Stump grinding and stump removal solve the same eyesore in two very different ways. Grinding shreds the stump into mulch below ground level and leaves the root system in place to decay, while full removal pulls the stump and the main roots out of the ground entirely.
Once a stump is ground, its roots die and slowly decay underground. They can no longer draw energy from leaves or push up new growth from the stump itself, so fungi and soil microbes break them down over a period of years.
A leftover tree stump is not a harmless souvenir of a removed tree. It invites wood-boring insects and fungi, sprouts stubborn regrowth, endangers ankles and mower blades, and slowly makes the surrounding lawn harder to use and harder to sell as clean, finished space.
