Stump Sprouts – Growing

Q: I had a very old oak tree that got some kind of root disease and it had to be removed. I did not have the stump ground down. It is sprouting baby oak trees along with huge mushrooms. If I leave the babies to grow will they also have the same fungus/disease?

A: I took down my crystal ball and dusted it off to get its prediction on what will happen to your oak sprouts.

The answer was that the sprouts will grow for a few years and will then either succumb to the original fungus or will be so tall and heavy that they will fall over, due to their weak attachment to the stump.

The ball did not predict any good outcomes from leaving the sprouts to grow.

You could let English ivy cover the stump to make a green mound in your landscape or you could have the stump ground down so something else could be planted there.

The mushrooms will continue to sprout occasionally as different fungi decompose the stump. They are not particularly harmful. If you don’t like them, remove with gloved hands and put them in the garbage.