For those who live in wooded areas with fallen or cut trees, transforming tree trunks into something decorative and eye-catching for your garden is a wonderful way to repurpose unused wood. Adorning tree stumps with dainty items or reshaping the wood into a spectacular image can add a rustic look to your yard and increase the appearance, and uniqueness of your outdoor space. In this article, we’ve decided to list 25 of our absolute favorite tree stump ideas to get your creative DIY juices flowing!
Table of Contents
Wedding-Style Tree Stump Ideas
1. Tree Stumps with Candles Inside Glass Jars
Our first tree stump idea is this beautiful wedding decor in a dimly lit garden. The natural appearance of the tree stumps, the soft glow of the candles inside glass jars, and delicate white lace create the perfect rural scenery for the evening of your special day.
2. Candlelit Tree Stumps Decorated with “Love”
Before we say anything else, we sincerely hope you caught our pun in the subtitle.
Now, the countryside feeling that this garden decor brings is truly unable to be matched. With the melted and bottled candles, rustic stacked tree stumps, white flowering shrubs, and glamorous Hollywood-style lit-up letters spelling “Love” we doubt you could get any more countrified than this (which isn’t a bad thing).
3. Elegant Rural Table Decor
Though this garden decor isn’t made with an entire old tree stump, sawing off multiple small table decor bases from one large stump is a wonderful idea. The stick wreath with leaves and acorns really enhances the natural aura of this centerpiece. Additionally, the candlelit metal lamp and burlap sac holding dainty flowers give off an old-timey, homegrown feel.
Christmas Tree Stump Decorations
4. Colorful Holiday Table Piece
This Christmas table decoration made with a tree stump base, fake berries, pine needles, and dried orange peels gives off the perfect homey holiday vibe. The Christmas colors, adorable tiny home, and the little girl dressed in winter attire all harmonize to make a beautiful table piece that is sure to warm the hearts of your guests on cold, snowy nights.
5. Christmas Tree Stump Dinner Mat
This tree stump dinner mat isn’t really a mat per se… but, it without a doubt makes a unique and Christmas-themed addition to your dinner table. Your dinner guests are sure to enjoy the Holly wreath, the scent of pine, and delicate sprinkles of gleaming fake snow as you talk and eat together. There’s no doubt your party will be a hit with this decoration!
6. Simple Holiday Centerpiece
This holiday tree trunk centerpiece is simple, as to not take away from surrounding decorations, yet effective enough to bring a room together. The uncomplex red candle, few pine needs, and minimal red ornaments bring a tad bit of color to the room as they sit upon the winter appearance of the wood stump. The shimmery wire wrapped into the shape of a Poinsettia is truly the cherry on top of this table decor piece.
Tree Stump Tables
7. Tree Stump Table with Tree Stump Chairs
The table and chairs shown in the garden above were crafted out of very large tree stumps. The table stump was fashioned in such a way to make the tabletop broader, with a skinnier base for more legroom. The chair stumps were simply cut and smoothed at an angle to create backs and a seat.
This would make a wonderful DIY project for the crafty minded and blend perfectly into the natural scenery outside of the home. A colorful planter placed in the middle of the table would also be an excellent addition.
8. Perfectly Cylindrical Table and Chair Tree Stump Set
Perhaps the easiest project (if you’re a DIY crafter) and simplest design on our list, this cylindrical set of smoothed-down tree stump seats and enormous tree stump table bring about a campfire aura to any backyard they’re in. Who needs expensive garden furniture when you have trees?
9. Colorful Tree Stump Table and Stools
Similar to the tree stump table and stool set in the last idea example, this set is cylindrical and simple. However, if you haven’t already noticed, the difference lies in the bright, popping colors of the top half of the tree stumps. Painting part (or the entirety) of tree stump tables and stools is a unique and cost-effective way to bring some color and customization to your backyard.
And, we must say, these would make an interesting outdoor coffee table for crisp mornings.
10. Tic-Tac-Toe Tree Stump Table
If you like playing tic-tac-toe, this tic-tac-toe table made out of a smoothed-down tree stump would be a fun way to put your unsightly stump to use. Though it wouldn’t save much, this idea would at least save some money, keeping you from having to buy anything but chalk to draw your X’s and O’s with.
Tree Stump Sculptures
11. Carved Tree Stump Face
If you’re a fan of the foresty Scandinavian tales of giants in the trees, this gigantic face in the tree stump would bring folklore to life in your backyard. The almost seamless appearance of this carving makes this otherwise eyesore of a tree stump look naturally mythical as if the tree were actually a being come to exist right out of the whispers of Scandinavian lore.
12. Tree Stump Bird
No need to pull out the stump grinder! This rough cutout of a little bird figure is adorable and storybook-like in its own right. Painting it in realistic colors would be enough to bring a bit of joy to your yard with the exaggerated features of this woodland – wooden – creature.
13. Toadstool Carving
Yet another woodland addition to any yard, this oversized toadstool carving brings about an air of fairytale wonder. We think this carving would be magical in a life-size fairy garden and with or without paint, but of course, the outcome is entirely up to your inventive imagination.
14. Wooden Heart
This beautiful tree heart is a wonderfully delicate expression of love. A carving like this is sure to add an aura of warmth and affection to your backyard and can be easily constructed using a chainsaw (if your chainsaw chain isn’t dull, that is).
15. Swirled Tree Stump
For the abstract in you, carve your sea of unsightly tree stumps in variously sized and shaped swirls for one of the simplest yet most eye-catching DIY piece of tree stump art we could find.
16. Tiny House
There’s something about tiny wooden houses, exaggerated wooden birds, and toadstools in an old stump that brings a sense of fairytale enchantment to backyards. This carved wooden house complete with a door, window, roof, and chimney crown makes it seem as if a tiny winged fairy could walk outside at any moment.
Place a tiny flower pot or two next to the door and you’ve got yourself a bonafide fairy house.
17. Tree Owl
We all remember the childhood stories of the witty, old owl from Winnie The Pooh or Big Mama, the mother owl with a whole bunch of love to give from the beloved film The Fox and the Hound. It’s flittery garden characters such as these that bring the wise, caring fictional feeling of owls to life, and this carved wooden owl perfectly encompasses this sentiment of boy and girlhood.
18. Christmas Tree Stump
Cutting down a tree for Christmas has been a holiday tradition for (surely) as long as any of us can remember. If you’ve grown your own Christmas trees or have gone to cut one down from a tree farm, sawing a cartoon-style Christmas tree into the trunk of an actual tree is a clever way to make use of the stump.
Tree Stump Pathways
19. Single Stump Walkway
For narrow grass or dirt paths in the garden, this single stump walkway is a unique way to reuse cut down trees. A little walkway like this would be perfect for keeping your shoes clean (or more clean than usual) as you walk from different areas of your property. Not to mention, tree stump walkways are much more cost-effective than stone walkways.
20. Stone-Appearance Wooden Walkway
This walkway made of – likely hundreds – of tree stumps creates a vague illusion of a stone-covered garden pathway. Like we mentioned before, this is a unique way to save money without compromising the appearance of the walkway.
21. Above-Ground Stepping-Stone Tree Stumps
Unlike the other wooden garden walkways, these stumps are above ground, quite large, and widespread, similar to rock stepping stones that you often see in gardens. As with the other two, this is also a less expensive option than buying flat stepping stone rocks (and it gives a more rustic appearance to the area).
Tree Stump Planters and Landscaping
22. Hollowed-Out Stump Planter
If you have a large tree stump in your yard, you can transform it into a beautiful, natural planter. The tree stump in the photo above has been slightly hollowed out and filled with dirt and flowers. This is a great way not only to save money on gardening supplies but to also make clever use of the natural elements in your garden.
Perrenials are great flowers to plant in rotting tree stumps. They love additional nutrients, only last a year, and can be replaced often for a new style or to match the season’s colors.
23. Natural Display for Potted Plants
Don’t want to go through all the work of hollowing out a tree stump? Place your potted plants on the stump, instead, for a natural display.
23. Weathered Cacti Stump Garden
Weathered tree stumps with naturally hollow crevices make a perfect place for a succulent and cacti garden. This is a beautiful idea for desert landscaping and would be a breeze to maintain.
Some great cacti and succulent options to include in your weathered planter are:
- Golden Barrel Cactus
- Bunny Ears Cactus
- Moon Cactus
- Star Cactus
- Common Houseleek
- Ghost Plant
- Stonecrop
24. Tree Stump Flower Bed
Having a tree stump in the middle of your yard can truly be unideal, taking away from your garden and giving your property an overall dull feel. To enhance your pitiful tree stumps without the pain of removing them, plant a bed of colorful flowers to encompass it. Now, instead of an eyesore, you have a glorious foresty garden bed.
25. Viney Tree Stump Planter
For an overgrown appearance, consider planting creeping plants in your tree stump. Creeping Jenny, Ivy, and other Vine will slowly take over the entire stump, flowing gently to the ground. This will give your garden a full, lush appearance and is a great way to feel voids in gardens.
Other Ways to Repurpose Tree Stumps
If none of the above 25 tree stump ideas is your thing, consider these other ways that you can put your tree stump to good use!
- Use your tree stumps for firewood. There’s nothing like sitting around a crackling fire in the middle of winter or roasting marshmallows under a summer night sky. If you don’t want to decorate your tree stumps, cut them up, and store the logs for later! Don’t forget to store your logs in a dry environment so that they don’t rot or get exposed to wet weather conditions!
- Drill holes in the tree stump and put lights inside. This is a super unique thing to do with your tree stump and is a great way to light up a dark patch of your yard at night.
- Use tall tree stumps for birdhouses. Screw birdhouses onto the side of tree stumps or hollow outsides of the tree stump to make room for bird nests.
- Turn your tree stump into a birdbath. One way you can do this is by setting a bird bathing dish on top of an evened-out tree stump. Alternatively, you could hollow out the tree stump and set the bathing dish inside for a sturdier birdbath. To make the process simple, take a look at this comprehensive tree stump birdbath DIY guide!
- Turn your tree stumps into homemade cookware or utensils. Carving a cutting board, bowls, or spoons out of your tree stumps is a fun DIY project that is both challenging and useful when you get the final result. Here’s an easy-to-follow guide on wooden spoon making if you want to give it a go!
Final Thoughts
There are many ways in which you can use otherwise useless tree stumps from your garden. From holiday and wedding decor to seating areas and artistic works, there are endless possibilities for what you can do with a cut or fallen tree. We hope this list of our favorite tree stump ideas gave you some ideas of your own to transform your home and yard!
