Soft spongy soil after large tree stump removal

FresnoBob · 12 Mar 2014

Evening everyone,

Has anyone any tips for firming up the soil after a large tree stump (2.5-3ft wide) has been removed. The stump was quite old (tree sawn down some 15 years ago), and was cut and ground out maybe 2 years ago. Have added buckets and buckets more soil to the area and stamped it down, but it's still quite soft and spongy.

Cheers folks.

JohnD · 12 Mar 2014

the roots are rotting away and leaving cavities in the ground.

cherryrosh · 13 Mar 2014

If you really want to do gardening..then, first do test for the soil. it will give you all the details like nutrients level, pH level. According to the test, supplements should be given to the soil..

FresnoBob · 13 Mar 2014

To be honest it was more about it being the only suitable area for a shed, which I don't want to get swallowed up by the ground lol.

The tree itself was cut down some 15 years or more ago (long before we moved in) and the stump was dead and rotten, and was ground out a couple of years ago. Given the size of the tree (judging by others in the field next to our garden), which was likely about 2-2.5 times the height of the house, how long can I expect before the soil is approaching some sort of normality?

scbk · 13 Mar 2014

All the wood chip produced by the stump grinder will be adding to the spongey-ness

I guess if you want to build on it the only option would be to dig out all the soft ground and replace with (compacted) sub soil/stone/etc

r896neo · 14 Mar 2014

If the soft spot is not too bad then you can also bridge over it with a reinforced concrete raft which is what i usually do with a remove stump in a new paved area.

4 inches of concrete with some steel mesh in it spanning at least a foot onto decent ground

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Soft spongy soil after large tree stump removal

FresnoBob

JohnD

cherryrosh

FresnoBob

scbk

r896neo

DIYnot Local

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