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What Happens to a Tree After You Remove it?

Himni Palacios
Content Contributor

Tree Roots: Common Problems with Root Systems | The Tree Center™

What Happens to a Tree When it's Removed?

Once a tree is removed or felled, the stump and roots begin a very slow decaying process. Over time, they will become home to various pests, organisms, and fungi. This not only becomes a home for these critters, but it also becomes a hub they can spread out from.

Termites, carpenter ants, rats, fungi, and diseases can get a foothold in the stump and roots, then spread to other trees and even your home. Over the course of the next decade or so, the stump and remaining dozen or dozens of feet of roots will eventually rot to nothing, but not without a fight from those who now call it home.

What to Do With Ground Tree Stumps | Gordon Pro Tree Service

How to Deal With a Stump and it's Roots

Leaving its Stump in the Ground

If you leave a tree stump in the ground, and it’s roots, it will decay. It may take a decade or more, but eventually, it’ll decay. During that time, however, it becomes home to a number of pests, organisms, fungi, and even diseases.

Tree roots do stop growing as soon as the tree is felled, but when they remain in the ground they will also decompose over the next decade and can make fungi more likely to pop up across your yard wherever they reach.

Pulling its Stump

How can you get rid of tree roots after you cut down the tree? One of the only ways is pulling the stump itself, and the roots too. This is a very intensive job, and not too many out there will undertake it due to the labor involved. Heavy machinery is needed to dig out the stump and some of the roots, and then pull it out.

Tree Stump Grinding

Tree stump grinding is something we specialize in. It takes a long time for tree roots to decompose still, but the bulk of the material will be ground out by a large machine. The tree roots will die after stump grinding, but they would already be dead after the tree was removed too.

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