How to decorate a stump in the garden
If there is no time for laborious work on decorating a stump, it can be decorated in simple ways. For example, you can remove the bark, sand the surface with sandpaper and paint it with different bright colors.
Painting is suitable for an uprooted stump, as it must be done on dried material. Before starting work, you need to prepare a saw, sandpaper, brush, paint and varnish.
The procedure for decorating a stump is as follows:
- First you need to clean the surface of dirt and bark. After examining the workpiece, it is necessary to remove from it areas of loose and rotten wood.
- With the help of a hacksaw and cutters, you need to give the stump an attractive shape, depending on the burst of your imagination, and leave it to dry outside. Direct exposure to ultraviolet radiation on the workpiece is undesirable, as its wood may crack.
- The stump will dry for at least a week, depending on its size. Then the future garden design element must be carefully sanded using sandpaper. Moreover, at the beginning of processing, it should have a large abrasive grain. In the process of work, it is worth gradually moving to a fine-grained abrasive to create an absolutely smooth surface on the workpiece. For processing large areas, you can use a grinder. This will speed up the process and reduce its complexity. However, this tool is not suitable for grinding narrow sections of the stump.
- Now you need to choose the material for painting the dried and polished workpiece. If the color of natural wood is not of fundamental importance, you can take texture paint with pigment, for example, Aquatex. In addition to the pigment, this material contains an antiseptic that prevents wood decay. If you need a natural shade, the stump can be covered with ordinary varnish, having soaked the product in advance with linseed oil.
- After painting with a textured material, the stump must be transferred to dry in a warm, shaded place, and after a few days, proceed with varnishing the product. To obtain a glossy surface, it is recommended to apply at least two layers of varnish to the stump. When it dries, it can be installed in the chosen place.
In addition, you can cut flowers from plastic bottles. After that, they should be painted and fixed with glue on the saw cut and sides of the stump. If plants are planted around it, this composition will take on the appearance of a magical forest.
Decor options for a stump in the garden
Thanks to the vagaries of nature, a wooden stump can have both the usual and the most intricate look. All this opens up an unlimited flight for fantasy. The most popular options for creating an element of country decor from an ordinary stump include its decoration with moss, transformation into a stand, a piece of furniture, a fabulous sculpture, etc.
stump flower bed
Thanks to the excellent combination of natural materials, the stump will look special when used as a flower bed. To translate this idea into reality, you will need plants, earth, as well as a hammer with a chisel.
Such a stump decor in the country should be done in the following order:
- First, you need to remove part of the core from it. The hollow space will serve as a flower pot. This procedure can be performed with a chisel and hammer, methodically deepening and widening the hole in the stump.
- There is a more radical way of making such a cavity - this is its burning with kerosene. First you need to hollow out the core of the stump to a shallow depth, keeping its wall thickness at least 7 cm. Then kerosene should be poured into the resulting cavity and left for 12 hours to soak. Then you need to add fuel, close the stump tightly with a lid and wait a couple of weeks. After this period, the lid can be removed and the kerosene set on fire. The burnt cavity must be cleaned and filled with earth.
- After that, you need to select planting material. The dark surface of the stump will be perfectly combined with flowers of bright shades. In the process of planting them, it is worth taking care of a sufficient amount of fertilizer and moisture. Excess water can be drained from the stump through a hole previously made on the side in its lower part.
- The stump flower bed will be perfectly decorated with multi-colored stones that can be laid out in the form of patterns around it.
Planting moss on a stump
Using moss, it is easy to decorate the stump with your own hands "antique". This will not require significant financial costs and time. However, you should be aware that for such styling, the stump must be located in a humid and shady place.
In order for the moss to take root well on the surface, after planting it must be watered with buttermilk, and then constantly moistened. Then it will grow faster.
Since moss is prone to slipping, it is recommended to plant ornamental climbing plants near it.
Decorating a stump in a fairytale style
If you are smart, you can decorate one or more stumps so that they become a favorite place for children's games, decorated in the form of a fabulous corner. For work, you will need crayons, a hammer, emery cloth, a chisel, boards, linen tow, glue and improvised materials.
The order of work is as follows:
- First, with the help of a chisel and a hammer, it is required to free the stump from the bark. After that, it must be sanded with a medium-grained emery cloth. The resulting wood dust should be removed with a rag, and the smooth surface should be treated with an antiseptic.
- Then the stump needs to be painted brown. After the paint has dried, the workpiece can be stylized as a “goblin”. To do this, you can glue a tow on top, which will imitate the hair of a fairy-tale character, and chestnuts denoting his eyes to the side of the stump.
- Below, horizontally, you need to stick a knot imitating a mouth and paint it with red paint. The whites of the "eyes" on chestnuts can be made from white caps taken from plastic bottles. A little lower, you need to make a recess in the wood and insert a “nose” knot into it. Our goblin is ready.
A stump stylized as a fairy-tale castle will perfectly decorate the site. To create such a masterpiece, the workpiece does not even need to be freed from the bark. For work, you will need a piece of chipboard, a sanded log, tow or forest moss and wood cutters.
The work is done like this:
- A piece of chipboard must be varnished and fixed on a stump cut with self-tapping screws or nails.
- On the basis obtained, it is necessary to fix a wooden house pre-cut from a log. Its top can be decorated with tow or moss, and with the help of incisors, patterns can be made on the walls.
- Then the entire building should be painted in the desired color, wait for the paint to dry and move the first tenants into it: figurines of fairy tale characters or animals - for example, from the fairy tale "Teremok".
Do-it-yourself furniture from an old stump
If you uproot a suitable stump, you can make not only a decoration for the site, but also functional furniture - a table for eating in the fresh air or an armchair.
How to make a table from a stump
For artistic creativity, you will need furniture wheels, a chisel, a mount, a planer, a grinder, a chisel, a building level and an abrasive cloth.
The whole process looks like this:
- If the stump is dry, use a pry bar and a chisel to remove all bark from it.
- After that, you need to align the future table horizontally. The building level should check the lower plane of the stump. Eliminate the identified distortions by grinding the edges with a planer.
- Then the surface of the stump must be sanded. For this, it is recommended to use a coarse-grained abrasive. When the plane of the cut becomes smooth, the stump must be laid and its side surface sanded.
- If there are cracks in the stump, they should be cleaned of dirt with a knife, trying not to disturb the texture of the tree, since the knots and cracks will give the original look to the future table. Remains of dust from grinding and cleaning, remove with a vacuum cleaner.
- Then furniture wheels should be screwed to the bottom plane of the stump; they are sold at any hardware store. They are required not only for the convenience of moving the table, but also to ensure air circulation under it.
- After that, the table must be varnished. When its first coat is applied, it is worth waiting 30 minutes and treating the surface with a No320 fine grit abrasive paper. To increase the service life of the table surface, apply at least four layers of varnish. Each layer must be left for a certain time to dry according to the material manufacturer's instructions.
- At the last stage of work, the table must be wiped with a soft abrasive. This will save him from excessive shine. Now the table can be used for its intended purpose.
Instead of a countertop, you can fix a bird feeder on a stump or make a highchair. To do this, take a seat from unnecessary furniture, varnish it and nail it to the cut of the stump.
Making a chair from a stump
If you have the skill of owning carpentry tools, you can make an original rest corner from several stumps on the site. They are easy to turn into comfortable chairs, and setting a small table next to it is even easier.
A good chair with armrests can come from a thick stump. It is advisable to plan its manufacture even before the tree is cut down. After freeing the trunk from the branches, you need to consider the dimensions of the future chair.
For the seat, a height of 40-60 cm will be enough. However, remember that the chair must have a back. Based on these considerations, the first cut of the trunk with a chainsaw must be made at a height of 0.5 m from the ground, and the second - 100 cm. This is how the seat and back will be outlined.
The depth of the first cut should be 2/3 of the thickness of the trunk. It must be performed from the front side of the future chair in a horizontal direction.
After that, you need to make a vertical cut before connecting with the cut of the horizontal direction, made earlier. These actions are aimed at shaping the seat of the chair and removing excess wood. The work is recommended to be performed with preliminary marking of the elements of the product and compliance with safety regulations.
After all the manipulations with the chainsaw, a rough workpiece of the chair will be obtained, which should be subject to fine processing. For subsequent work, instead of a chainsaw, you will need a hacksaw, hammer, chisel or more professional tools, depending on the idea.
In order for the armchair carved from a stump to be more durable, it should be treated with an antiseptic before painting. Finished furniture can be varnished, emphasizing the texture of wood, or painted with different paints in bright colors.
How to decorate an old stump in the garden - look at the video:
Before decorating a stump in your country house, consider well what purpose you will do this for. For the entertainment of children, for example, a “fabulous” option is suitable. And for tea drinking in nature - a comfortable table. Good luck with your work!