How deep do you grind a stump?
Eight to ten inches below grade for lawn, which is enough to get sod or seed going and enough to stop the stump sprouting. If you are planting a tree in the same spot, setting a post or pouring anything, tell us and we take it further down.
Do the roots come out as well?
The stump and the top of the big surface roots do. The fine roots stay in the ground and break down on their own. Lifting a whole root plate is excavation rather than grinding, and it does far more damage to the lawn.
What is left in the hole afterwards?
A pile of wood chips mixed with soil, unless you would rather they were gone. Raked back in and mounded, the hole fills for free and settles over a few months. Hauled off, you are left with clean ground to seed or build on.
Can you grind a stump you did not take down?
Yes, and a good share of what we grind was left by somebody else, sometimes years ago. Older stumps are often easier, because the wood has softened.
Can I plant a new tree in the same hole?
Not straight into the grindings. Wood chips tie up nitrogen while they break down, and a young tree planted into them struggles. Have the chips hauled out and the hole filled with soil, or plant a few feet to one side.
