Question
I had a couple of large pine trees removed a couple of years ago and the stumps were completely ground up by the guys we hired.  They were supposed to remove all the roots as well, but they didn't get them all out and then I was hoping that the grass would cover them, but they seem like they are even closer to the surface now, and my grass is not growing over them. Any easy way to get these roots out, or am I just going to have to start hacking and digging?  Can you rent a machine to grind them up, like a 'roto-tiller', or 'roto-root-grinder'? Thanks for all your suggestions.
Suzy

Answer
Ah, the Pinetree, official state tree in Arkansas, Alabama and Idaho.  You have removed several, more or less, down to the roots.  And then your work was done.  You thought.

I see in the tea leaves here a case of There-Used-To-Be-A-Tree-Here Disease, and it is in... let me look carefully...

Yikes!  Its YOUR lawn!

Everywhere you go, homeowners just LOVE to plant trees smack in the middle of their lawns.  They'll plunk them right in front of the house.  Up and up, higher and higher, these trees grow until you wake up one day and there are only massive trees visible from the street.

Removing them was probably the best thing you could do for your landscape.

But if you don't remove a tree PERFECTLY, you will be living with the results for the REST OF YOUR LIFE.

Really.

It's not just pines.  This goes for all trees.  Maples, Oaks, Spruces, Sycamores, Dogwoods.  Trees.

Deep removal of the entire trunk below the soil including all the roots is the ONLY way to stop a trunk from
rotting for the next 100 years under your lawn.  Bacteria in charge of decomposing the wood cellulose suck all Nitrogen from the soil, leaving NOTHING for your grass, causing wide, ugly, dead circles where the tree used to be.

Try sodding, and weeks later, the grass is gone again.

Hard to believe, but completely grinding up the stumps is not enough.  Roots are thick and woody, too.  Anything left will rot very, very slowly, consuming Nitrogen by the ton, for decades to come.

Your only answer is to remove every trace of tree at least 12 inches below the soil -- roots, stumps, any wood.  Drill several large holes in any remaining stump, fill with Nitrogen fertilizer, and water to accelerate final decomposition of these problem Pines.

You did pay to have these people "remove all the roots as well", no?  Is that in writing somewhere?  Call them and make them finish the job.  You'd win in court.

If you can't do that, hire someone else to get some heavy duty equipment and yank all the roots out.  They'll tear up your lawn, but you'll have a clean slate to work with.  NEVER let them "incorporate" the wood chips or sawdust into your soil -- you will be wrecking the soil structure with the lignin and it won't decompose.  Pay whatever they want to have remnant tree roots ground or yanked as deep as they can get.  And ignore the grass damage.  The grass is nothing here -- you can easily plant new grass seed.  Find a great pro and expect to pay for what you get.  Make sure your fee is guaranteed in writing.