Best Method to Remove that Old Stump

Anywhere from 5 to 7 years after a tree has been removed and the stump “ground”, St Augustine grass will decline and often die where the tree was  located. The reason: The tree roots have turned into a spongy material that St Augustine grass will not grow on or in. The solution is to rent a backhoe and remove the old stump and replace with good soil.

Recently, I was thumbing through the latest issue of Popular Science and found an interesting article  on stump removal.

But Wait, I Found  Another Solution

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I was thumbing through my latest issue of Popular Science Magazines when I stumbled upon a better method to remove old stumps. You convert the stump into a type of slow burning gunpowder. The fact that there is little oxygen in the soil to allow roots to burn is overcome with a few chemicals available at the Home Depot.

I suspect you could use this on old or new stumps. The burning process should eliminate the woody parts and after a few months of healing in should be a great place to grow St Augustine grass.

Here is the article in Popular Science: Gray Matter: Fire in the Hole - Chemicals can turn any tree stump into virtual gunpowder