What is the difference between stump grinding and stump removal?
Stump grinding cuts a stump down below the ground with a grinder and leaves the roots under the grind to decay; the NC Forest Service's model contract still files that work under "stump removal." Digging the stump out with its root ball is part of what NCDOT's road specifications call grubbing, and it leaves a hole to backfill.
Two public stump contracts use removal for grinder work
The NC Forest Service's model specification files its grinding under the heading "Stump removal." The City of Wilmington's request covered the labor "to grind, gather, load, haul, and dispose of" designated street stumps and sought pricing for a "complete stump removal" that included "removal of stump shavings."
So a quote that says stump removal may mean a grinder; the word alone does not say whether the roots come out. Which method a spot calls for is taken up on stump grinding and removal.
Grinding stops at a depth and leaves the deeper roots to decay
Grinding takes the stump and the surface roots beside it, down to the depth the job calls for. Below that, the roots stay: Pender County's Extension center says much of a removed tree's root system is left in the ground to decay.
How deep a grind goes, and whether grindings go back in the hole, are spelled out in stump grinding cost. Seeding the spot afterward has its own answer: grass over a ground stump.
Digging a stump out takes the root ball and leaves a hole
Digging a stump out takes its roots along. NCDOT's standard specifications define grubbing as "the complete removal and satisfactory disposal" of grassy growth, root mat, "ball and root," organic topsoil and surface debris, and apply it to a road project's cleared ground, apart from listed exceptions; where a select tree comes out with its root ball, the hole is backfilled unless the Engineer directs otherwise. The Extension Gardener Handbook calls digging out a stump "difficult at best."
A specification for road work is not a rule for a yard. Where a slab, a driveway or an addition will sit over the spot, the builder decides what comes out first.
Lawn, garden bed, slab or driveway: what comes after the stump?
Questions people actually ask.
Is leaving a stump in place a choice too?
Yes. The Extension Gardener Handbook suggests considering a stump as wildlife habitat for birds and beneficial insects, and names encouraging its natural decay as another way to be rid of one.
Does a road project ever leave a stump in the ground?
Yes. NCDOT's standard specifications let sound stumps beneath deep road fills stay, cut off close to the ground, and let stumps outside the construction limits stay when authorized; unsound or decayed stumps under those fills are still removed to a depth below ground.
How long do stump roots take to rot?
None of the North Carolina sources read for this answer gives a time for stump roots. The Extension Gardener Handbook says a stump's decay time varies with tree species, moisture, temperature and size.
What fills the hole after a stump is dug out?
On a road project, NCDOT's standard specifications do not accept borrowed fill for embankments or backfill that contains roots, root mats or stumps. In a yard, the fill depends on what the spot will carry next.