What to expect after stump grinding

The wood chips

The pile is wood chips mixed with soil. You have three choices:

• Keep them as mulch. They work around shrubs, in beds and on paths. Keep them off tree trunks and do not dig fresh chips into the soil.
• Rake them into the hole. Fine for a spot you will fill and top with soil.
• Have them hauled away. Available for an added fee, quoted per job.

Settling

A ground stump is not a hole, but the buried chips and the roots left underground slowly rot. That can make the spot sink a little over a season or more. If it does, add soil and level it.

Getting grass to grow back

1. Rake out most of the chips. Fresh wood chips pull nitrogen from the soil as they break down, which starves new grass.
2. Fill the spot with clean topsoil and level it with the lawn around it.
3. Spread grass seed or lay sod.
4. Keep it watered while the grass gets started.
5. If it settles later, top it up with soil and seed again.

Planting a tree or shrub

Tell us before the job if a tree is going in the same spot. We grind deeper, and you clear the chips and fill with clean soil before planting.

Roots left in the ground

A standard grind takes the stump and the exposed roots. Roots further out stay in the ground and rot slowly. If you want the entire root system taken out, say so before we start. It costs more and the yard is dug up a lot more. See stump removal.

Questions