Planting in a hollowed out tree trunk?

[RichnSteph]

We have a lot of Post Oak on our property that I'm slowly taking down and cutting for firewood. One of the trees that was felled during home-site prep is about 2' across by 10 feet long and the entire center is just rotted. I'm thinking I could run a chainsaw down it and either split it in half for two planters or cut a "V" all down one side and have a single planter. Anyway I'm wondering if anyone has done this and if it worked at all? I think it'd look neat out in the front yard with either some pretty things for my wife or some peppers and such for the table.

Thoughts on material to put in the interior of the log? Should I leave all the rotted wood in there (it's like a mushy pulp when wet) for moisture or will it kill the plants?

Thanks in advance.

 

[ChickensAreSweet]

Not sure about your question, but I wanted to say to try to keep it far from your home in case of termites.

Here- google this term:
hugelkultur

 

[mymilliefleur]

Sounds like an interesting idea! I really don't see why it wouldn't work. The wood would rot eventually but I'm sure it would last a lot longer than the plastic planting containers that you would find at the store. (probably at least 3 or 4 years) Make sure you drill some holes in the bottom so that the excess water can drain out. On the rotten wood inside: I'm not sure. I would go ahead and scrape it out and than you could always mix some of it in with what ever potting soil you decide to use.

 

[lazy gardener]

How much potting soil can you pack in with the rotting wood? I'd leave the pulp there, add some potting soil, and plant it. It will hold moisture well, the fungus that is already at work inside the tree will help it to release nutrients. What you have going there is a hugel container! I'm working on a HK bed at my house, just getting started with it, and already seeing much promise!

 

[RichnSteph]

How much potting soil can you pack in with the rotting wood? I'd leave the pulp there, add some potting soil, and plant it. It will hold moisture well, the fungus that is already at work inside the tree will help it to release nutrients. What you have going there is a hugel container! I'm working on a HK bed at my house, just getting started with it, and already seeing much promise!

The cavity is pretty large as most of the interior is rotted. We don't have much in the way of potting soil but I have a rather large amount of compost that can go in there. I looked at the HK beds and the like online and understand how it works..... looks to take years to be productive and this rotted trunk would be a nice "in road" into how it works. I've got several more trees that are rotted around the place and was thinking that all they'd be good for was a burn pile. If I can make hugel-containers out of them I'll do so. Probably have to post up some pictures of them here so that others can see what can be done with similar rotted trees.

 

[lazy gardener]

Why don't you start a new thread? You could even leave the stump in place, cut it off at a comfortable height, and use the stump as an awesome planter. Compost would be great to fill up your containers. You also have a lot of sand in TX, yes? do a compost/sand mix. I'd recommend planting a high nitrogen feeder. Any of your greens, cabbage, onions, even corn. That would be a hoot, to see a hill of corn rising up out of a tree stump!

 

[Ridgerunner]

My biggest problem with containers is water. Either they don’t drain well enough so whatever is in them drowns or I have to water practically every day to keep them from drying out. Drilling some pretty decent sized holes so it will drain and committing to watering as necessary is the way I’d approach it.

Compost by itself is not a great potting medium. It can dry out and become brittle or hard pretty quickly. It’s not heavy enough to give good root support, plants might turn over or pull out in a wind. It’s a great additive to soil but performs best in a mix. I’d suggest you look up some homemade potting mixes using compost and see what is available or convenient for you.

Not all plants do well in containers, especially drier weather plants. These end to send a root down looking for water and can easily get root bound. Maybe a little research for things in your area. I’d also look for low-growing plants. Something tall might get blown over in a wind. If you commit to never moving it and drill some pretty big holes in it, the roots might go on down into the ground. That could help.

Post oak will rot fairly slowly. I’d probably want to remove as much of that soft stuff as I reasonably could (don’t go obsessive on me, stay reasonable) and replace that with your potting soil mix.

For me I’d think more of fairly low annuals, especially flowers, so you don’t have to worry about watering in the winter or the ground inside becoming frozen solid and killing your perennials. Where you are freezing that hard may not be a problem but …. I could see strawberries growing in something like that though.

It sounds like it has potential. Good luck!

 

[donrae]

My Honey brought home a hollowed out section of some hardwood tree (walnut, maybe) years ago when he was cutting firewood. It's about 3 1/2 feet tall, and a junction of the trunk and branches. There are 4 open areas where branches were sawed off...I'll see if I can get a pic later. Anyway, I claimed it and had him set it up in my garden area. Left the section intact and bought a bag of potting soil. Pushed the soil down into the openings as far as I could, kept watering it to push it down into the spaces. finally got it filled so the soil filled most of the hollow space. I then planted Wave petunias in the openings, with some lobelia and I forget what else--annual flowers that did well in full sun. As long as I watered it every day, each of those openings, it did fine. Skip one blessed day of watering and the plants would droop something fierce. I never saw water come out the bottom, I have no idea where it all went. If I were going to do it again, I'd set it closer to a faucet so I could just run a drip line and make watering easier.

Wasn't able to garden this year for health reasons...went out there a few weeks ago and noticed the bark is finally falling off the poor stump. It lasted 4 or 5 years, though. I may just peel the bark off and see if I get a few more years out of it. When all those petunias were in bloom, it was quite pretty.

 

[lazy gardener]

Rachel, there's always next year!

 

[ambarth]

We have a lot of Post Oak on our property that I'm slowly taking down and cutting for firewood. One of the trees that was felled during home-site prep is about 2' across by 10 feet long and the entire center is just rotted. I'm thinking I could run a chainsaw down it and either split it in half for two planters or cut a "V" all down one side and have a single planter. Anyway I'm wondering if anyone has done this and if it worked at all? I think it'd look neat out in the front yard with either some pretty things for my wife or some peppers and such for the table.

Thoughts on material to put in the interior of the log? Should I leave all the rotted wood in there (it's like a mushy pulp when wet) for moisture or will it kill the plants?

Thanks in advance.

Did you ever plant a tree in the post oak stump? I live in DFW and had a massive post oak go down this year. The stump base measured 11’ around. It also has a large hollowed out center, and I’m thinking of planting a tree inside of it. Any advice/feedback?