Tree stump

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For other uses, see Stump (disambiguation).

Tree stump (about 37 years after felling)

A tree stump on the Wicklow Mountains. Note the decomposition at the centre.

Tree stumps provide a great base for new trees

After a tree has been cut and felled, the stump or tree stump is usually a small remaining portion of the trunk with the roots still in the ground. Tree stumps can be very difficult to remove from the ground. They can be dug out or they can be removed using a stump grinder.

Stump can also refer to the remains of a broken or cut branch left on the tree.^[1]

Stumps (both in the ground and on the tree) are sometimes able to regenerate into new trees. Often, a deciduous tree that has been cut will re-sprout in multiple places around the edge of the stump or from the roots. Depending on whether the tree is being removed permanently or whether the forest is expected to recover, this can be either desireable or undesireable. Stump sprouts can grow very quickly and sometimes become viable trees themselves either for aesthetics or timber, due to the existing root structure; however, the cut portion of the trunk may weaken the sprouts and introduce disease into the newly forming tree(s).

Stumps may show the age defining rings of a tree. The study of these is known as dendochronology.