Most of the internet advice on this is wrong

Before paying anyone, it is fair to ask whether you can do it yourself. Sometimes you can. Here is each method as it actually performs, rather than as it performs in a video.

Epsom salt or rock salt. The theory is that salt draws moisture out of the stump and accelerates decay. In practice it is extremely slow, commonly a year or more, and often simply does not work on a large hardwood. It also puts a lot of salt into soil you probably want to plant in later, and in Georgia clay it does not flush out quickly. For a small ornamental in a spot you do not care about, it is harmless enough. For anything else it is a way of waiting a year and then hiring someone anyway.

Burning it out. This works, in the sense that fire consumes wood. It is also illegal or restricted much of the year across Cherokee County, requires a permit when it is allowed, and a stump fire can smoulder underground along the roots for days in a way that is genuinely difficult to put out. Do not do this near a structure, a fence, or anything with a root system you care about.

Chemical stump remover. These are usually potassium nitrate, which accelerates rot rather than dissolving anything. It works, slowly, and only if you drill the stump properly first and keep it wet. Realistically six to twelve months on a medium stump, and you still have a soft stump to break up and remove at the end of it. Worth it only if you genuinely do not mind the wait.

Digging it out. Entirely possible on anything under about eight inches, especially a young ornamental. On a mature hardwood in Georgia clay it is one of the harder days of physical work you will ever choose to have, and people routinely start and stop.

Renting a grinder. This is the one that genuinely competes. A day rental plus a trailer and something to tow it lands within reach of just hiring a crew for a single stump. Which is the point: for one stump it is roughly a wash, and for two or more the crew wins outright because their minimum fee is paid once. The machines are also heavy, awkward on a slope, and throw debris hard. If you have never used one, the learning is happening on your own lawn.

The honest summary is that DIY makes sense in two cases. One small stump you are not in a hurry about, where chemical rot or patience costs you nothing. Or a genuinely small stump you can dig. Everything else is a false economy once you price the rental honestly.

More on stumps

• Yes, but the distance to your house is what matters A rotting stump near a Georgia house is a genuine termite question, but not for the reason most people assume. What actually matters and what does not.
• It means the stump is decaying, which is what you want Fungus on a stump looks alarming and usually is not. What it tells you about the wood, when it matters for nearby trees, and when it is worth acting on.
• Any month works. Some months cost less Grinding works year round in north Georgia, but scheduling, price and ground conditions all move with the season. When to book and when to wait.
• Do not backfill with the chips. That is the whole lesson Grinding leaves a mound of chips and a void underneath. What to backfill with, why not to use the chips, and how to get grass growing over it.
• Where the trunk stood decides it, not where the branches were Whose stump is it when the tree straddled a boundary, what Georgia practice generally holds, and the practical way neighbours sort it out.

By tree

• Loblolly pine
• Sweetgum
• Water oak
• Bradford pear
• Leyland cypress
• Crepe myrtle
• River birch

Stump services

• Full stump removal
• Grinding vs removal
• Large stump grinding
• Multiple stumps
• Surface root removal
• Storm damage stumps
• Grinding before a fence, pool or driveway