Repurpose An Old Tree Stump Into A Cool Backyard Feature You'll Actually Use

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There's nothing more exciting than finding new ways to personalize your outdoor living space without breaking the bank. Especially if you get to repurpose items you already have around the yard. If you've been stressing about how to get rid of tree stumps in your yard, this is a great DIY to try. It solves two problems with one simple solution, giving you a decorative walkway and simultaneously offering a quick way to dispose of that unsightly stump. Wood paths aren't a new concept. In fact, there were wooden road-like structures thought to have been constructed as early as 6,000 years ago. This project simply takes out all that shaping and nailing of boards and opts to use raw wood straight from the tree in its circular form.

By slicing the stump into discs, you save yourself from calling a junk removal service to come take the stumps away after removal. The circles are imperfect, giving a rustic, cozy look to your garden path or front walkway. One thing to keep in mind as you begin this project is how much wood you'll actually get from your tree base. You may want to choose a short section of path, like the front step to the driveway, or find another material to mix into the wood steps, like pea gravel. There are plenty of ways to customize this project to suit your space.

Before laying down slabs of wood, you've got to remove the stump. This may be one of the best cheap walkway ideas, but it takes a little elbow grease. For this, you'll need heavy-duty gloves, eye protection, a chainsaw, a drill, and some Epsom salt. Cut as close to the base of the tree as you can so you have more wood to work with. Set this aside. If you don't want anything to grow back in the place of your previous tree, drill holes into the remaining wood and fill them with Epsom salt. This eco-friendly treatment will keep it from sprouting. Chop up the rest of the remaining roots later. With this step out of the way, you're ready to create your rustic walkway.

Plot out your path section to see how many slices of wood you need. Cut the stump into disc slices and begin laying them out into your chosen area. If you don't have enough to create the whole path with wood, consider other materials for garden paths and steps, like gravel and fill it in. To keep grass and weeds from sprouting up underneath, you may want to pretreat the area with mulch sheets, cardboard, and soil. You can also seal in the gravel and log pieces with gravel binding resin like Mulch Glue by YumCraft or similar. Once you're finished, you'll have a beautiful new walkway, and no more distracting stump in the yard.