Stump Grinding in Salt Lake City, UT

Stump grinding in Salt Lake City turns a leftover stump into a pile of wood chips and soil without digging a crater in your yard. A grinder with a toothed cutting wheel sweeps back and forth across the stump and chews it down several inches below the ground. The chips can fill the hole, go into planting beds as mulch, or be hauled off. It is faster and far less destructive than pulling a stump out with a backhoe, which tears up lawns and sprinkler lines.

Why bother with an old stump

Stumps are tripping hazards and mower hazards, and they get in the way of new sod or a patio. Some species, Siberian elm and poplars among them, push up suckers from the roots after they are cut, and grinding the stump is the first step to stopping that. A decaying stump can also draw insects. If you plan to replant, grinding opens up the spot, though a new tree usually goes a few feet away from the old one, clear of the big roots that remain.

Utility lines and sprinklers come first

Most Salt Lake City yards have irrigation lines, and many have buried electrical, gas or communication lines near the house or along the park strip. Before grinding, we ask you to mark any sprinkler heads and lines you know about, and underground utilities are located through Utah's 811 system. Grinding a stump that sits on top of a gas line is not a job anyone should guess at.

How deep and how wide

For lawn, grinding a few inches below grade is usually enough. For a garden bed or a new tree nearby, deeper is better. Surface roots running out from the stump can be ground along their length too. HomeGuide notes that standard stump grinding doesn't include full root removal; chasing roots is priced separately.

Park strip stumps

If the stump is in the park strip, it's a city stump. Salt Lake City Urban Forestry lists stump grinding among the services it provides for park strip trees. Call (801) 972-7818 before paying anyone to grind it.

What's left afterward

Ground stumps leave a mound of chips mixed with soil. Over a season the wood breaks down and the spot settles, so a low area may need topsoil before seeding. Fresh chips are fine as mulch around shrubs and trees; on a vegetable bed, compost them first.