Grindings cleanup and backfill in Durham

Grindings cleanup and backfill in Durham: what to know

Grinding a large stump leaves a mound of chips mixed with soil. Leaving the chips is cheapest, but a hole filled only with grindings sinks as the wood decays. In Durham's red clay, topsoil backfill gives grass a better start. Stumpbook lists chip removal at about $3 per inch of diameter and topsoil fill at about $2.50 per inch. If the chips are hauled off, the city's yard waste area on East Club Boulevard takes only vegetative material. Chips heavy with clay or rock are charged as mixed waste, so some providers spread clean chips in your beds as mulch instead. After backfilling, wait a couple of weeks for the soil to settle before seeding grass, and plant any replacement tree a few feet from the old spot, away from the decaying roots.