A stump is the part of the job most tree companies leave behind. It sits in the middle of the gravel, sends up suckers every spring, trips people in the dark and makes the spot useless for anything else. Mesquite and palm stumps in particular will keep trying to grow for years.
Grinding is the clean fix. The machine chews the stump and the top of the root flare down below ground level, the crew rakes out the chips or leaves them as mulch, and the hole gets backfilled and the rock put back so the spot looks like there was never a tree there. Most single stumps take well under an hour once the grinder is set up.
What stump grinding includes
- Grinding below grade. Typically six to twelve inches below the surface, deeper if you plan to plant a new tree in the same hole.
- Surface roots. The big roots running out from the stump can be chased and ground so they stop lifting pavers or catching the mower.
- Chips. Hauled away, or left in place as mulch. Your call.
- Backfill and rock. Dirt filled and tamped, decorative rock and gravel raked back into place.
The grinder is compact enough to fit through most side gates, so backyard stumps are not a problem.
Stumps we grind most
Mesquite, palo verde, ficus, pine, ash, mulberry, olive, citrus and palm. Palm stumps are fibrous and take longer, but they grind fine. Large ficus stumps with surface roots are the most involved because of how far the roots run. If a tree was removed by someone else and the stump was left tall, we can cut it down first and grind from there.
Grinding versus digging out
Digging a stump out by hand or with a machine leaves a big hole, tears up the yard and costs a lot more. Grinding removes everything you can see and everything that would get in the way of new landscaping, and the remaining roots simply decay in the ground. For almost every residential situation, grinding is the right answer. The exception is when a pool, wall or foundation is going exactly where the tree was, in which case we will talk through what makes sense.
What it costs
Stump grinding is priced by the size of the stump, the number of stumps, how much surface root work you want, and access. One stump in an open front yard is a quick, inexpensive visit. Several large stumps or one that is tight against a wall take longer. If we are already removing the tree, the stump is priced in with the removal so you get one number for everything. Scheduling is fast: most stump jobs are done the same week you call.
