A stump left in the yard doesn't just sit there quietly — it's something to mow around, something to trip over in the dark, and eventually something carpenter ants and other pests decide to move into. It also holds up whatever you actually wanted to do with that patch of yard.
We grind stumps down several inches below grade, not just flush with the surface, so what's left is loose wood chips instead of a hard root ball waiting to catch a shovel or a rototiller. Once it's ground out, the spot is ready for topsoil, grass seed, mulch, or a new planting.
Typically several inches below the surrounding grade — deep enough that the root flare is gone and the spot can be filled and planted over without hitting solid wood right away. Very large stumps sometimes need a second pass to get all the way through the root spread.
Yes, once the ground chips are cleared or worked in and the area is filled with topsoil. Most people wait a short while for the loose soil to settle before planting anything with real roots.
Yes — plenty of our stump grinding calls are for trees that came down years ago, sometimes from a storm or a previous owner's removal job.
