We have a very large old tree (2.5 foot diameter) that is dying. It
is in the middle of a 10 foot diameter flower bed with flowering bulbs
close to the tree and annuals planted around the outside edge. I do
not want to have the stump ground up after we take the tree down as
that would obliterate the flower bed. Does anyone have any ideas of
something we could do with the stump that would be decorative and
still allow us to enjoy both the spring flower bulbs and plant
annuals ?

"hr(bob) " wrote in message
...
We have a very large old tree (2.5 foot diameter) that is dying. It
is in the middle of a 10 foot diameter flower bed with flowering bulbs
close to the tree and annuals planted around the outside edge. I do
not want to have the stump ground up after we take the tree down as
that would obliterate the flower bed. Does anyone have any ideas of
something we could do with the stump that would be decorative and
still allow us to enjoy both the spring flower bulbs and plant
annuals ?

Ideas are infinite; potted anuals, bird bath, sun dial, gazing ball, gqarden
sculpture...

On Sun, 24 May 2009 14:15:37 -0700 (PDT), "hr(bob) "
wrote:

We have a very large old tree (2.5 foot diameter) that is dying. It
is in the middle of a 10 foot diameter flower bed with flowering bulbs
close to the tree and annuals planted around the outside edge. I do
not want to have the stump ground up after we take the tree down as
that would obliterate the flower bed. Does anyone have any ideas of
something we could do with the stump that would be decorative and
still allow us to enjoy both the spring flower bulbs and plant
annuals ?


If you don't remove the stump, it will be there for a very long time.
White oak will be there twice as long as pine. I have seen a lot of
ugly ivy-covered stumps, but some think it looks good.

hr(bob) wrote:
We have a very large old tree (2.5 foot diameter) that is dying. It
is in the middle of a 10 foot diameter flower bed with flowering bulbs
close to the tree and annuals planted around the outside edge. I do
not want to have the stump ground up after we take the tree down as
that would obliterate the flower bed. Does anyone have any ideas of
something we could do with the stump that would be decorative and
still allow us to enjoy both the spring flower bulbs and plant
annuals ?

Use a chainsaw to cross hatch the top of the stump, treat with a normal
fertilizer, and shovel some dirt from the flower bed on top the stump.
Soil bacteria and fungus will take over, and the fertilizer will feed
them, as well.

Not fast, but safe.

On May 25, 11:41*am, "D. Staples" wrote:
hr(bob) wrote:
We have a very large old tree (2.5 foot diameter) that is dying. *It
is in the middle of a 10 foot diameter flower bed with flowering bulbs
close to the tree and annuals planted around the outside edge. * I do
not want to have the stump ground up after we take the tree down as
that would obliterate the flower bed. *Does anyone have any ideas of
something we could do with the stump that would be decorative and
still allow us to enjoy both the spring flower bulbs and plant
annuals ?

Use a chainsaw to cross hatch the top of the stump, treat with a normal
fertilizer, and shovel some dirt from the flower bed on top the stump.
Soil bacteria and fungus will take over, and the fertilizer will feed
them, as well.

Not fast, but safe.

Thanks for the ideas, I think I will try to make the final cut as
close to the ground as possible, cut out whatever I can with my chain
saw, and then cover it with dirt, A raised flowerbed would be ok with
my wife as far as I can figure out.

In our old house there was a huge stump of an old oak tree that was struck by lighting. Instead of paying to have it removed we added a tree face to it. We got tons of compliments and the kids loved it. They named him "Oakley." Definitely a fun way to go when you'd like to change an eyesore into a focal point. Here's a helpful article on them: Tree Faces: The Easiest Way To Add Personality To Your Yard. At the time we also considered using it as a base for a garden statue but we just couldn't find a statue that we thought would work. Maybe if the stump had been shorter we would've added a funny gnome or something.