If there's an old rotting stump in your yard, you might like to scoop out some of the decayed wood at the top, add a little rich soil and put in some begonia plants. They seem to flourish in this kind of container and will grow and flower with a vigor that will surprise you.
By Monica from Cortez, CO
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Here is a picture of the little garden scene I have in my front yard. We cut a tree down and the stump was there. I just planted some flowers and put some yard decorations around it and here is how it turned out. It looks much better than it did.
Here are the questions asked by community members. Read on to see the answers provided by the ThriftyFun community.
My partner and I cut down our first Christmas tree and would like to preserve a piece of the stump. It's a blue spruce so the wood is very soft and sappy. We don't want to glaze it however we cannot figure out any other options. Please help!
By JaeLi from Hatfield, PA
If you have a yard, why not take the whole tree out into the yard and let the needles fall off. In the spring you'll have a bare tree. Stick it in a large pot of soil and plant a climbing vine such as morning glories in the pot and let them climb all through the tree.
I have seen where you can create a votive holder from a piece of stump. Route out a round portion in the top that is large enough and deep enough to hold a votive. It would look nice to maybe create a set of 3 in different heights and group them together. Good luck!
I would cut the trunk into slices, perhaps 1/2 inch to 1 inch thick, drill a hole close to the edge and use it as an ornament for next year's tree. You could decorate it, then write the year on the slice and continue to add to your collection each year.
You can cut slices from the trunk and soak them in Pentacryl to preserve the wood and keep it from cracking as it dries over time. It's non-toxic and easy to use. Once it's dry you can decorate, hang, whatever you want and the slice will stay pretty and intact for years.
How can I preserve my tree trunk so it doesn't rot? I would like to put it in my conservatory when it's done.
Thanks.
One thing that occurs to me, though it would be expensive and you would lose the wood feel, is to encase the whole thing in epoxy resin. There's a fabulous product called Enviro Tek that will preserve anything till the end of time, giving everything an awesome glossy cover. www.amazon.com/
If you want to keep it as 'woody' as possible, I recommend you make sure all the bugs and bug eggs are out of it. This can be achieved by drowning them in water and letting it dry out. YOu can add bleach or insecticide to the water. But afterwards you must make sure it dries super well. It must be dry as a bone.
YOu can also heat the trunk, hot enough till anything in it dies but cool enough that it does not actually char. We used to do this with driftwood we used for crafts, save we were able to put ours in the microwave oven.
Once you get rid of all bugs, and really dry it out, it is more liable to NOT rot, decompose, etc, even without adding chemicals.
Sand it, stain it, and preserve it with polyurethane.
I have two pine stumps/logs. They have been removed from the ground. I want to preserve them with the bark on and use as planters. Any suggestions on how to and what to use?
My husband cut back two trees and left the stumps. He then hollowed out the inside about 12 inches and I put good quality potting soil in the hole and planted hen little chicks and both stumps are full of them and they are weather tolerant and come back on their own each year.
Tree stumps make solid and attractive bases for tables. This is a page about making a table out of a tree stump.
