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The waiting time people have heard about is almost entirely about what is left in the hole rather than the passage of time. Deal with the grindings properly and most things can happen straight away.
The Two Things That Cause the Wait
Nitrogen lock-up
Fresh wood chippings are broken down by soil organisms that pull nitrogen from the surrounding soil to do it. Anything planted into or immediately above a mass of grindings struggles — pale, slow, yellowing growth in exactly the shape of the old stump.
Settlement
Loose grindings hold a lot of air. As they decay and compact, the ground drops, and whatever was put on top drops with it. This is what produces the saucer-shaped dip in a new lawn a year after a stump was ground.
Both are solved the same way, and it is not by waiting.
The Fix, Which Removes the Wait
- Take the grindings out of the hole. They are useful as a surface mulch on paths and borders, so they do not go to waste
- Backfill with clean topsoil, firming it in layers rather than tipping it in loose
- Leave the level a little proud of the surroundings
- Plant or turf
Done that way, turf can go down the same week and planting can happen straight away.
By What You Are Doing
- Turf or seed — immediately, with grindings out and clean soil in. Overfill slightly for settlement
- Shrubs and perennials — immediately, into a generous hole of fresh soil rather than into a pocket surrounded by chippings
- A replacement tree in the same position — the one case where waiting genuinely helps, and even then planting a metre or two to one side is a better answer than waiting three years
- Paving, patio, shed base, driveway — do not build over ground grindings at any interval. The material has to come out and be replaced with properly compacted sub-base
- A fence post — possible, but it needs to be into firm undisturbed ground rather than into backfill, so the post position may need moving slightly
Building over a ground-out stump is the mistake that costs real money. The remaining roots and grindings continue to decay for years, and a patio, base or wall laid over them settles unevenly. If something is being built there, say so before the stump is dealt with — it is an excavation job, not a grinding job.
Where to Put the Grindings
They are a genuinely useful material, just not under a lawn:
- Surfacing woodland paths and informal walkways
- Mulching around established shrubs and trees — on the surface, never dug in
- Suppressing weeds in an area that is not being planted this year
- Composting, mixed with plenty of green material to offset the carbon
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Ask Us About Your Own Garden
Tell us what is planned for that area and roughly when. It changes how deep we grind and what we do with the grindings.
Tell us what needs doing across Hertfordshire and we will quote for the work. Call 07388 094829, message us on WhatsApp or use the form below.