Raised vegetable bed next to a tree stump?

butlerjonny

I recently had a fairly large old crab apple tree cut down and removed from the garden, and I’m planning to put a raised bed in the newly available space next to the tree stump. I know that in general it’s not a good idea to try to grow vegetables next to a tree, as the tree roots will compete for nutrients and water, but is there any issue with doing this now that the tree has been removed? I have read that the roots will slowly die and begin to decompose over a few years, but I wondered whether they will cause any issues in the meantime with veg growing above them? Any advice?
Many thanks,
Jonny

nick615

If you want to be sure, there are products you can buy for rotting stumps.  All you do is drill a few holes around what's left of the stump and insert the product into them.

hatty123

Over the last couple of years I've been building raised beds with scaffold boards in my garden, only about 20cm high, and to be honest I've not worried about the soil they're on because the plants get a good start from the compost/soil I used to fill the beds. I also follow the no dig method, where the new compost you add on top each year essential provides enough food for the new plants. So as long as the tree is dead and not continuing to take anything out of the new beds then I personally wouldn't worry about it.
just be careful not to build the beds right up against the stump. I've got a stump from a tree cut down few years ago and over winter it swelled up with lots of fungi on it and is now breaking up - really interesting to watch the natural decomposition but I'm glad it wasn't against any of the raised beds or it would have damaged the boards.

Skandi

You can happily build the bed over the stump if you want to, as it decomposes it will just feed the soil, BUT make sure it is actually dead, crab apples can regrow from the base.

butlerjonny

Thanks very much for the replies. Since the tree has just recently been cut down it looks like I should look at some of the “stump killer” treatments to make sure it doesn’t try to re-grow and continue to draw nutrients from the soil. Are these products, perhaps the plugs that are placed into holes drilled into the stump, safe to use near areas where food is grown? Any recommendations for a specific product?  

Thanks again

Chris-P-Bacon

butlerjonny said:

Thanks very much for the replies. Since the tree has just recently been cut down it looks like I should look at some of the “stump killer” treatments to make sure it doesn’t try to re-grow and continue to draw nutrients from the soil. Are these products, perhaps the plugs that are placed into holes drilled into the stump, safe to use near areas where food is grown? Any recommendations for a specific product?  

Thanks again

Plugs should have been inserted by your tree surgeon after felling as they only work when the tree is technically still alive.
Although they to still tend to work for a week or two..sometimes longer.
https://www.briantsltd.co.uk/product/ecoplug-max-tree-stump-killer/

Fairygirl

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