After your tree has been chopped down and the wood and debris carted away, it's easy to think your job is done. However, trees can be incredibly resilient and there may still be some work left to do to get the yard you want.
Safety Becomes An Issue
A large stump in your yard can easily become a safety issue. Depending on how tall your stump is, it could be easily tripped over. Not to mention, it could seriously damage your lawn mower if the blades came in contact with the stump.
Property Damage Is Expensive
A tree won't necessarily die after it has been chopped down. As with most things in nature, a tree will fight to ensure it continues living. So while it may not appear much is happening above ground, a tree's root system may continue growing underground long after its trunk has fallen. These roots can damage plumbing systems and cause clogs. They can also force their way underneath nearby concrete work and cause the surface to become uneven or crack.
Stumps left to stand can also attract pests. While you may not mind bugs around a stump, some wood-boring insects may travel from the stump to your home.
Suckers Are Suckers
When a tree gets chopped down, it kicks its emergency systems into overdrive. One of the ways a tree does this is by sending up new shoots, often called suckers, to grow a whole new tree. Sometimes, when a tree is chopped down it will send up these shoots across the entire root system. Suckers are a pain to mow and can only be stopped by killing the root system.
So How Do You Deal With That Stump?
After tree removal, many removal specialists offer stump grinding services. Depending on the size of your stump, these stump grinding services will leave you with a nice pile of mulch for your garden. However, even with the stump out of the picture the roots can still cause havoc.
To prevent the roots from growing and damaging your property or sending up annoying shoots, you must kill them. To do this, you must drill several holes about a ¾ inch in width across the length of the root. After you drill the holes you should pour a tree killer into the holes and wait for it to take effect. If you don't like the idea of using a tree killer, many people pour vinegar or salt in the holes with success. However, using vinegar or salt may take several applications to be as effective at killing the roots.
Share7 November 2016
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