What to do with an unwanted and unsightly conifer tree stump

I thought somebody might want ideas on how to deal with tree trunks and stumps in the garden.  So I have described below how I dealt with the problem and hope it will provide inspiration for others.

At the back of the rose border on the north side of the garden, there had been for many years a massive conifer.  Its only redeeming feature was - well it didn't have one - so one day my husband started up the chainsaw and down it came.  Ah yes, it did have a redeeming feature - firewood for our open fires in the winter.

Then what to do with the trunk which was sticking out of the ground? I had an idea - a pedestal for a focal point.  My husband left the remaining trunk standing but cut it down till it was a three foot high stump sticking out of the ground.



Have you ever noticed how column-like tree trunks are?


I made a trip to my local TK Maxx which has a HomeSense section and found an armillary for £39.99.  I gave it makeover using one can of silver spray paint which brightened it up. 

My husband then fixed it to the top of the conifer stump using screws and hey presto as the pictures below illustrate, an attractive solution to an unsightly tree stump - plus a focal point without spending too much money.

My Autumn Project

My Autumn Project

On the north side of the house is the courtyard and this was the site for my latest project. On the opposite side of the courtyard away from the house lies a border where I grow a small collection of roses.  This bed is backed by a dry stone boundary wall, two medium sized holly trees (shaped every winter) and two large Scots pine. 

From early May until October this rose bed is a wonderful display of colour from delicate clusters of pure white to dark cerise blooms heavy with heady perfume.  I have planted here mainly shrub roses – such as Rosa Anthony, Charlotte, Robert le Diable as well as a few ramblers which I have transplanted from elsewhere in the garden (I don't know their names).

Over the years I have experimented with various ways of companion planting for the rose bushes - hardy geraniums, alchemilla mollis, ferns, hostas - I think I have tried just about everything and I have never been really happy with any of the results as you can see here the border looks very miserable in early spring.  I felt like trying something different.

Following a autumnal trip to Thorpe Perrow Arboretum in Yorkshire, I wanted to reproduce their fantastic range of stunning autumn and winter colours.  Shrubs were out of the question as I felt that the roses would be sufficient to provide bulk to the area, this meant I was limited to perennials.  It is very easy to put together a list of perennials which provide colour through autumn-winter-spring but one has to experiment to see which one will actually thrive in situ. 

I started by interspersing the roses with cyclamen in groups of three.

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I then dotted about a few members of the aster family including symphyotrichum novi-belgii  and novi-angliae for early autumn colour.  Here and there at the front of the border some erica carnea  and calluna vulgaris.  

To finish off  persicaria macrophela “Purple Fantasy”. 

and persicaria macrophela “Red Dragon” (I think), likewise the tones are beautiful in Red Dragon and are further illuminated when the sun shines on the plant.

Heucheras, trailing heuchera, heucherella and a very small specimen of rudbeckia Goldstrum were also planted to the front.

I know a lot people grow cornus and acer for autumn winter colour and I did try growing three cornus flaviouruous a few years back; I have to admit that in the winter they out shone anything in the garden but for the rest of the year they were just boring green shrubs -  I have enough of those in the garden already.  I’m hoping that as the plants in this bed mature they will clump up and not look so small and weedy. I shall be interested to see what the effect will be in the years to come. 

The rose border in summer.