How To Chop Down Trees in Animal Crossing

See those trees on your island? You can, in fact, cut them. Trees can turn into tree stumps after chopping them down.

If you don’t know how to do this and the tree stumps have you stumped, let me be your lumberjack guide to chopping down trees.

Denim jeans and plaid shirts are optional but are very much welcomed.

2-Step Guide To Chopping Down Trees

Step 1: Have an Axe

Of course, we can’t chop trees without any tools, and an axe is the tool for this task—but not just any axe.

In the game, there are four axes: Flimsy Axe, Stone Axe, Axe, and a special one made out of gold.

For cutting trees, an Axe will be enough. The special golden axe can chop as well, but it’s costly to make because of the rare materials needed.

Flimsy Axe and Stone Axe can harvest wood materials, but they can’t cut down trees. The Axe can harvest and cut at the same time.

To make an Axe, you need a Flimsy Axe, three Wood, and one Iron Nugget.

You learn how to make Axes from Pretty Good Tools Recipes, which is a tool upgrade recipe from the ABD.

TIP: Do the Rock Trick to get a lot of materials from a rock. To do it, use two holes as a barrier behind you since it will stop you from being pushed back when you mine rocks. See the screenshot below to help you.

A quick recap for beginners: You unlock the Flimsy Axe Recipe from Tom Nook after you give him creatures like fish or bugs.

Later, check the ABD to exchange your miles for tool upgrades.

Gather a lot of miles because the Pretty Good Tools Recipes need 3,000 miles.

Step 2: Hold Your Axe and Chop

Now that you have an Axe, it’s time to chop! To take out and hold your Axe, press ‘x’ to bring up your inventory, press ‘a’ on your Axe, and pick ‘Hold.’

Find the tree you want to cut and press ‘a’ three times to chop it down. After the third chop, the tree should go down, and a stump is left behind.

Now you have a chopped tree!

TIP: There are a lot of tree types in the game. There are Fruit Trees, Regular Trees (like Fruit Trees but without the fruits), Cedar Trees, Money Trees (also like Fruit Trees but with money bags), Coconut Trees, and Bamboos. They can all be cut.

Quick Qs About Chopped Trees

What Can You Do With Chopped Down Trees?

Chopped down trees leave stumps. You can sit on the stumps, use them to design your island, put things on it for decoration, and most importantly, catch Beetles.

Can You Remove Tree Stumps?

Yep! Use a Shovel to dig out tree stumps. You don’t have to eat fruit or food to do this. While holding your Shovel, press ‘a’ in front of a stump.

Can Cut Trees Regrow?

Nope! Once they are cut, they remain as stumps. You can plant trees by buying Tree Saplings from your Nook’s Cranny or from Leif. You can also plant fruit to get Fruit Trees.

We’re all done with the lumberjack lesson! Just get the right axe for the job, and you’re all set on turning your trees to stumps. All in a day’s work!