Overheard a homeowner in Portland call a stump 'just a dead plant' and it got me thinking

I was finishing a removal job last week and the client pointed at the stump and said 'It's just a dead plant now, right?' I explained how that stump could still sprout suckers for years and even spread disease. It made me realize how many people don't know the basics of tree biology after we leave. How do you guys explain the importance of stump grinding or treatment without sounding like you're just upselling?

3 comments

3 Comments

keith_gibson19d ago

My neighbor in Tacoma left a maple stump for three years thinking it was harmless. That thing sent up a dozen skinny little saplings all through his lawn and into the flower beds, which was a real pain to deal with later. I just showed him the root system still alive under there, like a hidden network. It clicked for him when he saw it wasn't just a dead block of wood.

phoenix_lewis19d ago

Yeah I totally get that now. I used to think a stump was just dead wood sitting there, no big deal. But we had an old cherry tree cut down and left the stump. Two years later these weird shoots popped up ten feet away in my vegetable patch. I had to dig down and follow this gnarly root all the way back to the stump. It was still feeding the whole thing, just waiting. Never making that mistake again.

shanef3419d ago

But is it always a problem? I mean, sometimes a stump just rots away on its own, especially in wet places like here. Keith_gibson's maple story is one thing, but I've seen plenty just become soft wood for bugs.