Finish the job
Stump Grinding in Portland, Maine
The tree's gone but the stump is still collecting lawnmower blades, sprouting suckers, and hosting the carpenter ants' summer home? Twenty minutes with a grinder turns it into mulch and a patch of new lawn.
Free estimates · Multi-stump discounts · Tidy finish
Why Bother Grinding a Stump?
- It never stops being in the way. Mowing around a stump for ten years is its own tax, and hitting the hidden root flare with the mower blade is a $90 repair every time.
- Many species don't accept defeat. Maples, poplars, and lilacs send up thickets of suckers from a cut stump for years. Grinding removes the living collar they sprout from.
- Rotting stumps invite tenants. Carpenter ants love soft, moist stump wood, and a colony established ten feet from your sill plate doesn't stay in the stump forever.
- You get the yard back. Garden bed, lawn, patio corner, parking spot: a ground stump is just dirt with potential again.
- It finishes the look. Nothing says "half-done project" like a fresh-cut stump in an otherwise tidy yard, especially with a house sale on the horizon.
How It Works
A stump grinder is a carbide-toothed wheel that chews the stump into chips, working from the top down until everything is 6–12 inches below grade, deeper on request for construction or hardscaping. The surface roots that ripple through the lawn can be chased and ground too. What's left is a mound of chips (excellent free mulch, or hauled away) and a shallow crater that gets backfilled with the soil-and-chip mix or fresh loam, ready for seed. Most residential stumps take well under an hour; the machine fits through a standard 36-inch gate, so fenced backyards are no problem.
Taking a tree down this season anyway? Bundle the grind with the removal while the crew is on site; it's cheaper than a separate visit, and the yard is fully finished in one pass.
Common questions
Stump Grinding FAQs
How much does stump grinding cost?
Most single stumps in Greater Portland run between $100 and $400 depending on diameter, species, and access; hardwood stumps and stumps grown into slopes or fences cost more than a pine stump in an open lawn. Multiple stumps in one visit price well, since the machine is already there. Free estimate, as always.
How deep do you grind, and can I plant there afterward?
Standard grinding goes 6–12 inches below grade, plenty for lawn, gardens, and most landscaping. Grass grows over a properly backfilled grind within a season. Replanting a tree in the exact same spot is the one exception: the old root mass makes it a poor home, so plant the new tree a few feet over and it'll thank you.
What happens to the roots after grinding?
They stay, and they quietly rot over several years, which is fine. Once the stump (the living tissue collar) is ground out, the roots can't send up new shoots for most species, and they decompose harmlessly underground. The mountain of wood-chip mulch the grinder produces is yours to keep for garden beds or ours to haul.
Turn that stump into lawn
Free estimate over the phone with a photo, in most cases, and multi-stump pricing that makes it worth doing the whole yard at once.
Call (207) 558-3036- Maine-licensed arborist crew
- Free estimates
- Fully insured tree work