Australian weather can be so volatile. One moment you're basking in the sun, and the next minute there's a ferocious thunderstorm surrounding your home. When we moved to our first property, we had a near-miss when part of a tree came down during a storm. Luckily, it missed our house, but it did flatten my gorgeous rose garden. Tree maintenance is very important in Australia, and my blog deals with all the different ways you can maintain the health of your trees. From pruning to identifying tree rot, find out how to look after your trees, so they don't come tumbling down when the winds pick up.
Do You Need to Remove the Stump after You Have Felled a Tree?
If you're lucky enough to own a large property with a number of mature trees within, you should count yourself lucky that you're able to marvel at the beauty of mother nature. You'll also realise that you will have responsibility to look after these trees and in some cases, they may actually be protected by legislation. However, bad things happen and you may have been told by a specialist that one of these trees has a fatal disease. In this case, you need to get it cut down safely and professionally, but how should you deal with what's left?
Dealing with the Remnants
After the tree has been felled, some people may choose to leave the remaining stump and root structure in place and take no further action, but if the tree did have a serious disease then you wouldn't want to risk this spreading through what's left of the structure to adjoining trees. Therefore, you will want to remove as much of what is left as possible and especially if you may want to replace what you've lost with another sapling and need all the space available to ensure that you plant this properly.
A tree can be compared to an iceberg in many respects, insofar as what you see above the surface only represents part of the whole thing. You may want to ensure that you remove as much of the root ball as possible which can extend a considerable distance underground in the case of a very mature tree.
Stump Grinding
It may not be practical for you to remove all of the root ball though and if you were to, you might be left with a very considerable hole in the ground which you would have to fill with trucked-in soil. At the least, however, you should grind it down as far as you can, so that it is below the surface and out of sight. When none of the tree is exposed above ground, the remaining root ball will start to decay by itself.
Stump grinding is an art of its own, but when done correctly you will be left with a myriad of tiny pieces that can be valuable for other use. You should collect everything together and use this as mulch, to generate new growth as you plant a replacement, or to use elsewhere on a virgin flower bed.
Looking at the Big Picture
Have a word with your arborist to see what they recommend in your case, so that the entire tree removal process falls in line with your plans for that space.