Why Stump Grinding is Good for Your Landscaping
It’s common to think of calling an arborist or tree company when it’s time to remove a tree that’s in the way of your landscaping plans. Or even to consult with us and your landscape architect about ways to potentially include the inherent trees on your property and/or utilize native plants.
While we love when a tree can remain in its native location, we also know this isn’t always the case and it needs to come down. But removing the tree is only half the battle we need to fight. We also must remove the stump, which enlists a process called stump grinding.
Stump grinding utilizes a specific piece of machinery where a blade with tiny little teeth along the edge grinds the stump down to chips and removes the structural roots up to 12 inches deep.
3 Landscaping Benefits of Stump Grinding
1. Aesthetic appeal
We all know how important curb appeal is to home value. Even if you aren’t looking to sell your house though, having a well manicured lawn and garden to drive up to each day is an immediate mood booster for you.
A big ‘ole stump in the middle of the yard or the garden however is more of an eye sore than a benefit.
2. Prevents the Tree from Growing Back
If it’s decided that a tree needs to be removed, then the last thing you want is to have it grow back, particularly if a fence line, wall or other landscaping has employed that space. Cutting down the tree and removing the surface-level stump won’t be enough to prevent this though.
Our industrial level stump grinding machine has more horsepower than manual removal (and even a machine rented from a hardware store) allowing it to really pull out and cut up the structural roots that will allow a tree to sprout back if left alone.
3. Natural fertilizer for landscaping
Though the main tree is removed from your property, the chips all created from the stump grinding process can remain on-site to be used as a natural fertilizer for your garden beds. In fact, we always recommend keeping them, particularly if it’s a natural tree rather than an invasive species that is removed, in order to keep as many nutrients from the original tree in that space.
After all, if you’re going to invest in new landscaping or even cleaning up your current lawn after a storm takes out a tree, why not take full advantage and get some natural mulch out of the deal?
And finally, utilizing a high-powered stump grinding machine is simply more efficient. Professionals trained to use these machines, such as our team, can do in a couple hours what will take a day or more to be done on your own.
