of peeing contests but never with a bull elk before. The only elks around here drink beer at the lodge downtown. :) Better watch out for those lady elks, though!!

pam

I read of a scheme where someone drilled a lot of holes into their stumps with a big auger, packed it with salt and waited for the deer to come and tear into the stump to get the salt. Don't know if it was true or how long it took, but it does seem like a no-work solution it is true.

Wayne

A deer could only lick at the stump they have no bottom teeth to tear on hard materials. So I doubt it. They can only strip soft buds and tear grass to eat with the top teeth and bottom gums.