Hello,

We have an area in the backyard, where used to have a big tree. It was removed 2 years ago. We did have the stump grind but was told it only went down 12~18" deep. I removed most of the wood chips and add some top soil. It is very hard to dig due to the big flare roots around that area. We want to redo the landscaping but have no idea what to do with it. I was told by the tree remover that it's nearly impossible to replant tree within 5~8 feet of the stump area.

There are some evergreen like ground cover, which I don't like them. Under that are small rocks used for weed control. I'm thinking remove those ground cover and rocks and change them to mulch, such that it will be easier to plant things in the future. Is it a good idea or should we keep them? What should we do for the stump area, which is the highest place of that middle area. Is it possible to replace those evergreen like ground cover to some flowering ground cover (I don't know the name of those plant, but saw them being planted between the big rocks, which look very nice)?

Attached are some pictures.

this is the current look. The old stump should around the small empty rocks I newly added last year.

This is a picture our landscaper originally proposed, but now seems we cannot plant the crabapple tree there. We need to figure out what to do with that area.

Thank you!