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Yes, you CAN feed the deer - with a tree stump!

  • Writer: Dara Sinclair
    Dara Sinclair
  • Jul 27
  • 2 min read

A 'mineral stump' is the 18- to 24-inch-high stump of a hardwood tree that resprouts. The sprouts contain 5X the nutritional value of 'regular' leaves and the deer love them. What an easy way to make good forage available for deer.


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Why do I want to make nutritional forage available to deer?


  • takes the pressure off native plants or other plants that you hope the deer don't eat

  • mature unmanaged forests (like Bent Trees) have limited food as minimal sunlight and maximum leaf litter mean minimal vegetation is naturally available (NOTE: they do not eat invasive stilt grass and even if they occasionally do, it does not supply adequate nutrition).

  • Hungry deer aren't much fun to have around.



How do I make a mineral stump?


Cut down 2-4 inch diameter red maples, sweet gums, ash, black gum (tupelo) or tulip trees. Leave the tree top on the ground in the open for a week or so and the deer will likely browse those leaves. Make a brush pile (40 feet from your house) with the tops, the birds will appreciate it.

small tulip trees resprouting continually
small tulip trees resprouting continually

QUESTIONS


Do I need permission from the Architectural Control committee to do this? No, the rules allow for trees 4-inch diameter or less to be cut. Red maples and tulip trees in particular sometimes grow profusely in some areas and everything will benefit from their thinning. The trees of these species and size in the understory will often jump out at you as candidates for mineral stumps once you start looking - they will be stunted / crooked / damaged. HOWEVER, if you are taking down larger trees (with permission of course) consider leaving the stumps, they will make a great contribution!


Are oaks candidates for this? In theory, yes. But oaks are the most important mast tree and in the fall/winter wildlife really depend on the acorns. Small oaks are really needed to be ready to take advantage of canopy gaps to grow. So keep the oaks!


What about pines? This does not work with pines, they do not sprout.


Will the stumps last forever? Probably not, but have been known to last at least 5 years.


How is this better than seedlings of the same tree species? The biology is explained thoroughly in one of the reference videos. The short answer is that a tree will generally balance the mineral content of its roots to its leaves. So a cut tree with a large root system puts a LOT of minerals into the few sprouts it has.


Can I do this at any time of the year? The tree needs to be growing (not dormant) to resprout. May through mid August are the best times.


There are too many deer. Mineral stumps won't change community practices related to herd management. This is about increasing quality forage for the deer that we have.



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