What to Do After Tree Removal?

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Update of Removing Trees from Backyard

It is now a beautiful Sunday afternoon. As one of my daughters is taking a nap peacefully, while the other little one is enjoying her time with my wife, I would like to give an update about one of the previous posts. “Removing Trees from Backyard”

If you could recall from that post, a pine tree in my backyard was leaning due to a severe windstorm.

Since then, I reported this to the local government, and they instructed me to remove the leaning tree. Although there are tremendous benefits of having a tree in the backyard for my kids and family, due to the safety concern, I have no choice but to remove it.

So I contacted quite a few tree servicing companies for a quotation. I guess because the storm was really severe so that they had a considerable volume of servicing orders. Some of them did not even get back to me after I emailed them. In the end, two companies provided me with the following quotations.

  • Company A: $945 for tree removal; $315 for stump grinding and disposing of debris
  • Company B: $650 for tree removal and eliminating debris

I do not wish to spend so much on removing the tree. I chose Company B. I further negotiated with them, they agreed to charge me only $400 for taking down the tree. However, they would not remove the stump and the debris for me but would chop down the logs into pieces (approximately 18 inches each).

There were four staffs came to our backyard on that day. To be honest, they really had great teamwork. One was climbing up the tree with the saw to chop down the branches and trunk. The other further chopped down the logs into pieces. Another worker was tidying the debris into a pile, while another was stacking on the woods. The entire process took less than an hour. Here are some photos I took on that day.

Now, the removing tree part is done, but there are still many things to be handled. What to do with the tree stump, branches, and chopped logs?

I began researching on this topic, and below are something I found.

Can a Tree Grow After being Cut Down?

Actually, it can. Although it typically would not be a problem, because once a tree is cut down, the roots do not have leaves to fuel its growth. However, if the roots produce sprouts with leaves, then it is possible for a cutdown tree to regrow. [1]http://aces.nmsu.edu/ces/yard/2000/030400.html

If you do not want the tree to grow again, you could manually remove the sprouts and detached them from the roots.

Do Tree Stumps need to be Removed?

To stay? Or to go?

I read many articles, and most suggest to remove the stump. The reasons are:

  • Tree stumps could result in trapping hazard
  • It takes up space and makes the lawn unappealing
  • Stumps could regrow, which might defeat the purpose of removing the tree in the first place.
  • If the stump is dead and decaying, it could attract ants, beetles, termites, and other wood-boring pests
  • The fungus could grow on the dead tree stump

Just like any other topics, there is always the pros and cons side. In one of the articles I read, [2]http://www.nodiggardener.co.uk/2014/03/you-do-not-have-to-dig-up-tree-stumps.html?m=1, the author also listed out his reasoning why it is not necessary to dig up tree stumps. He argued that the decaying stump is part of nature, so just let nature do its job. In fact, a dead stump after decomposing could release nutrients.

How to Remove Tree Stumps?

If you really decide to remove the tree stumps, there are different ways to do so.

1) You could remove it with a grinder. It is a heavy-duty machine which could weight over 1000 pounds. Since the wood chips could be flying everywhere, it is vital to wear protective gear such as goggles when working on this equipment. Since this one is a one-time task, you most likely going to rent one instead of buying it. Then you should get an experienced staff at the rental company in teaching you how to operate it properly. [3]http://www.treeremoval.com/stump-removal/#.WxSR9UgvxPYI’m not that confident in operating such a massive machine, even if I were to grind the stump, I would hire a tree servicing company to do so.

2) Another approach I find it a lot easier is to apply Epsom salt on the tree stumps and the roots. To my understanding, Epsom salt would pull moisture from the wood, which then kills the tree. Mix the Epsom salt with water, with a ratio not less than 1 to 2. The greater the salt concentration, the more effective it is. [4]http://homeguides.sfgate.com/mix-Epsom-salts-kill-stumps-93347.html

Depending on the size of the stump, you probably need 2 to 3 gallon of this solution. Then cover the stump with a tarp to prevent rainwater from diluting the solution.

Repeat this process every week until the stump turns dry.

What am I going to do with the Tree Stump?

I guess whether to remove the stump or not really depends on your situation. For instance, if you are concerned:

  • the tree roots will continue growing which could damage the structure of your house (i.e., water pipe)
  • there could be fungus growing on it
  • it could attract insects such as ants or termites

Then yes, you should remove it.

As in my situation, there wasn’t any concern that the roots would damage my property. The whole purpose of doing so was only because the tree was leaning due to a severe windstorm. Therefore, I will leave the stump as is.

Only if the trump dies and creates problems, then I will apply the Epsom salt method.

If the tree does regrow, that’s great, and I’d love to give it another chance to come back to life. However, I’ll need to figure out a way so that the tree could grow up straight.
For now, it’s too early to tell. I’ll continue to monitor the situation.

How to Get Rid of Tree Branches?

After my tree is removed, the pile of branches and leaves are unbelievably gigantic.

This is what I could do:

1) Hire a tree servicing to do so. After the tree is removed, I asked the workers if they remove the debris, but leaving the chopped logs in my backyard, how much would that be. They stated it would cost an extra of $300. Since removing the tree is only $400, but removing it onsite would be 75% of it, I turned down their offer.

2) Trim the branches into smaller pieces for disposing of. This is actually what I’m doing now. I do have an electric chainsaw so that I’m working on trimming the branches into smaller pieces, and then I’ll dispose of them as garden waste.

I spent around 20 minutes per day doing the cleanup work. As you could see from the above picture, there is indeed a lot of garden waste to dispose of. It is really a huge waste, as they can potentially be turned into compost in feeding my lawn. Therefore, I’m considering the wood chipper option below.

3) Shred the branches and leaves with a wood chipper. The benefit is that it is extremely easy to do so, you put the branches and leaves into it, then it will turn them into a nice pile of wood mulch. You could use it in your garden, or mix them together with your compost.

I don’t have the equipment. If I decide to go that route, I would need to either buy or rent the equipment. I did brief research online, the cost of buying it would range from approximately $100 to $2200.

I prefer gardening equipment that is run by electricity rather than gas. I do not like the smell of burning gas, and it could produce more pollution while using. The problem is the electric ones tend to have lower power than the one using gas, and can only shred smaller branches. Therefore, I would have to research more on this before buying one.

(Update: So I bought an electric wood chipper and now having fun in making wood mulch for my lawn. This is the one I bought and you could also find other equipment I’m using to maintain for my yard.)

 

Landscaping after Tree Removal

The root of the leaning tree dug out some of the soil. As a result, there is now a hole to be filled. I will pour a few bags of soil into it, then replant with grass seed. For the area where the massive pile of debris is being placed now, I could imagine the grass would be suffocated by the time I finish cleaning up. Therefore, I’m prepared to replant the grass for that piece of land too.

If you are removing the tree stump, you should also fill up the empty hole afterward.

I’m not removing the tree stump; instead, I will use it together with the chopped woods in creating stepping logs for my daughters to play with. Hey, if it’s strong enough, maybe my wife and I could try balancing on them too.

As for the big pieces of branches which my chainsaw cannot chop them, I will trim off all the small branches attached to it. Then I’ll use it as a border of my flower bed.

 

 

 

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