Trees make a beautiful and beneficial addition to your yard, but when a tree dies or is causing destruction to your property from its growth, you will need to take the necessary steps to remove it and its root system. Here are some tips to help you in the process of safely removing a tree and its stump.
Prepare For Stump Removal
You may have a dead tree that you want removed from your yard. If this is the case, the tree stump is also going to be dead and is decaying and drying out. This makes the stump removal process easier. However, for a tree that is still living, whether it is diseased, a weed tree, or its growth is in the way of nearby structures or electrical lines, you will need to kill off the tree stump to help facilitate its easy removal.
To kill a tree stump and speed up its decay, you can use a fire accelerant, such as gasoline or propane to saturate the stump, then burn it. Or you can use a treatment of sodium chloride or rock salt to treat the stump. Drill holes into the stump and pack them with sodium chloride, also covering the top of the stump with as much rock salt as possible. Then, apply a water saturation to the stump to help the salt absorb. This will slowly degrade the stump and make it easier to remove.
Remove the Stump
Once you have effectively treated the stump to stop its regrowth, you can dig it out and cut it from the soil. Be sure you dig around the sides of the stump to expose a majority of the tree's roots and to help you determine where the roots are growing down into surrounding soil. Use a chainsaw to cut the stump into sections and also to cut the roots out of the soil. This helps you remove the stump in chunks from the ground and restore the soil to another use. In addition, because the stump is no longer alive, there is no chance of it regrowing in the soil.
You can also arrange for a professional stump removal with a stump grinder. You can rent a stump grinder to complete the project yourself, which can be an attachment on a mobile stump grinder. Alternatively, you may want to arrange for a landscape service to grind the stump with their commercial size stump grinder. This will grind the stump out of the soil and the main root system down into the soil to leave the soil full of rich wood-shaved mulch.
To learn more, contact a tree stump removal company.
