Hear from Our Customers
A stump sitting in the middle of a yard in Orchard Ridge Estates or Jamestowne Green isn’t just a landscaping problem — it’s a mowing obstacle, a trip hazard, a pest magnet, and depending on your HOA, a compliance issue waiting to happen. Most of Novi’s residential subdivisions are governed by HOA covenants with real landscaping standards. A decaying stump in a front yard doesn’t sit quietly — it gets noticed.
When stump grinding is done right, the visible stump is gone. The area is ground down to the depth that matches what you’re doing with the space — whether that’s planting something in its place or simply restoring the lawn to a clean, level surface. The wood chips left behind can be spread as mulch, left to decompose into the soil over time, or removed entirely. You decide.
For homeowners in Novi’s established neighborhoods — many of which were developed in the 1970s through the 1990s and now have mature, large-diameter trees — this matters more than it might somewhere else. These aren’t small stumps from young trees. They’re the remnants of 30- and 40-year-old oaks, maples, and ash trees that have been growing since the subdivision was built. Getting them out cleanly, completely, and without tearing up the surrounding lawn takes the right equipment and someone who knows what they’re doing.
We’re based in Milford— not a distant metro contractor routing calls through a 1-800 number. Ivan leads every field operation personally, and Cecilia manages all scheduling and client communication directly. When you call, you reach a real person. When the crew shows up, the owner is with them.
Ivan has over seven years of professional tree care experience, starting as a groundman in California where he learned rigging, climbing, and safety from the ground up before bringing that background to Michigan. Our team includes ISA Certified Arborists and TRAQ-qualified risk assessors — credentials that matter when you’re dealing with a large removal in a regulated woodland area or a complex job near overhead utilities in an older Novi neighborhood.
Novi’s mix of HOA communities, protected woodland areas under Section 37 of the city’s ordinance, and mature tree stock in subdivisions like Chase Farms, Island Lake, and Greenwood Oaks requires a level of care and awareness that not every stump grinding company brings to the table. We do.
It starts with a site visit. We never provide phone-only quotes — the property gets walked, the stump gets assessed, and you receive a written estimate that’s valid for 30 days. That matters in Novi, where some homeowners need time to satisfy HOA review processes before scheduling work. You’re not pressured to commit on the spot.
Before any grinding begins, underground utilities get located. In Michigan, that means contacting MISS DIG by calling 811 — a legal requirement before any excavation or grinding work. This step is non-negotiable, and it protects your irrigation system, gas lines, and any buried electrical on the property. Novi’s older subdivisions in particular — North Hills, Orchard Hills, and Orchard Ridge Estates — often have irrigation systems and buried utilities that have been in the ground for decades. Skipping this step is how damage happens.
Once the site is cleared and utilities are marked, the grinding begins. The stump is taken down to the depth your project requires — typically 6 to 8 inches below grade to leave the yard clean and level, and deeper if you’re planning to plant or do any landscaping work over the area. After grinding, the chips are managed per your preference and the area is left clean. If you want topsoil to restore the lawn, that’s available as part of the job. The goal is a finished yard, not just a finished stump.
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Stump grinding with Ivan’s Tree Services LLC covers the full scope of the job — not just the grinding itself. The written estimate outlines exactly what’s included before work begins, so there are no surprises when the invoice arrives. Cleanup is part of the job, not an add-on. Wood chips are managed based on your preference, and the site is left in the condition you’d expect from a company that actually cares about the finished product.
For homeowners in Novi’s regulated woodland areas, there’s an additional layer worth knowing about. Under the city’s Woodland Protection Ordinance (Section 37), trees 8 inches DBH or larger within a regulated woodland area require a permit for removal, and replacement trees — up to four per removed tree — must be Michigan-native species. If you’ve already navigated that process, stump grinding is the final step in completing the job properly. Our ISA Certified Arborists understand that regulatory context and can speak to it if questions come up during the site visit.
For stumps where regrowth is a concern — particularly in aggressive species or in areas near Novi’s protected woodland zones — same-day herbicide treatment of the cut stump is available to prevent new shoots from forming. Root removal is also available for situations where the root system is causing damage to a driveway, sidewalk, or underground infrastructure. For Novi homeowners dealing with multiple stumps from Emerald Ash Borer removals across an established yard, we can assess and grind multiple stumps in a single visit, restoring the affected areas efficiently without requiring multiple scheduling rounds.
The short answer is: the ordinance primarily governs tree removal, not stump grinding itself. Under Novi’s Section 37 Woodland Protection Ordinance, trees 8 inches DBH or larger within a regulated woodland area require a city permit to remove, and replacement plantings — up to four Michigan-native trees per removed tree — may be required. If your lot doesn’t have space for the required replacements, a contribution to the city’s Tree Fund is the alternative.
Once a protected tree has been properly permitted and removed, grinding the remaining stump doesn’t require an additional city permit. However, if you’re unsure whether your property falls within a regulated woodland area, it’s worth checking with the City of Novi’s Community Development department before scheduling any work. Our team is familiar with Novi’s ordinance and can flag any concerns during the site visit — that’s part of why a site inspection happens before any work begins.
Professional stump grinding typically goes 6 to 12 inches below grade, depending on what you plan to do with the space afterward. For a basic fill-and-level finish — filling the area with topsoil — 6 inches is generally sufficient. If you’re planning to plant something new, install landscaping, or do any construction prep, deeper grinding is the right call to give roots enough clearance.
At 6 inches or more, the grinding process destroys the cambium layer of the root crown — the part of the stump responsible for generating new growth. That’s what actually prevents regrowth, not just the removal of the visible stump above ground. For particularly aggressive tree species, or for stumps in areas where you want absolute certainty, we offer same-day herbicide treatment of the cut stump as an added layer of protection. This is especially relevant in Novi’s wooded subdivisions like Greenwood Oaks, where root systems from large, mature trees can be extensive and persistent.
This is one of the most common concerns homeowners raise, and it’s a legitimate one. Stump grinding equipment is powerful, and grinding near unmarked underground utilities is genuinely risky. The right answer is that underground utilities should always be located before any grinding begins — in Michigan, that means contacting MISS DIG by calling 811, which is a legal requirement before excavation or grinding work.
We require a utility locate before any job starts. This protects your irrigation lines, gas lines, buried electrical, and any other underground infrastructure on the property. In Novi’s older established subdivisions — particularly neighborhoods like North Hills, Orchard Hills, and Orchard Ridge Estates, where homes were built in the 1970s and 1980s — irrigation systems and buried utilities have often been in the ground for 30 to 40 years. Some of them aren’t where you’d expect them to be. The site inspection before work begins exists partly to identify these risks before the grinder ever starts.
Stump grinding is typically priced by the diameter of the stump, with the standard industry rate running $2 to $5 per inch of diameter. A smaller stump — say, 10 inches across — might cost $20 to $50 just for the grinding itself, but most companies charge a minimum per job to cover equipment transport and setup. The national average for a residential stump grinding job runs around $272, with a typical range of $120 to $500 depending on stump size, accessibility, and what’s included in the cleanup.
In Novi specifically, the reality is that many stumps in established neighborhoods like Cheltenham Estates, Island Lake, or Chase Farms come from large, mature trees — oaks, maples, and ash trees that have been growing for 30 to 40 years. These stumps can be 24 inches in diameter or more, which pushes the job toward the higher end of the range. We provide written estimates after a site visit, so you know exactly what you’re paying before any work begins — no phone guesses, no surprise charges after the fact.
Yes — professional-grade compact stump grinders are specifically designed to fit through a standard 36-inch gate opening, which is the most common residential gate width in Novi’s HOA subdivisions. Getting equipment into a fenced backyard is one of the more common logistical questions homeowners ask, and it’s rarely the obstacle people expect it to be.
That said, the site inspection before work begins is the right time to confirm access. If your gate is narrower than standard, or if there are other obstacles — a deck, a retaining wall, established landscaping close to the stump — we’ll identify the best approach during the walkthrough rather than discovering the issue on the day of the job. In Novi’s HOA communities, where fenced backyards are common and landscaping is often well-established, getting the access assessment right upfront is what keeps the job clean and on schedule.
Absolutely. The Emerald Ash Borer has been working through Oakland County’s ash tree population since it was first identified near Detroit in 2002, and Novi’s established subdivisions — many of which were developed in the 1970s through 1990s when ash trees were widely planted for their fast growth and adaptability — have seen significant losses. It’s not unusual for a homeowner in a neighborhood like Orchard Ridge Estates or Jamestowne Green to be dealing with two, three, or more ash stumps from removals that happened over the past several years.
We can assess and grind multiple stumps in a single scheduled visit, which is more efficient and more cost-effective than scheduling separate mobilizations for each one. The written estimate will cover all stumps on the property, and the cleanup covers the full scope of the visit. If you want topsoil over the affected areas after grinding, that’s available as part of the same job — so the yard comes back looking like a yard, not like a series of patches where trees used to be.
Other Services we provide in Novi
