Are you planning to hire a stump grinding service to remove a tree stump in your yard? Then you are probably wondering whether you can then grow grass or a new tree over the resulting woodchips. The short answer is yes—but you'll have a hard time keeping whatever you plant alive.
But why is that? Don't gardeners use woodchips to stimulate plant growth? Yes, they do, but planting over fresh woodchips is not advisable. The leftover material from a freshly ground stump will hinder new growth. Here's why.
Fresh Woodchips Rob the Soil of Nitrogen
Although old woodchips make great mulch, fresh woodchips leftover from a recent stump grinding will make life difficult for new grass or seeds. In order to grow, plants, grass and trees need nitrogen. But the bacteria and fungi in the soil also need a ready supply of nitrogen to decompose fresh wood chips. As a result, the soil bacteria will use up the available nitrogen, making new growth difficult.
Moreover, even if you do manage to grow something over the woodchips with the help of fertilizer, your plants will suffer later. However, this time the problem will be because there is too much nitrogen in the soil. In nature, once decomposition has occurred, the soil fills with nitrogen. However, a large amount of woodchips will produce too much nitrogen at one time.
What then results is 'fertilizer burn', or nitrogen burn. In grass, this will show as swathes of brown. In trees, this will show as browning on the leaves, and as slowed growth.
Have Your Tree Service Remove the Woodchips
Although not all stump grinding services will offer this service, some will remove the woodchips from your soil once they have ground out the stump. You can then place the wood chips in your compost heap to allow them to decompose before using them as mulch later.
Once the tree service has removed the woodchips, you can then add topsoil to the hole. Make sure you fill the hole so that the resulting area is slightly higher than the rest of your yard. This will ensure that when the ground settles, it won't leave an unsightly depression in your yard. You can then use the area to plant grass or even a new tree.
If you are planning to have a tree service grind out a stump in your yard, ask them if they can also remove the woodchips from the hole. They may also take the woodchips away if you wish.
Share16 October 2019
Hey! I'm Keith. Are you looking for tree removal advice? If so you have come to the right place. Last year, I needed some advice about how best to deal with the trees in my yard. One of the trees had started to lean and I was very worried about it. In order to deal with the problem, I called in a professional tree service and asked them to take a look at it. The contractor wasted no time and quickly removed the tree. I was really pleased with the level of service I received and I would like to encourage others to contact their local tree service.