Plants may not grow there the first year if there are a lot of wood chips in the hole, but if given a year to sit out and decompose I think you'll have much better luck. Any experts able to chime in??

Yes, JQ is correct that the presence of large amounts of woodchips from the stump grinding will inhibit growth for a while. This is largely due to "nitrogen drag" which is simply, the fungi in the soil which are decomposing the wood(chips) will use up any available N in doing so. This is a temporary N shortage. When the fungi in turn die, they will release the N back into the soil profile.

If you do want to plant something right where the stump was ground out, expect to see chlorosis (Yellowing) of the foliage due primarily to N deficiency. This can often easily be overcome by the judicious application of N fertilizer.

In the long run, soils containing decomposed wood will be fertile and ideal for new tree growth.

+oM

Would it be better if I move some of the wood chips to my compost bin and then add some fresh soil? I guess I can also just put potted plants there for a year. Or grow beans for the nitrogen?

Hope the fungus wasn't Armillariellia mellea!

What are you intending to plant?

brandon, I don't think it is Armillariellia mellea since I never noticed any mushrooms growing around the base. Plus there are no upper branch dying. Just the main trunk that was having black string like stuff growing inside.

david, I was thinking about maybe some vines as it is right by my fence. Clematis or other flowering vines would be superb.

I had a huge pecan tree cut down several years ago and the stump grinded, I filled the hole with topsoil and planted a white oak acorn. The white oak has been growing beautifully.

Black string-like stuff growing up the trunk is the classic identifying feature for Armillaria. It uses these rhizomorphs to come out of the ground and kill the tree near the soil, causing it to fall over and provide the fungus with more dead wood to decompose.

It is like subterranean termites building soil tubes to get across concrete foundations and into the wood of a house. Once the rhizomorphs get under the bark then hyphae such as might be seen in the ground emerge and fan out over the inside of the bark.

Other common names are shoestring fungus and oak root fungus.

alabamatreehugger,

I had an uncle who planted a sugar maple in the hollowed stump of a silver maple that had been recently removed and the sugar maple had an excellent growth rate.

I agree with the people who advise caution regarding susceptibility to Armilaria. I would seek species that are more resistant for example Pine and Larch are more resistant than Fir and Douglas Fir. However, the fungi are ubiquitous in the soil and are opportunistic,especially when trees aere stressed due to drought, so whatever is planted should receive thorough and consistent after care to build up its carbohydrate reserves.