Plenty of people have trees cut down in their garden. Perhaps the tree has become too big, diseased or have been blown down in a storm. Whatever the reason, you will want to have the stump removed too. It's very easy to have the tree felled but having the stump removed is a whole lot more difficult. There are a number of techniques that can be employed when getting rid of a tree stump. The easiest method would simply involves paying for a tree stump removal service to do the work for you. However this isn't a cheap option so you might want to do the work yourself, in which case you should look at grinding, digging and chemicals.
The amount of work involved in getting rid of your tree stump can really vary depending on what type of tree you have, the age and the type of soil. For instance a pine tree has very wide and flat root systems whilst an oak tree has deep roots making it more difficult to kill off.
If you have a tree which is relatively small and has a shallow root system then digging the stump up by hand will not require too much hard work. You will need a shovel, axe, loppers and root saw. You then need to dig around the area to expose the roots and cut them away.
Normally nature will take care of removing the tree stumps by rotting it down but the problem is that it takes such a long time. If you don't want to wait decades for this process to be completed you can use chemicals to speed up the process. Don't expect the chemicals to work magically overnight however it is a good technique that doesn't require an awful lot of work.
If you have an old stump that has been around for more than a year just use a chainsaw to cut the stump as close to the ground as possible, ensuring the blades don't actually come into contact with the ground. You then use a drill to create holes in the stump that are a few inches deep and also good and wide. Having them as deep and wide as possible is going to be better. Then pour in some stump remover chemical along with some water. In about 6 weeks the stump should have rotted down.
Removing the rotten stump is then pretty easy if using an axe. However there are those who set fire to the stump rather than removing it from the axe. In order to burn the stump you need to pouring kerosene or fuel oil down the holes. You will need to wait for the wood to become saturated before putting a match down into one of the holes. This is a slow-burning technique so you don't have to worry about it going up in a ball of flames however you should keep kids and pets away from it.
Make sure you don't use gasoline and also keep an eye on the stump now and again to make sure everything is OK. Having a bucket of sand to hand might be a good idea too just in case you need it. In terms of safety it's probably better just to remove the stump with an axe. Also check to see whether you are allowed to burn tree stumps where you live.
A more mechanical method of removing a tree stump is to use a grinder. If you want to do this yourself you can hire a tree stump grinder but be careful to follow the safety advice otherwise you could easily hurt yourself. The grinder simply turns your stump into wood chips and the grinding will occur to about 10 inches underneath the ground. This will allow you to plant any other plant, shrub or tree there as you wish.
Whatever method you bring into force for getting rid of tree stumps, it's going to be hard work and you need to have the right equipment. Don't do anything stupid, make sure you read the instructions and if you don't know what you're doing - get a professional tree removal service in!
