Stump grinding in Caughlin Ranch (89519)

The median home in ZIP 89519 was built in 1993, so the landscape trees are about thirty years old: large enough to leave a real stump, young enough that the yard around them is still the original design. The town point sits at about 4,884 feet on Reno's southwest foothills.

At a glance

• Median home in ZIP 89519 built in 1993
• About 78% of homes are detached houses with yards
• Common-area stumps: the association orders the work
• Foothill fire country: grindings do not belong beside the house

Is the stump mine or the association's?

Check your plat or ask the management company before you call anyone. In a planned community the line between a private lot and common ground is not always where the lawn ends. If the stump is on common area, the association hires the work, and its board or manager can contact us directly.

If it is on your lot, the association may still want to approve what replaces the tree. Our guide to HOA tree rules lists the questions to ask, and tree service for HOAs and property managers explains how we work with boards.

Why haul the grindings here?

Fire. The 2020 Pinehaven Fire, mapped at 512 acres, and the 1996 Belli Ranch Fire, mapped at 6,724 acres, are both in the federal fire record near this ZIP. There is no wildfire rating for ZIP 89519 alone. For Reno as a whole, the USDA Forest Service ranks risk to homes higher than 97.7% of US communities.

A stump ground in place leaves a mound of shredded wood mixed with soil. Out in the yard that is harmless. Within 5 feet of the house, the strip that University of Nevada, Reno Extension's Living With Fire guide calls Zone 0 and describes as ember-resistant, it is fuel. Ask for those grindings to be taken away, and fill the spot with soil or rock.

Thirty-year-old trees and their stumps

A tree that has stood for three decades has a stump too big to dig by hand and roots that have found the sprinkler lines. Before the visit, run the irrigation zone and note where the pipe and drip tubing go. Utilities mark their own buried lines after an 811 request made a few business days ahead. They do not mark private irrigation or low-voltage lighting.

Slopes, walls and the way in

Hillside lots often step down in terraces held by retaining walls. A stump on a lower terrace may have no machine route to it at all, or only one through a neighbor's yard or a common path. The arborist checks that at the free estimate. Tell the office about stairs, walls and gate widths when you call 775.232.8243 so the right person and the right questions arrive together.

What goes back in?

Stump grinding lets you plant grass, shrubs or even new trees where the tree stood. ZIP 89519 is in hardiness zone 7b. If the old tree was close to the house, this is the moment to move its replacement farther out. Read can you plant after stump grinding? and junipers and other high-hazard plants next to the house before you choose.