Question
Bought a house in Michigan in 2009.  My neighbors tell there was a Oak tree in the front yard.  The tree was cut down in 2007.  It was stump but I don't think it was stump low enough.  I can see of the remaining tree root in my BARE FRONT YARD.  Grass refused to takehold.  Should I have the tree roots grind down lower to help the grass grow?  What other options do I have.  Its a nice house, with a ugly front yard.  HELP PLEASE

Answer
Oak trees and their roots & leaves do not have growth inhibitors (like Eucalyptus or Black Walnut), but the leaves contain a large amount of tannin which may affect grass growth.  Bottom line, I don't think the direct problem is the dead roots.  Perhaps the problem might be what killed the oak in the first place.  Have you taken a soil sample?  Many garden shops and state university agricultural extensions offer this wonderful service for just $20, which can answer lots of questions about soil fertility and/or toxicity.  A master gardener at the ag. extension will probably even help interpret the results for you.

Absent any toxic or off-balance concentrations (pH, boron, etc), excess organic matter like large dead roots are not the best growing medium for turf grass.  If you can grind the stump, so much the better.  But if you don't remove the woody pulp, it will starve the soil of nitrogen as it decomposes.  If you can get a lawn to grow, it will most probably be chloratic (yellowish, and starving for nitrogen).  You can compensate by using a fertilizer with a higher N value (fertilizers are rated in N-P-K, or Nitrogen-Phosphorus-Potassium), and turning & mixing the woody material into the soil, aiding in speeding up the michrobial breakdown.

If it is a diamond in the rough, it may be worth it to pay a crew to dig & grum the roots out with a backhoe, a $300 to $500 proposition.  If you consider this route, be sure to have your utilities marked to see if it is even feasible.  I'd hate for a $300 root estraction become a multiple-thousand dollar plumbing job!!

Finally, a lawn can be put in by using sod for as little as $0.40 to $0.50/square foot, depending on location, so going "cheap" with seeds means you cannot enjoy your lawn as soon as you might otherwise.  Plus it will give you instant uniformity of height & texture.  If you don't address the underlying soil fertility issue, however, your money will have been wasted.

Best of luck ~M