After the grinding
How to Fill a Stump Hole and Grow Grass Back in Cape Coral
Fill the ground-out hole with the chips and soil, or haul the chips and put in fresh topsoil, then seed or sod over it. We do the grinding and the finish.
Get a Free Estimate
Tell us how many stumps and what you want growing there after, and we quote the whole job before we start.
(239) 423-0196We answer the phone or call back the same working day, every day of the week.
- Free, no-obligation estimates
- We clean up when the work is done
The short answer
Chips, topsoil and fill for the hole
A ground-out stump hole is filled with its own grinding chips mixed back in with the soil, or the chips are hauled away and fresh topsoil goes in instead.
Grinding takes the stump "below grade", under the lawn, and leaves a shallow hole with a mound of chips beside it. Filling the hole right comes down to what you want growing there next:
- "Chip-and-soil backfill"
- The chips are raked back into the hole with the soil they came up with and leveled off. It closes the hole the same day, and it suits a bed, mulch or a spot you plan to top up later.
- Fresh "topsoil"
- The chips are hauled off and the hole is backfilled with topsoil, graded and then seeded or sodded. This is the fill to use when you want lawn over the spot with no sign the stump was there.
Three ways to finish
Using or hauling the wood chips
The "wood chips" stay on your property as mulch or fill unless hauling them away is written into the job. We keep them to the work area either way, and you pick how far the finish goes from these three levels:
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Grind and leave the chips
The stump goes 6 to 8 inches below grade and the chips stay on site, raked into the hole as fill or kept for mulch.
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Grind and rake level
Most of the chips are taken away and the spot is raked level with the lawn around it.
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To grow grass back
The full finish
The chips are hauled off, the hole is filled with fresh topsoil and the spot is reseeded so grass grows back.
Haul-off, topsoil and seed are add-ons to the grinding, and we name each one in the quote before we start.
Grass over the spot
Seeding or sodding over the ground stump
Grass grows back over a ground stump once the chips are hauled, the hole is filled with topsoil and the spot is seeded or sodded. The finish runs in this order:
Grind the roots too
The stump and the "surface roots" around it are ground to the same depth, so the grass comes in even across the whole area once it is filled.
Haul the chips
The grindings come out of the hole and off the lawn, so the new grass roots into soil instead of rotting wood.
Fill and grade
Fresh topsoil goes into the hole and is graded level with the lawn, with no hump and no dip.
Seed or sod
Seed or a square of sod goes down over the topsoil, and the lawn closes up over the spot.
Want all four done in one visit? Ask for the full finish when you call.
Get a Free EstimateReplanting
Planting a new tree in the same spot
A new tree can go in the same spot once the stump is ground deep enough, but a palm should not go back where Ganoderma butt rot killed the last one.
Grind deep enough first
The standard depth suits grass. A tree needs "deep grinding", as far as 24 inches down, so its roots have soil to grow into rather than old wood. Tell us when you call that a tree is going back in, and we grind for it.
Not a palm after Ganoderma
The fungus behind Ganoderma butt rot can stay in the soil after the palm dies. The UF/IFAS Extension guide to Ganoderma butt rot of palms says to grind or remove the stump and not to replant a palm in that spot without precautions.
Grinding depths below grade for sod, trees and paving:
Stump Grinding DepthCleanup
A finished spot after grinding
We clean up when the work is done, and chip haul-off, topsoil and seeding are add-ons that leave the spot looking finished.
Every job ends with the work area raked and the chips kept where they belong. If you would rather not look at a chip pile at all, the full finish takes it away, backfills with topsoil, grades the spot and reseeds it, so the yard looks finished instead of looking like a stump used to be there.
Cleanup comes with every stump grinding job we do:
Stump Grinding in Cape CoralWhat the full finish leaves you
- Chips hauled off the property
- The hole backfilled with fresh topsoil
- The spot graded level with the lawn
- Seed or sod down over the top
We quote the whole job before we start, with no surprise charges after.
The weeks after
After the hole is filled
A filled hole can settle for a while as the chips and the roots below it decay.
Grinding takes out the stump and the "root flare", but the deeper roots stay in the ground and break down there. As they rot, the soil above them gives a little, so a slight dip in the lawn a few months on is normal and not a sign the job was done wrong.
Keep new seed or sod watered while it roots in, mow over the spot like the rest of the lawn, and level any dip that shows up with a little more topsoil.
Why does the filled spot sink?
A filled spot can sink because the buried chips and roots rot away and leave space under the soil, so it may need topping up.
The more wood left in the hole, the more it drops, which is why "chip-and-soil backfill" settles further than fresh topsoil. Add soil, rake it level and seed any bare patch.
From Google
A neighbor's word on the job
This review is from our Google profile, as the customer wrote it.
Very quick service. Came next day in the morning with all tools needed. Very self sufficient and cleared up our stump in no time. Pricing was great and better than competitor. Give him a call if you need stumps removed !!
What we hold to on every job
- Free, no-obligation estimates
- We show up when we say we will
- We quote the whole job before we start, with no surprise charges after
- We clean up when the work is done
Your free estimate
Ready to see grass where the stump was?
Call with how many stumps you have and what goes over the spot after: grass, a bed or a new tree. We quote the grinding and the finish before we start.
Request a Stump Grinding Estimate (239) 423-0196- Free, no-obligation estimates
- We clean up when the work is done
Calls outside our hours go to voicemail and we return them the next working morning.