Raised roots, exposed roots, roots across the path
Surface Root Grinding for Lawns in Lewisville
The roots standing up out of your Lewisville lawn are taken below the grass with the same machine that takes the stump, chased out as far as they run. Tell us how many roots there are and how far they go, and the whole job is quoted on the call.
Free, no-obligation estimates. We quote the whole job before we start, with no surprise charges after.
Root grinding in Lewisville
Root grinding takes the roots that break the surface down below the line of the lawn with the same machine that grinds the stump. The wheel that shaves a stump into chips is lowered onto each raised root in turn and follows it out across the grass, so the root is gone where it stood proud and the lawn can be raked flat over the line it left. Nothing is dug out, and the rest of the stump does not have to come with it: the trade calls these "surface roots", and surface root work targets the ones that buckle a sidewalk or catch a mower, with or without a stump still standing in the middle of them.
Tommy's Stump Grinding does this in Lewisville, NC and the towns around it: on the roots left around an old stump, on the roots of a tree that came down years ago, and on the single root that has lifted across a path. The wheel is guarded and the operator stands clear of the thrown chips, the way the federal tree care guidance has it, and the machine is run to the ANSI Z133 standard kept by the Tree Care Industry Association. The lawn is raked level before we leave. Why the roots rose in the first place is the next question.
Why roots break the surface
Roots can rise into the top few inches of soil where the ground under a lawn is hard or shallow, and mowing and weather may then wear the cover off them. A root that sits just under the turf thickens each year until the grass over it thins and the bark shows through: a mower scalps the top of it, rain washes the soil off the sides, and a root that was hidden in spring is a ridge by autumn. How much of the surface root spread has to be "chased", and how far the roots run from the stump, sets the grinding time and cost of the visit, so a root that rose a decade ago is a longer job than one that showed this year. The damage they do while they wait is the next question.
What raised roots reach
Raised roots trip people, catch mower blades and push against paths, drives and patios. Raised roots cause trouble in three ways.
- A trip hazard. An exposed root across a lawn or a path is a ridge that catches a foot, and the one by the mailbox or the back step gets stepped on most.
- Mower damage. A blade that hits a root is bent or chipped, and the deck and the rest of the lawn equipment take the shock with it.
- Lifted paving. A root left growing pushes against a sidewalk, a driveway, a patio or a foundation and cracks it, and the slab tilts further as the root thickens under it.
How deep the wheel goes to end all three is a fixed measure.
How far down they go
Raised roots are ground two to four inches under the surrounding grade, enough for grass to close over and a mower to pass. Each root is chased on its own and taken to that depth along its whole length, not shaved flush at the high spot, so nothing is left to trip on and the grass grows evenly once the line is filled. A root that runs near a buried gas or water line waits for the 811 locate, the free call that has the lines marked before the wheel goes below the turf. Taking the roots to the same depth as the stump is what lets the whole area seed as one lawn. The price is set by length, not depth.
How the work is priced
Root work is quoted by the running foot of root, separately from the stump it came from. Tell us roughly how many roots stand up and how far each one runs, and that length is the quote; a stump in the middle of them is priced on its own width and added to the same visit. Trade price lists put surface roots at about $1.50 a "running foot", apart from the per-inch stump price, and posted prices leave out hauling the debris away. The stump grinding side of the bill, and how each cost band moves with width, species and access, is laid out on our page on what stump grinding costs. Which towns the work is booked in comes next.
Towns in the service area
Root work is booked in Lewisville and the towns around it, for houses and for managed grounds alike. A residential lawn with two roots across it and a commercial common area with a walk lifted along its length are the same visit with the same machine, quoted by the foot either way. The route reaches these towns most weeks:
- Lewisville
- Clemmons
- Bethania
- Winston-Salem
- King
- Walkertown
- Kernersville
- Bermuda Run
- Tobaccoville
- Rural Hall
- Advance
- Yadkinville
Tommy's Stump Grinding lists every town in its service area, with the ones the machine reaches on request, on the page for the service area around Lewisville. A lawn farther out than those is a question for the call.
Tell us how many roots and how far they run
Count the roots that stand up and step off how far the longest one runs. That is all the quote needs, and we give it before we start. We answer the phone or call back the same working day, and we show up when we say we will.
More on root work
Two further questions come up before the work is booked. One is about the roots of a tree that is staying, the other about the roots the wheel never reaches, and both have a short answer here.
Roots that belong to a living tree
Cutting a large root can set back the tree it feeds, so a root on a tree that is staying is looked at before anything is ground. A surface root running from a healthy maple by the house is that tree's water and anchor, and grinding it may leave the tree to decline or fail in the years after; a shallow-rooted maple is the usual case. Arborists assess the root system, the "root grafts" that tie one tree to the next, disease and the soil before a wheel touches a living root, and the International Society of Arboriculture keeps the guidance on root collars and the care of a tree left standing. A root on a dead stump has nothing left to feed, and it goes without that question.
Whether the deeper roots come out
No. The deeper roots stay in the soil, where they decay over several years. Surface root grinding takes the stump and the roots at the top and nothing under them; the structural roots below stay put and break down on their own over about three to seven years, and no digging follows the wheel. The leftover roots, with their decay and grafts, are followed year by year on our page about leftover roots.
What our neighbors say
Tommy came out the same week and took the old maple right down below the lawn. He raked it level before he left and you cannot tell where it stood.
We had three of them and a mess of raised roots along the drive. All of it went in one visit and the spoil went back into the holes.
Needed a big pine out before the new turf went down. Quoted over the phone, done two days later, and the spot was left flat and ready.
Roots down. Lawn level.
Tell us how many roots stand up and how far they run. We quote the whole job before we start, we show up when we say we will, and we clean up when the work is done.