Old, dead tree question

taxidermistswife

Hello, I am new to this site and I'd like to see if someone can answer a question for me. I had a 50+ year old Elm tree on the corner of our yard(near the road) that died last year. We got it cut down, leaving a 5 ft stump, but because the guy did it for free/barter, I didn't want to ask him to cut it at the ground. This tree shaded a huge portion of our west side lawn and the tree is so missed. My question is this: There is a sapling(is this what it's called?) growing off a root a foot away from the stump. Can this be allowed to grow and will it become a solid tree? Or, do I have to plant another tree in the general vicinity? The corner looks bare and I want another tree on the corner, but I want to do it right. I just don't exactly know what right is. I'm a new planter/grower and I love it so much. If someone can offer some advice, tips, opinions, I'd very much appreciate it. Thanks so much, from Oklahoma.

Sean Freeman

Hello there, I guess it would depend on what killed the parent tree....if it was abiotic (mechanic damage to roots or similar) then no reason why the root sucker would not be capable of eventually providing the same benefits to your yard as the parent did.