This is interesting - I did this years ago as an end table. Okay, I was a hippie! LOL I didn't worry about bugs or sap running - I should have! Whatever ya gotta do w/the bug bombs, do it. It shouldn't affect plants as bad as bugs will. Read the label, of course. Put something under the stump - no matter how dead the thing looks, it may drip. Drips are really hard to get up. I thing some of mine are still there 30 years later!

Thanks for the info... Here's what I've done so far... three small pieces went into the oven at 300 deg for a couple of hours, then into trash bag with an insecticide bomb from the grocery store.

They are nice and dry now... I plan to gently scoop out the insides and treat the outsides with something to prevent crumbling - right now they are pretty fragile. I'm going to try decoupage sealer for the outside... will probably punch a drain hole or two before sealing... I may need to seal the insides also ???

Have a couple of BIG pieces that are waiting until I wind out what works!

Any more suggestions greatly appreciated!

Maybe you should line the inside with a plastic pot without drainholes. Put alot of gravel in the bottom of the pot to allow for drainage. They also sell paintable resins in hardware store. They are often used repair things such as old rotting porch posts, wooden boats ect. This may make your inside waterproof and maybe even the bottom.

I soaked the inside of the two little stumps with thinned decoupage sealer and filled in some cracks with wood glue and tiny pieces of wood. I've just sprayed inside and outside with a waterproof sealer. Both little stumps feel sturdy now. Next I'll drill some drainage holes and plant something in them to see what happens. Will try to post pic at that time. Got my fingers crossed that everything works!

Here's a pic of the finished project... about 8" tall. I hope a house plant will live in it .... and I hope to use it as a mold for a hypertufa one!

OOPS - My pic didn't upload to this forum, so I uploaded it to the Gallery forum... Tiny log planter.

I am kinda new to this forum, but I love the idea of a tree stump for a planter. I have some orchids that need repotting and a perfect place for such a display with the tree trunk. But I cant find your picture, or the right gallery... ):

Try the Hypertufa gallery.

How do you hollow out tree stumps and tree sections to use as a planter? Is there a technique in achieving the hollowed out center? I want to use them as a natural outside landscape. I have a large dog, and he likes to step on all my plants that are 1' or shorter. So, the stumps are a great idea for the problem. Plus, I like how they look!

The stump was mostly rotted so the inside was pretty soft. I used a screwdriver and tongs to dig into the center and pull out the wood. Then I baked it in the oven -about 200 deg for several hours (and put it inside a plastic garbage bag with an insect bomb). Then I sprayed the inside with Thompson's Water seal... found a small aerosole can of Thomspon's. I sealed the outside with a decoupage paste ... it stands up well outdoors. I have some bigger ones (actually stumps) that have no middle at all. I plan to try the same thing with them.... using the Thompson's water seal. My plants did well in the limb.

On cleaning out the center: I used just about everything I could find in the house to pull the middle stuff out! Hope this help.

JJeane,
Thanks so much for posting this years ago. All the advice and your experience will be brought to bear on some gorgeous stumps from my friend's old apple tree that had to be cut down due to some natural process that had hollowed it out. Therefore, I don't have to spend time hacking away at the phloem! One piece is great as a decorous, organic cover for a patio umbrella base, the other is small enough that I can bake it in the oven as you suggest, then treat it and convert into a groovy table lamp that resembles the human hippocampus. Have your creations withstood the test of time? Warning about sap drips was duly noted.