How to stop a tree stump from growing back? Is a question that we get asked often from our clients.
Consistency is the answer!
(Preface.. This afternoon while I was out looking at a couple trees, I noticed one of my clients had not cut the water sprouts off of his stump when the trees had been removed in the past. Allowing the water sprouts to grow, they ended up creating a circle of trees that looked really neat and so I figured I would take a quick minute and answer the question if tree stumps ever go back.)
After being cut, the stumps of leaf bearing, or deciduous, trees will sprout out waterspouts in an attempt to stay alive. These waterspouts grow from resources that are stored within the stump and within the tree’s roots.
The water sprouts are fairly easy to manage, as long as you are consistent with them. Once or twice a month, simply go out with a pair of slippers or scissors and cut them while they are soft and easy to manage. If you wait two or three months the waterspouts will turn into small saplings, and you will need to cut them with saw.
As long as you are consistent, you should be able to stop a tree stump from growing back into a tree. The biggest thing is taking away believes right after it produces him. Eventually, the overall energy stored within the stump and the roots will be depleted and it will have no more energy left to send out any water sprouts.
As a side note….. If you do decide to let trees grow out of the stump, be very careful about what targets may be around. Water sprouts that grew out of a stump are typically less stable than normal trees because they are growing out of a big piece of decayed material. This may not seem like a big deal at first, but in 15 to 20 years the tree will be substantial in size as shown in the video.
In this particular instance this afternoon, the client did not have any notable targets of consequence, and so he opted to continue to let the trees grow.
If you want to kill the stump, just keep on cutting back the water sprouts and that will do the trick!
If you need an arborist and you’re in the Atlanta Georgia area, feel free to give me a call at 770-Arborist ((770) 758-8590)
Thanks!
