Planting in old tree stumps

Woostie · June 2020

I've had 3 old tree stumps in my garden for a number of years and recently decided to try to make a feature of them. I placed them all together and added some general compost in the middle and planted a couple of herbs. A few weeks on the herbs have died so I'm wondering why this has happened when to my mind it's not really much different to putting them in a pot. Or so I thought! Should I have put some lining in the stumps too? I like the way the feature looks now so would like to try some other plants but obviously don't want to make the same mistake. Any advice please?

Fairygirl · June 2020

I very much doubt herbs will grow in that situation. Most like sunny, well drained soil, and most stumps simply don't offer that.

Ferns work better than most other plants. Up here, firs and rowans seed into them on a regular basis, but I'm guessing you don't want that!

Woostie · June 2020

Thank you @Fairygirl. I love ferns and have them growing wild in my garden. I was thinking about trying a mint in the tree stumps as I've always got the impression that they grow anywhere and it would be easy to keep it under control there. Do you think that's worth a go or just give herbs a miss?

Fairygirl · June 2020

I don't think mint would be overly keen either, but I expect you could try it

Woostie · June 2020

Thanks @Fairygirl, I thought that might be your reply

Blue Onion · June 2020

Could you drill some drainage holes either to the bottom or sides? That would really increase what you could plant in there. About how wide and deep are the holes? My grandmother used to grow impatients in her stump with no issues.. but it was a reasonable sided hole with probably some sort of drainage through a rotten bit at the bottom.. hard to tell because it was still in the ground.

Planting in old tree stumps

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