Hurricane Sandy and her wrath may be in the past. But that tree stump or two she left you in the yard are still there, sticking out like a sore thumb. Our Garden Maiden tackled this beauty of a landscaping solution inside of a few hours and with a budget under Thirty bucks!
Clean out the stump:
You most likely have dried leaves, weeds, rocks and other debris inside a dead tree stump. Use a shovel to dig out rotted wood and the roots of weeds.
Chisel out the hole:
There are a few ways to do this. If your stump has rotting, the wood should be soft enough to dig out with a pickaxe without too much work. If your stump is fresh, a chainsaw will be the fastest tool to use. Take a marker and draw a circle and lines like it was a pizza pie. Place the tip of the chainsaw blade at the center at a 45 degree angle and press down on the wood until half (4-6 inches) of the blade is still showing. Once the “pizza slices” have been cut, move on to the outside. Use a crowbar or a pickaxe to pull the wood pieces out. It’s okay if it’s not perfect… The beauty will come from the plant life. If your stump is fairly new, make drainage wholes 4-6 inches down the outside of the trunk using a Drill. This will help prevent fungi and potato bugs.
Fill Her Up:
Combine regular garden soil with compost to fill the whole. Next, add plants with shallow roots. I highly recommend using succulents for this project. They are relatively low maintenance and do exceptional in a habitat like this. We used creeping Jenny to line the outer edges so it will spill over the bark like a waterfall. We beautified our stump with decorative cabbage,Echeveria ‘Afterglow’, sedum, Sempervivum and outback sunset loosestrife. Each plant ran between $3-$5 and a bag of compost/garden soil was $4. The entire project was approximately $29 and looks priceless!