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Stump grinding in Greeley, CO
Stumps and surface roots ground below grade so you can sod, replant or just get your yard back.
What grinding actually does
A stump grinder uses a spinning wheel set with carbide teeth to chew the stump down into chips. It does not pull the root system out of the ground — that would mean an excavator and a hole big enough to swallow a small car. It removes the stump and the flare where it meets the soil, plus surface roots if you want them gone.
Standard depth is six to eight inches below grade, which is enough to lay sod or seed over. If you intend to plant a new tree in the same spot, ask for twelve inches or more and expect to backfill with soil rather than grindings.
Why bother
- Mowing. A stump in a lawn is a permanent obstacle and a good way to ruin a mower deck.
- Regrowth. Cottonwoods, elms, willows and locusts will send up suckers from a live stump for years. Grinding the stump and flare stops it.
- Pests. Decaying stumps attract carpenter ants and termites, and a stump ten feet from a foundation is an invitation.
- Replanting. You cannot put a new tree where an old stump still sits.
- It looks unfinished. Which matters if you are selling.
The grindings
Grinding a stump produces a surprising volume of chips — usually a mound noticeably bigger than the stump was, because the material fluffs up. You have two options and neither is wrong.
Leave them, and they settle over a season and make decent mulch for beds. Take them away, and we haul the chips and backfill the hole with topsoil so you can seed or sod immediately. Most people who are re-landscaping want them gone; most people with a stump at the back of the lot leave them.
One thing to know before grinding. Wood chips tie up nitrogen as they break down. If you leave grindings in place and then plant directly into them, the new plant will often look starved. Either backfill with topsoil or give the area a season and some nitrogen before planting.
Utilities come first
A grinder does not care what it hits. Before we grind anything we have utility locates marked — gas, electric, cable, water and irrigation. Greeley has a lot of older residential sprinkler systems running shallow lines in exactly the places stumps tend to be, and irrigation is usually not covered by public locate services, so if you know where your lines run, tell us.
Access
Our machines fit through a standard 36-inch gate, which covers most Greeley back yards. Where a gate is narrower or a fence panel has to come out, we will tell you at the estimate rather than on the day.
Questions we get about this
How deep do you grind?
Six to eight inches below grade as standard, which is enough for sod or seed. If you plan to plant a tree in the same spot, we go twelve inches or deeper and backfill with topsoil.
Do you remove the roots too?
The stump, the root flare, and any surface roots you want gone. The deeper root system stays in the ground and decays naturally over several years, which does no harm.
Can I plant grass right away?
If we haul the grindings and backfill with topsoil, yes. If grindings are left in place, wait a season, because decomposing wood chips tie up the nitrogen your new grass needs.
Will the stump grow back?
Not once the stump and flare are ground out. Species like cottonwood, elm and locust can sucker from remaining roots for a season or two; those shoots can be cut or treated and will exhaust themselves.
Do you grind stumps you did not remove?
Yes. Plenty of our stump work is on stumps that have been sitting for years, or that someone else left behind.