Planting above a ground tree stump

LaurLaurLaur

I've been googling and haven't reached any conclusive answer as to whether is is okay to plant over a ground stump.

FWIW our tree was pulled up in a storm so the stump that was ground was almost entirely above ground. This happened in August. So about 7 months ago. Right now there is a 6-8" high pile of dirt with teeny wood chips intermingled. The tree service did back fill the hole.

I am going to take the top 6 inches and spread it under the foundation of our swing set. So, really my concern is the what's in the back filled hole.

Any advice?

~NB~

You're an astute gardener to even think about this.

You're right when you say there's no conclusive yes or no answer to whether the site can be immediately replanted. A lot of it has to do with what you put there- some species will be less tolerant of the site chemistry than will others. And some will be more susceptible to root rot innoculation from the decomposition process.

LaurLaurLaur

~NB~:

You're an astute gardener to even think about this.

You're right when you say there's no conclusive yes or no answer to whether the site can be immediately replanted. A lot of it has to do with what you put there- some species will be less tolerant of the site chemistry than will others. And some will be more susceptible to root rot innoculation from the decomposition process.

I will take your complement. But, must admit that I am a very new gardener with a limited budget and really just don't want to see anything die

pugznploons

we couldn't get anything to grow above it the first year (just some weird fungus stuff as the roots die off) but second year we got grass seed to take.  

GracefulMeadow86

Hi, I'm a lurker here normally, but i think i can offer some helpful information to you. My husband has a stump-grinding business on the side so i asked him what he thought of your predicament.

He said it depends on how far down the company ground the stump under ground. If they only ground it underground 3", then you can't plant anything that would have a large root system or else it will not be able to root itself through the rest of hte stump that still exists underground, as stump grinding is really only for visual effect, tree stumps typically go at least a foot and a half if not futher underground. If they went 6-8" under ground, then most things could be planted there (flower/plant wise, obviously not another tree or something with a large route system for quite some time).

He also said that the fill that was used in the hole from the grinding would only be the leftover bits of the stump that came from the ground tree itself. It would be best for you to shovel this out of the hole and fill it with top soil to give whatever you intend to plant there a more solid and healthy base to plant on. He said the ground wood bits wouldn't really help any plant you'd put there nutritionally, and it could have residual diseases or fungus living in it from the tree itself. 

Don't take me as the final source of info on all of this, as i'm clearly no expert in gardening, im just learning. Although, my husband has been grinding stumps and planting things over them for years with good results. 

LaurLaurLaur

GracefulMeadow86:

Hi, I'm a lurker here normally, but i think i can offer some helpful information to you. My husband has a stump-grinding business on the side so i asked him what he thought of your predicament.

He said it depends on how far down the company ground the stump under ground. If they only ground it underground 3", then you can't plant anything that would have a large root system or else it will not be able to root itself through the rest of hte stump that still exists underground, as stump grinding is really only for visual effect, tree stumps typically go at least a foot and a half if not futher underground. If they went 6-8" under ground, then most things could be planted there (flower/plant wise, obviously not another tree or something with a large route system for quite some time).

He also said that the fill that was used in the hole from the grinding would only be the leftover bits of the stump that came from the ground tree itself. It would be best for you to shovel this out of the hole and fill it with top soil to give whatever you intend to plant there a more solid and healthy base to plant on. He said the ground wood bits wouldn't really help any plant you'd put there nutritionally, and it could have residual diseases or fungus living in it from the tree itself. 

Don't take me as the final source of info on all of this, as i'm clearly no expert in gardening, im just learning. Although, my husband has been grinding stumps and planting things over them for years with good results. 

Thanks for the advice. The tree was ground completely above grade. The tree was pulled up in a storm and the majority of the root ball was above ground when it was ground. KWIM?

We dug the back filled hole up and found two hub caps and some bricks . I pulled out the bigger pieces of root I saw and the bigger wood chips. I didn't go nuts. We mixed some store bought soil (MiracleGro) with the soil we pulled up and then re filled the hole.

I put a rhododendron, some oriental lillies, salvia and hosta throughout the spot. Hopefully they grow well.

Thanks again guys.