Stump grinding in Northwest Reno and Somersett (89523)

Northwest Reno climbs from McCarran Boulevard toward Peavine and the Verdi hills. Nearly half the homes in the ZIP, about 47%, were built in 2000 or later. Trees this age leave stumps of modest width, but they are set in graded hillside lots where every square foot was planned.

At a glance

• About 5,432 feet, hardiness zone 7a
• About 47% of homes in ZIP 89523 built since 2000
• About 42 miles and 54 minutes from our yard without traffic
• Put every stump, and any tree work, on one request

What is different about a stump on a graded lot?

The ground itself. Hillside subdivisions are cut and filled, then held with retaining walls and drained with buried pipe. A tree planted near the top of a wall or over a drain line leaves its stump there too.

Grinding does not dig a wide hole, which is why it is the usual choice in a finished yard. Still, tell us if the stump is within a few feet of a wall, a drain inlet or the edge of a slope, and say what you know about anything buried there.

Why list everything at once?

Distance. From 6301 US Highway 50 East to this part of Reno is about 42 miles. A visit that covers three stumps and a pruning job makes better use of that drive than three separate visits, for you and for us.

So walk the whole yard. Front, back and side. Count stumps, including old ones cut flush that you have been mowing around. If neighbors have stumps too, each household can send its own request and mention the other. We make no promise about dates here, only that the office will plan sensibly.

1. Count every stump on the property
2. Photograph each with a shoe or a tape for scale
3. Measure the narrowest gate
4. Note any tree that needs pruning or removal as well
5. Send it all in one estimate request

What the wind and the cold do to young trees

ZIP 89523 is in USDA hardiness zone 7a, a half zone colder than central Reno, and the ridges catch the wind. Young trees that snapped or leaned in a storm are one common source of stumps on newer lots anywhere along the Sierra front. If that is how yours got there, our guide to Washoe Zephyr and downslope winds is worth reading before you pick the replacement.

Rain, snow and how long a stump lasts

The NOAA station at Reno 3.9 W, a fraction of a mile from this ZIP's town point, averages about 10.9 inches of precipitation a year. That is a little more than the valley floor and still very dry. A stump here will not rot away on a timetable you would notice. If it is in the way, grinding is how it leaves.

Fire on the edge of town

The 2006 Verdi Fire, mapped at 5,662 acres, has its center about 2.4 miles from the town point in the federal record. The ZIP has no wildfire rating of its own, and Washoe County's risk to homes ranks higher than 97.2% of US counties. For a stump within 5 feet of the house, have the grindings hauled. See defensible space in Northwest Reno.