Options For Palm Stump Removal

If you have a palm tree on your land that has to be removed due to disease or damage, you may find that you are left with the stump.  It's important that the stump is removed in order to prevent its colonisation by wood eating pests and to improve the soil to allow successful future planting in the area.  But how can you remove the palm stump?

Here's an overview of several techniques that could be used for palm stump removal.

Stump grinding

A popular way of removing smaller palm stumps is by using a 'stump grinder'.  These power tools can be rented from tool hire shops.  Stump grinders are typically operated in a similar way to a lawn mower with the user pushing the tool from behind so that it presses into the stump, cutting it into small fragments.

Although a stump grinder will quickly demolish the stump itself, you will then have to manually dig the roots out of the soil afterwards.

If the stump is particularly large, a more powerful piece of heavy machinery may be required to shift it.  In this case, you should hire a professional tree service company to do the job for you, as operating such machinery requires proper training and experience.

Hands-on removal

Small palm stumps can be removed by hand, although this is hard work and can be time-consuming.  The best way to tackle this job 'hands-on' is to hire a powered spade from a tool hire shop. 

You'll want to loosen the root ball around the stump so that the whole thing can be removed.  To do this, it's helpful to moisten the area around the stump so that the soil sticks to the root ball.  Dig into the soil a couple of feet away from the tree, right around its circumference to loosen all the roots.  When the stump and roots are free, recruit a few helpers to assist in pulling the whole ensemble out of the ground.

Chemical solutions

It is possible to avoid manual labour and the expense of hiring machinery to remove your stump by using a chemical solution instead.  To do so, you drill a number of holes into the palm stump, and then inject the chemical product into them, using the applicator supplied with the product.  The chemicals then gradually work to destroy and eat away the stump until it eventually disintegrates completely.

Although this might seem like an easy solution, the chemicals can take months or even years to erode the stump, and you will still be left with the roots in situ.  This is probably a useful solution if the stump is located on an area of your land where it won't cause an inconvenience and there's no immediate hurry to get rid of it.

There are several effective methods of removing palm stumps from your land.  For more information and advice on the best way to proceed, it's a good idea to have a chat with your local tree services company like Waratah Tree Services who could do the job for you if you don't fancy the DIY route.