An old stump is a trip hazard, a mower killer, and a place for carpenter ants and decay fungi to set up shop next to your foundation. Central Kentucky Tree Service handles stump grinding and stump removal at homes, farms and businesses across the Bluegrass, whether we took the tree down or somebody else did years ago.
Free on-site estimate, and when the crew pulls off you will have a hard time telling where the stump was.
People use both terms for the same result, so it is worth separating them.
Stump grinding uses a machine with a toothed wheel to chew the stump and the major surface roots into chips, working down past ground level. What is left is a pile of grindings and a shallow depression you backfill. No excavation, and minimal damage to the yard around it.
Full stump extraction means pulling the whole root plate out of the ground with heavy equipment. It leaves a crater, it tears up everything nearby, and it is really only worth doing if you are pouring a footing or a slab where the stump was.
For nearly every yard, pasture and commercial lot in Central Kentucky, grinding is the right answer, and grinding is what people mean when they call and ask for stump removal. If your job genuinely needs the root ball out, we will say so at the estimate.
Depth depends on what is going in that spot afterward, so tell us at the estimate.
A stump ground shallow looks finished on day one and comes back as a sunken, sprouting patch in two years. It is worth doing once.
Most of our stump work is attached to a removal. If you want tree and stump removal handled together, say so when we come out and both go on one quote. It costs less than calling the grinder back as a second trip, and the crew can plan the drop so there is clear access to the stump once the tree is down. If the tree is still standing, start with tree removal in Lexington, KY.
Grinding produces more chips than the stump looked like it could hold. There are two options and neither is wrong. Leave the mound and let it settle, which takes a season or two and works fine in a back corner or a fence row. Or we haul the grindings off and backfill with topsoil so you can seed right away.
One thing worth knowing: do not plant a new tree straight into fresh grindings. Wood chips tie up nitrogen as they break down and a young tree planted into them struggles. Backfill with soil, or plant a few feet off the old stump.
Access decides which machine comes out. When you call, tell us the narrowest gate or gap the grinder has to fit through, and whether there is a step, a slope or a soft spot in the way. That one detail keeps us from arriving with the wrong equipment and having to reschedule you.
Can you grind a stump from a tree you did not remove? Yes, and a good share of our tree stump removal service is exactly that. The age of the stump does not matter.
How long does it take? A single average stump is usually well under an hour. A large multi-stem stump, or a row of them along a fence line, takes longer.
Will the roots keep growing? No. Once the stump and the root collar are gone the tree cannot produce leaves, and the remaining roots decay in place over the next few years.
What do I need to mark first? Irrigation lines, invisible fence wire, septic and field lines, low voltage lighting, and anything else buried that you know about. Call Kentucky 811 so the public utilities get located. We will not grind over an unmarked line.
Can I put grass down right away? Yes, if we haul the grindings and backfill with topsoil. If you keep the chip pile, wait for it to settle first.
Tree stump removal is available at homes, farms and businesses in Lexington, Nicholasville, Wilmore, Georgetown, Versailles, Midway, Frankfort, Lawrenceburg, Paris, Cynthiana, Winchester, Mount Sterling, Richmond and Berea. For service, call 859-333-7246.