Episode 33: Stumped By A Tree Stump

About This Episode

In this episode of Ask Grumpy, Steve Bender, also known as Southern Living’s Grumpy Gardener answers a question on how to get rid of a tree stump. Plus, Grumpy’s gripe of the week about mosquitoes.

Question Of The Week:

How do I get rid of a tree stump without grinding it down?

Grumpy Gardener answer: Maybe you could go and get a product that accelerates wood decomposition. And there is a product out there. You can find it at a garden center. It's called Bonide Stump-Out. What a romantic name that is, you know? Yes, that would make a beautiful birthday gift for anyone. Have some Bonide Stump-Out, and what you do is you apply this to the top of the stump and it's supposed to have all these different ingredients in there that cause the wood to decompose faster. I'm just going to be honest with you though, this process usually takes a couple of years to work. So I would say, why don't you top the stump with a pot of flowers or maybe a charming concrete chicken? I vote the chicken.

Grumpy's Gripe Of The Week

Spraying Yards For Mosquitoes

Yeah, this is something that just really ticks me off. It's becoming more and more popular. You know, it's the summertime, people are wanting to be outdoors with their kids and they're getting eaten up by mosquitoes. So one of the services that you now see is a lawn care service and mosquito killing service.They'll do it all. And if you've ever seen one of these guys with his backpack sprayer, he's got an applicator that looks like a leaf blower, and it blows out this huge cloud of insecticide and it floats over, all the yard – you know, all through the trees and the bushes and everything. It's supposed to last for a month, highly dubious. This is supposed to get rid of all the mosquitoes in your yard. A couple of things wrong with this:

1. How do you keep it in just your yard? I mentioned this to one of my neighbors. He responded, "Well, why don't you just put up a fence to keep it out?" Really? Have you ever seen rain stop at a fence? Where I might have my pets and I don't want to have that sprayed with insecticide.
2. These insecticides that they use are not selective. They will kill everything. Not only will it kill mosquitoes, but if you ever wondered why we don't see lightning bugs or fireflies anymore, why don't we see butterflies anymore?
   

Ask Grumpy

Ask Grumpy is a podcast featuring Steve Bender, also known as Southern Living’s Grumpy Gardener. For more than 25 years, Grumpy has been sharing advice on what to grow, when to plant, and how to manage just about anything in your garden. Tune in for short episodes every Wednesday and Saturday as Grumpy answers reader questions, solves seasonal conundrums, and provides need-to-know advice for gardeners with his very Grumpy sense of humor. Be sure to follow Ask Grumpy on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen so you don't miss an episode.

Editor’s Note: Please be mindful that this transcript does not go through our standard editorial process and may contain inaccuracies and grammatical errors.