Once a tree is down, you are usually left with a stump. It sits there in the lawn, awkward to mow around, sometimes sprouting new shoots, and slowly turning into a home for pests. Getting rid of it is straightforward once you know your options, and they vary a lot in speed, cost and effort.
Here are the main ways to remove a tree stump, what each involves, and how to pick the one that suits your yard.
Why bother removing a stump?
A stump is more than an eyesore. Left in the ground it can:
- Get in the way of mowing and landscaping.
- Send up new shoots as the roots try to regrow.
- Attract termites, borers and other pests as it rots.
- Take up space you could turf, plant or build over.
- Become a trip hazard hidden in the grass.
Stump grinding
Stump grinding is the most common and usually the most practical method. A machine grinds the stump down into wood chip, generally to somewhere below ground level, and the hole is backfilled with the grindings and soil. It is fast, tidy and leaves the area ready to turf or plant over.
Grinding deals with the stump and the top of the main root, rather than digging out the entire root system. For most backyards that is exactly what you want. As a bonus, the grindings can be left as a free wood chip mulch for your garden.
Grinding is the quickest, cleanest way to be rid of a stump. In most cases you can turf or plant over the spot soon after.
Full stump removal
Full removal means digging out the stump and the major roots entirely, leaving a large hole to backfill. It is more disruptive and more expensive than grinding, and it can disturb a big area of your yard. It is usually only worth it when the ground has to be completely clear of roots, for example before certain building work or where a large hole is needed anyway.
The slow DIY options
There are DIY routes, and they can work if you are patient and the stump is small:
- Digging it out by hand. Possible for a small stump, hard work for anything larger, and tough going in the heavy soils around parts of the Hunter.
- Letting it rot down. Cutting the stump low and letting nature take its course works, but it takes years, not weeks.
- Chemical stump removers. These speed up rotting but still take months, and they need care around pets, children and nearby plants.
A quick word of caution: burning or dousing a stump in fuel is a genuinely bad idea. It is dangerous, often against the rules, and rarely works well. Skip it.
Which approach is right for you?
For most homes, grinding is the sweet spot: fast, clean and reasonably priced, especially if it is done while a crew is already on site for the tree removal. Full removal is for the handful of cases where every root has to come out. The DIY options suit small stumps and patient owners who are not in a hurry.
Getting your stump gone
If you have a stump you want dealt with quickly and neatly, grinding is almost always the answer. See our stump grinding and removal service, or the areas we cover across Newcastle, Lake Macquarie and the Hunter.
Tell us about the stump and get a free quote. Let us know if you would like to keep the grindings as mulch.