So what I did with this project was I took a tree stump that I got from a friend and I hollowed it out. I went about 6-8″ down into the stump and about 7″ across. Well I guess it would be 7″ by 7″ I went across the top.
Sorry I am not the greatest at figuring out how to say the measurements. I am ridiculous actually when I start a project. I will just jump in there and start doing it and I rarely use a tape measure for anything. It sends my boyfriend into a tizzy every time he sees how I work outside. I will be in sandals with no tool belt. While he will have on a huge tool belt, knee pads, gloves, and maybe even a pair of safety goggles, depending on what he might be doing.
I do have to admit that his way is probably the much better and much safer way of doing things. But I was brought up in the country and I watched my dad work around our place for years while never wearing a tool belt or gloves half the time. So I guess I picked up a lot from my childhood in those regards. Though I will admit that I have been trying to remember to wear gloves lately because of the damage it has been doing to my hands. And mother nature is doing a fine job of aging me so I really don’t need to help speed up the process by doing dumb things that I could have prevented is the way I am looking at it these days.
So I ended up using a hammer drill with a large drill bit to hollow the stump out. This was after trying everything from a Sawzall to a mult tool. Neither did anything more than basically wear me out a little bit more than I was with very little results!
Finally I found my hammer drill which is actually a corded drill. The hammer drill I have featured is a cordless type. I know that most people are more fond of using cordless tools these days. So I start to drill into it and make a bunch of different holes thinking that I could then take my multi tool and cut the stuff out.
I found out however that all I had to do was to start turning my drill bit as I was drilling and go sideways and up and over, basically just move it all different ways and it started just chewing all of the wood up like it was nothing. I was very impressed by how quickly the rest of the project went by after I discovered this way of doing it. I had been out there for hours for a couple days prior to this discovery doing it all different types of ways and had no major results. I even had 2 different men working at it with their hammer and chisels. Saying that would be the best way at hollowing out a stump that tough.
It took a little bit of a battle to convince the boyfriend to try it my way because he was swearing by the chisel and hammer being the only way we could clean it out properly and quickly. But I won in the end when I showed him how quickly I was clearing it out. I was just worn out by that time and my hammer drill arm had went capooey! So being right at the end of my project I had him come over and finish clearing it for me.
Even with how quickly the progress does come along with the right bit and a hammer drill, if you are not used to holding a hammer drill for a long period of time it will take it right out of your arm!
So the great thing about these Tree Stump Planters is that you can plant whatever type of plants you want in them. I chose the vining plant my daughter had given me for mother’s day this year because I had no where else to put it really, and I thought that it would do well in the environment of the tree stump. Especially with it coming with it’s own little trellis.
So I drilled out 2 small holes and used my hot glue gun to glue the trellis legs down in the holes. Now my trellis is much more stable. So I guess we will see how it goes from here. And another plant that I am figuring might do very well in a tree stump would be hens and chicks as shown below.
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These plants as shown above are very awesome plants! They are perennials, which means that they will come back year after year. And they spread out like wildfire. Not only that but they will grow almost anywhere, and with very minimal amount of soil. So this would mean that you do not have to hollow your tree stump out quite as deep as you would for other types of plants or flowers.
Now if you just really want this look for your yard and you are not into the whole going out and getting your own tree stump and carving it out, there is always the fake tree stump planter, that you can buy at amazon for relatively cheap.
