If left alone, stumps can take decades to naturally decompose. These remnants of long since removed trees aren’t just a blemish on your landscape; but they can also be a nuisance as a tripping hazard and limit your future landscape options.
Stump grinding is a process that uses a large and powerful machine (designed to fit through most gates), to chew through the stump to about 10″ below ground.
This reclaims the area for grass, gardens, sheds, etc. Although with larger stumps there will still be remnants below 10″, so if the plan is to plant a new tree you will have to offset it from the previous trees location.