Getting rid of Laurel Hedge

bretts

I have a really big about 20ft high laurel hedge, I think it is laurel hedge as it stays green throughout the year and the leaves I checked on line looks like it is laurel. The stump is about 30cms in thickness. I just got rid of massive amount of hedges in my garden, I think the last owners just kept getting more and more hedges and bushes and kept planting them. Well I left this to the last, I had trimmed it down last year but I did not use any herbicide on it, this year though I want to remove it completely, It is right on the edge of the fence so I cant dig all the way around it but I have dug about 200 cms deep and cut the roots, I have tried to follow them for as long as I possibly could but then they went under the grass and I did not want to ruin that so I cut the root and applied some glyhosate, but the main stump is just not moving even after I have cut all the roots on my side of house, I am sure there must be as many on the other side too but I cant dig there garden, any suggestions as to how I could completely get rid of it please.

Is glyphosate going to be enough to kill it completely. Am i approaching it in the right way.

bretts

http://postimg.org/image/eq73xd0jb/

http://postimg.org/image/59do3a1o7/

http://postimg.org/image/fnwvfhfxz/

http://postimg.org/image/y23q8h0qf/

I hope this will help

arbrighton

Glyphosate needs to be applied to leaves not roots where it is then transported through the plant. However, it tends not to be so good on woody plants. Try something like SBK

If you are having an extension in future as per your other thread, you could ask them to use any digger to pull it out. Or, the easy option, once it is dead is to leave it to rot (good for wildlife) and just plant things in front to screen in.

Davesnave

bretts wrote: »

http://postimg.org/image/eq73xd0jb/

http://postimg.org/image/59do3a1o7/

http://postimg.org/image/fnwvfhfxz/

http://postimg.org/image/y23q8h0qf/

I hope this will help

Considerably. In your first post you claimed to have dug down 2 metres to remove it, so at that point I filed your post under 'fiction' and moved on....:rotfl:

You can bore large holes into the stump and then fill them with a very strong mix of glyphosate (or SBK) to create reservoirs of it, some of which will be drawn into the wood and prevent re-growth. I've done this with willow....and if it works with that, it should work on anything!

You can seal the mini reservoirs with putty, modelling clay, or whatever, and cover with a plastic bag.

Or you could use ecoplugs, but at the price they are....

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/like/301934038967

As the previous poster says, getting the stump out any time soon will be tricky for anything other than a mechanical digger.

bretts

Thanks a lot for all the suggestion, looks like I would have to live with the stump till its dead, I will go down the route of glyphosate and hope to remove it atleast next year but if I have an extension built, it will be removed by who ever digs the foundation as I know it is not far off from the house.

I_have_spoken

The panel fence and gravel board look knackered, can you not lift them away then chop the roots going into the neighbours garden? Or hire a stump grinder?

glasgowdan

Cut grooves in the tops and pour on a bit of petrol!

bretts

Hi Thanks a lot for the input.
I really want to get rid of the remaining bit as it is just an eye sore and I think I need a chainsaw to get rid of it, the electric saw I have is just not powerful enough to cut through it but I will give it a try again failing which I would have no option but to either get someone to cut it for me or hire a chainsaw to do it on my own, never used it so I think that might be a little tricky.
I am just thinking of leaving the original timber/fence there between me and the neighbour as he has not bothered to cut the hedges and they are so overgrown now on his end that the whole fence has broken and due to the weight of it all it is going into his garden.
I asked him if he wanted me to cut some for him but he said no as he likes it like that. I am just thinking that eventually those hedges will again come in my house and may destroy my new fence too, I dont know what my rights are and how i can sort this situation out as I have no problems as such with him. Or may be i could put something else between the old fence and new one just to protect the new fence.

Davesnave

You should not use a chain saw where it will touch the ground. Even quite small amounts of sand, stones and earth will dull the blade very quickly.

glasgowdan

Regards the overgrown neighbours shrubs...you don't ask, you TELL him you're going to cut back whatever overhangs your garden. And just get it done.

arbrighton

Davesnave wrote: »

You should not use a chain saw where it will touch the ground. Even quite small amounts of sand, stones and earth will dull the blade very quickly.

Never mind dulling the blade (which can easily be sharpened with a guide and file, and would need to be anyway to remain effective), the issue with a chainsaw touching the ground is kick back and risk of injury