Tree Removed Now What ?

[langss]

So today I had PITA Jacaranda Tree removed. First time I have had a Stump Ground Out. They went down 10", so I have a hole filled with the tree grindings and I'm not sure what to do next. I don't plan on fixing the lawn right away(Drought Here)and the area is not that large. Should I plan on removing the remaining wood chips and fill the hole with dirt.....Is this Termite Heaven????.

 

[mrpizza]

It will rot and leave you with a sunken spot eventually. I would dig out the wood chips personally.

 

[dadsEH]

Just overfill it....level it out next year.

 

[bigcreek]

We took out a couple poplar trees last year and ground out the stumps and the main roots but of course you never get all of them. Anyway this year we have had hundreds of volunteers coming up everywhere! Talk about a pain in the neck. Went throughout the yard digging up roots but they still come up in the darndest places. Got tired of digging up roots so have been spraying them with 24D.

 

[ford33]

Remove the chips and fill with soil. The chips will fly around the yard when the wind blows and the area may not look nice with wood chips in the lawn.

 

[ynned]

Remove the chips and fill with soil. The chips will fly around the yard when the wind blows and the area may not look nice with wood chips in the lawn.

You must have some hellacious winds.

 

[theoldwizard1]

It will rot and leave you with a sunken spot eventually. I would dig out the wood chips personally.

Even back fill with soil will likely sink some (less than the wood chips).

The only time of year to plant grass seed, even in the midwest, is in the fall.

 

[CJ7VFR]

....The only time of year to plant grass seed, even in the midwest, is in the fall.

My father always told me this as well, and I have always done any grass seeding in the fall, and it works.. But he never said why. What is the reason behind fall being the best time?

Just curious.

Jim

 

[mustang68408]

My father always told me this as well, and I have always done any grass seeding in the fall, and it works.. But he never said why. What is the reason behind fall being the best time?

Just curious.

Jim

From Nebraska and I second that sentiment... so I'd fill it up with soil, level it off as rain, washout and runoff eats away at it a bit. Put some seed down in the fall, mow in the spring

 

[ddawg16]

Those wood chips make great sun block for the plants. What you don't use, bag....save.

you really do want to get all those chips up from that spot....otherwise you will have a real soft spot in the yard

 

[Todd.Brock]

I had a tree ground out and those chips and dirt mix in and get hard as s rock and and start to settle. I would dig that **** out and replace with some fill/ topsoil

 

[larry_g]

My father always told me this as well, and I have always done any grass seeding in the fall, and it works.. But he never said why. What is the reason behind fall being the best time?

Just curious.

Jim

Grass naturally goes dormant and turns brown in the heat of summer. It also goes to seed and drops them in the summer. When the fall rains come and things cool off the seed sprouts and starts to grow. If the seed sprouts and does not get enough root down before it gets hit with dry heat it will wither and die. You can plant in summer but you must then keep it moist and that is artificial watering.

Oregon.. The grass seed capitol of the world.

lg
no neat sig line

 

[James-W]

Here is my suggestion. First off, get rid of the wood chips. Then get some really nice black dirt without a bunch of weed seeds and put it in the hole. Drive over it with the car a few times to pack it down as much as possible. Put more black dirt in the hole and keep packing it down until it is level with the rest of the lawn. Once that is done wait until Fall and use a rake to "rough up" the soil a bit before putting down the grass seed with some fertilizer. Hopefully you will get some rain but if not, water it every night for at least 3 weeks, possibly a bit longer if you find it necessary.

 

[gayler]

My father always told me this as well, and I have always done any grass seeding in the fall, and it works.. But he never said why. What is the reason behind fall being the best time?

Just curious.

Jim

Weeds will be dying off, but still warm enough for the grass seed to germinate.

 

[laurie71]

What about if you plan to build over the spot where the stump was removed? E.g. if it was cleared because a concrete slab is going to go over the top of where it was... I have one stump in the middle of where I want to build a concrete patio, and one in the corner of where my new garage's floor will get poured.

Obviously the chips should be cleared out in that case; should the remaining roots also be dug out to prevent the ground settling under the slab? Then fill and compact with dirt? Or leave the void and fill/level it off with crushed stone when prep'ing for the pad?

If the roots need to be dug out anyway, is it worth grinding the stump vs. just pulling it with the excavator?

Thanks!

Laurie

 

[rlitman]

Even back fill with soil will likely sink some (less than the wood chips).

The only time of year to plant grass seed, even in the midwest, is in the fall.

I lost a huge oak tree 8 years ago. Had the stump ground down several feet deep. The ground is still sinking. And after rains, I'll still find HUGE mushrooms/fungus that pop up under the old drip line. When I say huge, I mean big enough to require chopping into two for me to be able to lift with a shovel to get into a trash can. And once the whole fungus is in the can, it's heavy enough that I can't really add any more yard debris.

My father always told me this as well, and I have always done any grass seeding in the fall, and it works.. But he never said why. What is the reason behind fall being the best time?

Just curious.

Jim

It's fine to plant annual grass seed at any time as a cover to prevent erosion. But perennial grass needs the fall to develop roots, and spring to reach down to water, so that it can survive the summer heat. Plant perennial grass in the spring, and expect most of it to die before the fall.

 

[creativecars]

I burnt mine for several times over 6 months. Sticks, scraps etc... went into the hole and I would light it on fire. Over filled it with dirt and has been good for the last year with very little settling. Some places don't allow you to burn, but if you can, the more you burn out the less there is to decompose.

 

[stage20]

It will rot and leave you with a sunken spot eventually. I would dig out the wood chips personally.

roger that. i had huge oak stump ground and its been about 5 years, now i keep putting sand and soil trying to fill the area that has sunk

 

[toolmiser]

I just had a 40 year old silver maple cut and stump ground. I removed as much of the "grindings" as possible. Our city has free "compost" that is really good, almost dirt. I filled the hole tamped it down good, sprinkled grass seed, covered with lawn clippings, and watered twice a day. A week later I have grass sprouted. I expect I will have to fill some holes in the future as they can't get all the roots. BTW, it got into the 90's plus humidity (Wisconsin) while doing it. Good job done. We planted a couple trees to replace it, NOT silver maples. Good Luck

 

[csp]

What is the reason behind fall being the best time?

Even though the plant goes dormant over the winter, the root system continues to grow. You'll have a larger root system by the time summer heat hits than if you plant in the spring. The stronger the roots are, the better the grass will handle the stress from heat in the summer.

 

[saewoody]

Weeds will be dying off, but still warm enough for the grass seed to germinate.

Also, in the spring the grass has to compete with the weeds. The weeds are getting watered equally as well as the grass you are trying to grow!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[langss]

Thank You all for your replies. With the Current Water Restrictions.....Replanting the lawn probably is not going to happen. Its a relatively small area say 20X20 at the most. I was more worried about Termites from the Wood Chips. I may stake out a small Blue Harbor Freight tarp over the area and let the sun bake it for the summer. This time of year its getting all day direct sun.

 

[LS6 Tommy]

When you grind a stump out you NEVER leave the "grindings" behind. They need to be dug out, clean fill put in, compacted and topsoil put on top. The "grindings" will degrade, rot and disintegrate. The end result is at best a low spot and at worst a minor sinkhole.

Tommy

 

[brownbagg]

fill with dirt and plant grass

 

[CNGsaves]

OP dig out all the wood chips as instructed. "Paint" any roots you find in hole with Tordon or other tree-killing herbicide to help kill roots. You WILL have whole slew of suckers growing up in yard from roots that are still alive. "Paint" them with diesel fuel/RoundUp when they pop up and bag with black trash bag.

My old-timer FIL said to just use spade shovel and cut off suckers below soil line. However, I wanted permanent killing of all those sucker roots.

 

[csp]

Just and FYI, Tordon is a restricted use herbicide that requires a license to purchase.

 

[driz]

My father always told me this as well, and I have always done any grass seeding in the fall, and it works.. But he never said why. What is the reason behind fall being the best time?

Just curious.

Jim

I have a tractor with nice NEW ag tires. Every time I so much as pop a clutch in the yard it digs a divot. My yard gets more of these than I would like to admit....
Pretty much any warm time of year I fill the divot with dirt. Then I sprinkle any old grass seed. After that I don't rake it in at all. I just spread a thin cover of dirt over the seed and keep it watered. In 2 weeks the grass is coming up and it is filled in by a month.

 

[NUTTSGT]

What about if you plan to build over the spot where the stump was removed? E.g. if it was cleared because a concrete slab is going to go over the top of where it was... I have one stump in the middle of where I want to build a concrete patio, and one in the corner of where my new garage's floor will get poured.

Obviously the chips should be cleared out in that case; should the remaining roots also be dug out to prevent the ground settling under the slab? Then fill and compact with dirt? Or leave the void and fill/level it off with crushed stone when prep'ing for the pad?

If the roots need to be dug out anyway, is it worth grinding the stump vs. just pulling it with the excavator?

Thanks!

Laurie

I'd suggest getting out whatever you can. Any roots are going to rot away and create voids, which are never good to have under concrete.

 

[mrpizza]

Just and FYI, Tordon is a restricted use herbicide that requires a license to purchase.

I can go to rural king right now and buy tordon off the shelf. I use it for autumn olive stumps when i chainsaw the bastards down.

 

[csp]

That's a failure of the employees at Rural King to follow the rules.

Just because you can, doesn't change the regulations.

Edit: Apparently there is a low dosage version they call RTU (ready to use) that anyone can buy. The good stuff, 22K is restricted use.