Have the stump ground because it's an unsightly obstacle for years afterwards.

Aside from that, plant from SMALL containers so you can more easily avoid the roots that will still be there.

May, on my acre of North St Louis glory I would probably just cut it flush with the ground. If it is only 12 foot tall how thick is the trunk? Maybe a foot across.

Someplace large than that I can not cut flush with my chainsaw and they seem to linger. FWIW when I had a large white ash removed with its about three foot across trunk I had it ground. Three years later the soil where it was still is not right to plant in. The soil near the rotting 30 inch across stump I left for decoration when I removed a white ash almost a decade ago was and is much better.

Maybe I just should have asked how large a yard do you have, how manicured it is, and whay your plans are for the spot. I'm long winded.

Termites do a pretty good job of removing these things eventually, leaving rich soil in their wake. Many around here just place a large round planter on top with flowers while this process takes place.

On the other hand, doing a sort of lasagnia garden on top of the root area will make the spot immediately plantable, and you can then add whatever you wish to the spot if it is small enough.

Thanks for your advice. I had been thinking of doing a mounded bed over the stump, and it sounds like that may be the best choice, since the stump is less than 12" wide and will be cut to ground level. It's close to the fence, so we plan to plant about 2' in front of it. I placed a compost pile over a maple stump that kept suckering, and that took care of it in about two years.

I think the roots will be more of a problem. I was hoping to get a shrub or tree growing ASAP since we now have a large hole in our privacy screen, but it looks like that won't happen for a few years.