The favored method of tree stump removal, grinding has proven to help prevent the airborne spread of a fungal infection as the stump rots. Stumps that aren’t ground after a tree is removed can also become infested with termites or rot, creating a soft spot in your lawn’s soil.

Because it chews stump wood down below ground level, a stump grinder ensures that your tree stump wont re-sprout with suckering growth around its perimeter. This is often the best argument for stump grinding; leaving a stump in place can mean repeated sucker pruning, a garden chore that offers little satisfaction, as you’re never done.

While suckering sprouts are a natural response by the tree after its trunk has been cut down, none of this growth is useful and won’t make a healthy new tree. Instead, you’ll have lots of sprouts that turn into branches that will need to be cut down over and over until the tree exhausts its energy reserves.