Garden Expansion and How to Remove a Tree Stump - Part 2

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I detailed in part 1 of this post what my plans were for expanding my garden and now I am going to detail how I removed the stump.  I have gotten to be pretty good at removing stumps for some reason.  I have removed half a dozen of them at various times in my life and I have learned the easiest way to extract them.  I know it sounds weird, but I find it kind of fun digging and carefully extracting a tree stump free.  I have listed below my method of removing stumps, and I hope you find this helpful.

Here are tools I recommend using when removing a stump.
Pick ax - Used for breaking up soil around roots
Ax - Used for chopping small roots
Regular shovel - Used for digging around stump
Garden Rake - Used for raking away debris and soil
Chain Saw - An absolute must have in my opinion.  You will
wear yourself out trying to chop big thick roots with just an ax.
A chain saw works great if you are careful and pay attention.


Step 1 - Clear your work area by removing any sticks or debris away from the area you are going to be working in.  In my case this involved raking away a thick layer of pine straw and mulch.


Step 2 - Dig, Dig, Dig and then dig some more.  Don't go straight in there with an ax trying to use brute force to remove a stump.  You aren't Paul Bunyan and you will just get frustrated.  Also, don't dig right up against the stump, that is where all the roots are.  Depending on the size of the tree, start digging 3 to 6 feet away from the stump.  You can see in this picture I didn't dig right up next to the stump, I started away.


Step 3 - When you encounter roots around the perimeter of your dig, chop them with your ax.  If the roots are larger than 2 inches in diameter I recommend cutting those with a chain saw.  Just dig all around the root and make sure it is fully exposed.  Dig all the dirt from underneath the root as well, this will give you a clear path to cut it with your saw.  This two pictures below show a root that I exposed and then removed with my chain saw.



Step 4 - Continue step 3 by working your away around the perimeter of the tree.  Once you have circled the entire tree stump, then you can start digging closer to the actual stump itself.  This method is good because by working out and then in, you have given yourself plenty of room to dig under the stump.  In the two pictures below you can see where I have made a path and I am starting to dig under the stump on one side.



Step 5 - Dig down directly under the stump to access any tap roots that are anchoring the tree and preventing it from being removed.  In my case there were three small tap roots and I was able to whack them with my ax.  Sometimes you can rock the stump back and forth and they will give way too.

Digging down deep will allow you to rock the stump on its side


I pushed the stump on its side to access the tap roots.


Once you get at the tap roots, the stump should come right out.  This was a decent sized tree, 25 to 30 feet tall and the stump was about 1 foot thick at its base.


Step 6 -  Once the stump is out, you will now have to pull up all the perimeter roots.  Sometimes this requires more digging, sometimes you can just pull them up.  Refill the hole with dirt and you are done.


Here are all the roots from my tree including the perimeter roots.


I still have a lot of work to do, but the tree is completely gone and I have pulled up 75% of the roots.  I am sure I will find some more roots that I missed when I till the ground in the spring.  The entire process for this tree took me 2 hours, which isn't that bad.  The key is to have a chain saw for the thicker roots, and my ground was really easy to dig.

Garden Expansion and How to Remove a Tree Stump - Part 1

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For 2012, I have decided to expand my garden.  I have an area in the back of my yard that is not your typical red Georgia clay.  The soil is a good sandy/loamy mix, and I can easily dig down four feet because the soil is so nice.

In 2011, I worked a 4 by 25 foot strip in this area alongside my back fence.  I grew a nice batch of corn, some peas, and a few tomato plants.  I couldn't do any more because of a maple tree that was located near that area.  I planted an October Glory red maple tree in 2003, this was long before I had ever started gardening.  The tree did really well up on that hill and it was about 25 to 30 feet tall and about 15 feet wide.

It wasn't long after I planted my corn this year, that I realized this tree would keep growing and eventually shade the entire area.  I hated to do it, but I cut the tree down this summer.  All that remains is the stump, and I waited to do the hard task of removing it in the winter because it is just too hot in the summer.

My goal is to remove the stump, clean up all the roots, and then till the soil really well.  This will allow me to expand this area from 4x25 to 16x25 of usable garden area.  That is a 300% increase and will give me an additional 300 sq ft of garden area.  I plan on doing traditional row gardening in this area, and I am going to plant butter beans, white acre peas, and probably a batch of corn in this area in 2012.  Below are some pictures of the area, I will post my progress as I remove the stump.

This is a picture from 2010, the tree in question is in the background next to my shed.  The whole area behind that rock wall used to be grass and I built the rock wall and filled the area with pine straw to cut down on the grass I had to cut.  The area near the tree is relatively flat, then the ground begins to slope.

This is what remains of the tree.  As you can see it is already trying to send up shoots to regrow itself.  The area behind it is the 4x25 strip that I used this year.  I am going to extend that passed my shed about 3 feet right passed where that bird bath is.

Getting Nothing Done

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I have two weeks off from work during Christmas and I had all these plans of all that I would accomplish around my house and in the garden.  Well, half of my vacation is gone now and I haven't got a single thing accomplished outside.  The weather has been awful, it has rained 5 out of the last 7 days.  I mean all day constant rain too, so the ground is pretty much saturated at this point.

 The weather is supposed to be dry the next few days so maybe I can get out and get some work done.  I have gotten a few seed catalogs in the mail and I am getting garden fever again. 

In other news this post puts me at the centennial mark for blog posts and I hope to keep going strong in 2012.  My wife and I are expecting our second girl around April 2012 so I am trying to get as much done now as I can because I know my time will be limited in the spring.