Can the old stump is still sitting in my yard be fixed without removing the tree?
Nothing to save; the question is how it leaves. Grinding is the standard — a machine chews the stump and major surface roots to a depth commonly around six to twelve inches below grade, deeper if you intend to plant in the same spot. Full extraction with an excavator takes the root mass but tears up far more yard and costs more. Chemical stump removers and the Epsom-salt method speed decay only marginally and take years. One planning point people miss: grinding produces more chip volume than the hole it leaves, and those chips tie up nitrogen, so replanting in the exact spot means excavating the grindings and backfilling with soil, or simply planting a few feet to the side.
How long you have to decide
No danger clock whatsoever — this one can genuinely wait, and any contractor treating a stump as urgent is selling you something. Practically, a stump grinds most cheaply and cleanly while the wood is still firm; badly rotted stumps are messier and the grindings hold together poorly. If you want the spot replanted this season, that timing is the only real constraint you have.
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