Stump Grinding in Lubbock, TX

Stump grinding in Lubbock turns an old stump into a pile of wood chips and soil, cut down below the ground so grass, a flower bed or new sod can cover the spot. A grinder uses a spinning wheel with carbide teeth that chews across the stump a few inches at a time, working down and outward until the wood is below grade. It is far less disruptive than digging a stump out, which on the South Plains often means fighting both the root ball and a hard layer of caliche underneath.

Why not just leave it?

Some people do, and an old stump at the back of a lot is not hurting anyone. But stumps get in the way of mowing, catch the edge of a trimmer every week, and send up sprouts. Elms are known for it: a Siberian elm stump can push up a ring of suckers that, left alone, becomes a thicket. And if the tree died of Texas root rot, the stump and roots are where the fungus lives; grinding the stump and replanting with a different kind of plant, rather than another susceptible tree in the same hole, is the sensible path.

How deep and how wide

Most residential grinds go several inches below the soil surface, enough for sod or a few inches of topsoil and grass seed. If you want to plant a new tree in the same spot, tell us; that takes a deeper and wider grind and more of the chips taken out, and many arborists suggest shifting the new tree a few feet over anyway so it is not growing into decaying roots. Surface roots running out across the lawn can be ground along their length too, which is billed separately.

Before we start

Grinding goes into the ground, so underground lines matter. Lubbock Power and Light's safety page points homeowners to 811, the free call-before-you-dig service, and Texas One Call at least 48 hours before digging, and we work around marked lines. Sprinkler heads and lines near the stump should be flagged too; irrigation is everywhere in Lubbock yards because nothing grows here without it. We also check for rocks, fence footings and old concrete that can damage a grinder.

The grindings

A ground-out stump leaves a surprising pile of chips mixed with soil, often more than the stump looked like. You can keep them to fill the hole and let them settle, use them as mulch in beds, or have them hauled off with topsoil brought in for new grass. The City of Lubbock's landscape waste page suggests a 3 to 4 inch layer of shredded wood as bed mulch, which is a good use for clean grindings.