Why Tree Stumps Can Be Dangerous For Your Family and Yard

Before you have the dead tree in your yard cut down by a tree removal specialist, you will need to decide whether the worker should also remove the tree stump. When deciding what to do with the stump, consider these factors if you're having a hard time making this judgement call.

1. Stumps aren't beautiful. The sight of a stump is certainly not appealing, aesthetically speaking. Removing the stump is well worth it if you're meticulous about your yard and landscaping.

2. Stumps are dangerous. Stumps are hazardous for your kids. They may not look for the stump and trip over it when running and playing in your yard. And it's a liability that falls into your hands if a neighbour travels. Furthermore, if you accidentally hit one when you are mowing your lawn, tree stumps can damage your mower.

3. New tree growth causes stumps. Leaving the stump behind sometimes contributes to new sprouts, which can result in the growth of many small trees around the stump. This is unsightly and quite expensive to try to remove your landscaping because the fresh shoots may keep coming back, and you may need chemicals to completely kill them off. Leech nutrients from other plants located near them also come from these small trees, so your begonias may not receive all the nutrients they need.

4. Stumps are the pain around which to manoeuvre. When weeding or mowing your lawn, the remaining tree stumps become a nuisance, an obstacle you have to manoeuvre around.

5. Insects are attracted to stumps. When you leave stumps in the grass, it takes a long time for the decaying tree to completely rot away. The stump attracts beetles, termites, ants and other wood-boring pests while it's decaying. In your yard, you may not mind them, but they can eventually spread to your home.

6. Stumps take up valuable yard space. Especially if you do not have a very large yard, a lot of space can be occupied by the space you lose from the stump and the roots. Just think: That space can be used for a flowerbed or a picnic table.

If you want to save some money and do it yourself here are some tips

Good-old-fashioned muscle work can remove a small- to medium-sized stump. But larger stumps can involve so much work that it is not practical, unless a chain attached to the back of a pickup can drag it out of the earth. Use the chemical method for larger stumps instead. The mattock, which has a broad end for digging and a sharp end for slicing, is a useful tool for manual removal. However, everyone has their favourite tools to use, and the more different tools you have for digging and cutting, the better. You may want to enlist the help of a helper or two for larger stumps to speed up the work.
Shovel next to the stump of a tree

Working time: Depending on the size of the stump, 3 to 12 hours
Total Time: Same The Same
Material Cost: A solid bar for digging costs $30 to $50. Depending on size, bow saws cost $10 to $30. A mattock costs between $15 and $50. A good axe usually costs between $30 and $40.

What You Will Need

Tools/ Equipment

Shovel-Shovel
Heavy steel bar for digging
To Mattock
Small saw-bow saw
The Big Bow Saw
Ax
Steel-toed boots and gloves for work

Instructions Methods

With the mattock's broad end, dig around the stump.
Shovel it out of your way once you have loosened the dirt in this fashion. Be prepared for a lot of soil to clear away. The bigger the stump, the more you move the earth. To gain access to all the roots that need cutting, this is necessary.
Start chopping your way through the tree roots using the other end of the mattock. It is also possible to use a small bow saw to sever the roots as you uncover them.
Dig and chop your way to the taproot below the root ball. Taproots will be imposing enough to require cutting with an axe or large bow saw for all but the smallest of trees. Before cutting, clean the excess dirt off the taproot with a wet rag.
With your axe or with a bow saw, chop through the taproot. Before you begin swinging the axe, be careful that the area is clear of people, pets, and objects. Carefully target the axe so that dirt does not strike (which would dull the blade).



Method of chemicals

There is an easier, though much slower, method for those who are not up to the physical effort, or have a tree stump that is too large to remove by hand. All wood will eventually decay and rot away, and by keeping the stump moist and adding nitrogen in the form of a high-nitrogen fertiliser or potassium nitrate stump-removal granules, it is possible to speed up this process. This is not an immediate process, but it can take months or even a year or so before a stump completely disappears, but it is quite easy.
Metrics Project

Working time: from 1 to 3 hours, depending on the stump size
Total Time: Up to 1 complete year
Material Cost: For a 1-pound container, chemical stump removal products cost $ 5 to $ 10. It can cost between $50 (electric) and $300 for a chainsaw (gas-powered).

What You Will Need

Instruments/supplies:

Drill and a big bit of a drill
Chainsaw Chainsaw (gas-powered, electric, or battery-powered)
Tarp Plastic

Material:

Mulch for garden
High-nitrogen garden fertiliser or granules of potassium-nitrate tree stump removal

Instructions Methods

Use a chain saw or bow saw to cut down the stump as close to the ground as you can, without allowing the teeth of the chain saw to strike the earth (this will dull your chain). For this part of the task, wear steel-toed boots.
In numerous places, drill holes a few inches deep into the stump, using the biggest, widest drill bit you have. The wider and deeper the holes are, the better it will be.
Fill these holes with water first, then with a fertiliser high in granules of nitrogen or stump-remover.

Soak the soil all around your stump. Cover the stump with a tarp made of plastic. To help retain moisture in and around the stump, the tarp will act as a barrier. For this project, moisture is a powerful ally to have on your side.
Over the plastic tarp, apply an organic mulch, and water it thoroughly. Additional moisture will be held by an organic mulch such as tree bark or hay, keeping the area even wetter. Wet mulch is heavy as well, which will help to weigh down the tarp so that it does not blow away. Roll some heavy stones onto the tarp for additional weight. The mulch also serves the purpose of concealing from public view the tarp. Covered with mulch, as it begins to rot away, the tree stump will be invisible. With various planted pots and container gardens, you can even cover the mulched area.

Remove the mulch and tarp periodically over the coming weeks and apply more water and nitrogen to the stump, then cover it again. Here, some patience is needed, as it can still take quite some time for the stump to rot away completely. But it will be considerably faster than normally occurs in nature with the decay process.

The stump may become soft and spongy enough after 4 to 6 weeks to begin breaking it apart with an axe. Water and nitrogen should again be treated with whatever timber can not be broken up and removed. You can bury what remains at some point and let it complete the underground process of decay.

Method for Burning

There is a product of tree stump removal that comes in a powdered form, called "Stump-Out," designed to break down the stumps' wood fibre, leaving them porous.1 The porous wood then readily absorbs kerosene. It begins to burn away after the porous wood is soaked with kerosene and ignited, and the fire soon becomes a low, smouldering flame. This is another inexpensive and easy option to remove a tree stump if the use of kerosene and flame is acceptable to you (and allowed in your community).
Tips To Remove Stumps

A hose or pressure washer can be useful when digging out a stump by hand to wash away dirt to expose roots as you dig downward.
Once the main body of the stump is severed from the roots and removed, the major roots do not need to be removed. Buried underground, over time, the roots will generally naturally rot away. Applying a chemical brush killer will stop their growth if they start to sprout suckers.
It can be difficult to dispose of large tree stumps.

When Should You Prune Your Trees?

 Many people believe that tree pruning in the fall is the perfect time of year for some reason, especially where there are four seasons. The bright leaves are starting to fall, and some big limbs are looking a little iffy. But that assumption could damage or even kill your precious trees, even mature trees.

Falling is not a time for learning how to prune. Trees then prepare for dormancy, and it takes all the good stuff out of its leaves to store,' says Tchukki Andersen, Tree Care Industry Association (TCIA) staff arborist in Manchester, N.H. The organisation provides tree care companies with training and resources.

You won't see success, the arborist states, if you just go willy nilly and start cutting tree branches. If in the fall there is no absolute reason to prune trees, then don't. When the tree is actively growing in the early spring or completely dormant in the winter months, save your tree pruning.

She stresses that qualified tree care specialists prune trees every day without a lot of detrimental effects all year round.

Nevertheless, tree service specialists know more about how to care for the health of a tree," she says." "They understand its processes and stages, such as dormancy and new growth."

Andersen adds that until a crisis happens, many homeowners really don't know what kind of trees on their property are. It can add value to homes and add shade and beautification to the landscape to learn about those trees and their needs for staying healthy.

Before pruning lower branches or any other part of the tree, she recommends first getting an evaluation from tree trimming specialists or an arborist before doing anything with your trees.
Get Expert Tips

Taking a tree inventory begins with good tree care. If you don't know what kind of trees are growing in your yard or if they need to be trimmed or not, then you can do several things to find out.

In order to get free advice, Andersen suggests contacting your local Cooperative Extension Service. Some have on staff a certified arborist or horticulturist. For the region in which you live, whether in the country or a big city, they provide their expertise. By clicking on the Land-Grant University Website Directory and going to your state, you can find the one closest to you. Click on it once you find your state, and there will usually be a tab to locate your local county extension bureau. Andersen says their websites are robust, with data about trees, too.

Or you can find a qualified tree care firm to come to do an evaluation. You can ask them about your trees' health, which ones might fall on your house during a storm and any other pending disasters, she says. You can go to the International Society of Arboriculture's (ISA) TreesAreGood.org, a website helping the public with tree-care information, to find a certified arborist.
By Tree Type, When to Prune

Most routine pruning is done to remove infestations, branches that are weak, dead or diseased, and can be completed with little effect on the tree at any time during the year. Pruners should know as a rule that if pruning happens in late winter before a spring growth spurt, growth and wound closure are increased, confirms the tree-pruning guide of the ISA.

Diseases may spread through the wounds from pruning. Oak trees can suffer from oak wilt, for instance. The way a tree grows can be changed by each cut. So, Andersen says that, without a clear reason, no branch should be cut. Strive when pruning for branch collar cuts.

To make the tree look better and grow stronger, homeowners remove dead branches. They also prune hazardous branches that could fall during a thunderstorm on someone or the roof. Light diffusion and air flow to the tree's crown or to someone's home or landscape can also be increased by shaping trees.

Here are a few different kinds of trees and the best tree trimming time of the year:
Caducals

These are the trees which, every year, shed their leaves. According to the Extension Service's Wisconsin Horticulture division, most deciduous trees should be pruned from late fall to winter. They have entered their dormant season, and then the framework of the branches is easy to see, and insect and disease activity is gone.
The Young Trees

With proper pruning, developing a strong and good shaped tree occurs. As they grow older, trees which receive the right amount of pruning while they are young will need less excessive trimming. Ask your professionals, depending on your area of the country, when the trimming should be done.
SUBTROPIC

Due to the growing environment, trim trees year-round in regions such as Florida and California. They constantly replace lost tissue and have abundant sources of 12 months a year of sunshine and water, Andersen adds. "It's not possible to prune large limbs every day, though," she says. The industry standard is never to produce pruning cuts that in any season remove more than 30 percent of live tissue from a tree. "You're done for the season if you have a giant broken branch and 30 percent of the leaves are on that branch."
Trees of Flowering

According to the Pacific Northwest Chapter of the International Society of Arboriculture, they should be pruned after blooming. At any moment, routine pruning of dead or dying branches can be done. Your type of tree, however, may have specific trimming needs and rules.
The New Trees

Annually, inspect for pruning needs.
Prune trees regularly to keep them healthy, secure, and aesthetically pleasing throughout their lives.
Do not postpone pruning until the limbs are larger. Large limbs are equivalent to large wounds that are harder for a tree to seal and leave the tree open to disease, insects, and rot.
As a substitute for proper tree selection and placement, do not try to chop the tops off trees to decrease their size. Called topping, this practise can really hurt your trees.https://lowcuttreeservices.tumblr.com/post/639338593425457152/how-to-check-if-your-trees-are-dying-and-what-you

Signs of a Sick Tree & What You Need to Do If Your Tree is Affected

There are a million reasons, as many readers of this blog will know, why we just love a beautiful, healthy tree. Not only are they spectacularly beautiful, they're a crucial part of our natural world and you and I wouldn't be here at all without their oxygen! But it's just a fact, like every living entity, that trees will eventually die.

It may be sad and often inevitable for a tree to die, but sometimes you can spot the signs of a dying tree and do something about it. That can be nursing it back to being a healthy tree, getting it professionally pruned, or deciding that a qualified Arborist should check out a dying tree. Together, you could put a plan into action to restore a dying tree's life, or decide to remove that tree before it becomes a bigger issue.
Dying trees, how they can be spotted

Trunk, twigs, leaves-a tree is a tree, isn't it? Not entirely. There are plenty of ways you can spot the signs before a healthy tree becomes a dead tree before it dies and starts posing a threat to your home, family or property.

A range of factors, including illness, age, pests and weather, can cause the death of a tree. There are different characteristics of each distinct type of tree and will therefore show different symptoms of ill health, but here are some basic things to look for:
1. The Bark

That's a sure sign of an unhealthy tree if you've noticed that a tree's bark looks different from normal or has begun to fall off, crumble or lose its previous texture or colour.
2. The trunk, the trunk

The actual trunk can also crack beyond the bark while it's in the process of being a dying tree. Some cracks are normal and will be there without trouble for years, but it's time to call an Arborist if you spot a new crack that is particularly deep.
3. The leaves

In the summer and spring seasons, a healthy tree will have thick, full foliage. But if yours stops producing leaves, or you suspect the decrease in foliage is because it's on the way to becoming a dead tree, you might be right: there are usually no full, lush canopies of dying trees.
4. The foliage

The leaf can be a significant signal of sick, dying or dead trees by zooming in a little closer. While leaves change colours through the seasons, unusual spots or leaf changes are a sign that a dying tree could be what you have. These changes in the leaves might be due to illness or lack of nutrients, but only a qualified Arborist will be able to give you a complete answer.
5. To the pests

A variety of pests can lead to the death of a tree, and beetle types, wasps, borers, and termites are the most common in Australia. Some of these pests may steal nutrients from the healthy tree that it needs to thrive and survive, so look for any signs that your tree has become infested. These include damage, discoloration and holes.
6. DEADWOOD

Just because you spot deadwood, parts of the tree that are obviously already dead, doesn't necessarily mean that you're dealing with a dead tree soon. But an increased deadwood prevalence can indicate that your tree is not healthy, so before you act, get an Arborist to give you a professional opinion.
7. The Soil

You can finally move your gaze away from the real tree to the soil that surrounds it. If it looks cracked and dry, it's a sure sign that it's going to make your tree very thirsty. And if it has disturbed the area around it, the root system of the tree may have been affected.