At the weekend we removed several mature laurels (approx 30 years old) from one end of our garden – we’ve cut them right back to the stumps but we have not attempted to remove any roots. I understand that the roots are very likely to have a huge horizontal spread and the ground is rock hard. Undoubtedly using a tiller would be impossible at this stage so I am assuming a stump grinder, dig around a bit then till? Or what other tools/methods are there (assuming I want to lawn some of it and perhaps put in borders). There will also be some play equipment going in. Our other option would be to build a patio or decked area.

Any ideas / suggestions most welcome.

Here is the area we have cleared.

First you need a to have a fire. You will need 8 paving slabs and….

We have the same root problem though one is a huge oak that was cut-down before we moved in and the neighbours have huge leylandi… digging is a nightmare. Even where we have dug we found stuff like unexpected concrete paths (1920’s build) that are 2′ below the current lawn.

We have lots of deep planters made from decking… these can be moved about a bit and then some flowers and shrubs in the borders. Perhaps by the time the planters rot the roots will be rotten as well?

Then lawn and patio and some planters on patio… (didn’t want to have to rip up patio and its kinda useful) especially in winter but also for the BBQ etc.

We grow quite a bit of food and most of that is in planters (easier to keep pests off)

Don’t know if that helps but its another way of cultivating if digging is a real pain.

Looks a lot of work to me. I subscribe to the Homer Simpson maxim;if a job’s hard to do, it’s probably not worth the bother

Cheers – we had toyed with putting our raised vegetable planters over there but the 6ft fence shades the area from mid-afternoon onwards so it only gets about 4 or 5 hours of direct light in the summer.

Looks a lot of work to me.

Yep it would be – which is why I was thinking of ways of minimising effort 🙂

How about hiring a stump grinder to take the tops off then getting a few tonnes of top soil and re-landscaping it?

Axe and a mattock.

Or relax and a hammock?

Did anyone else spot the ghostly shadow figure standing where the hedge used to be?

There are three people in that photograph… Can you spot them?

The ground is rock hard because the laurels have sucked all the water out of it. I’d hire a mini digger and have some fun – having removed stumps by hand before the time and effort just isn’t worth it.

You could stump grinder it all, but it’ll still be hard and slow work. You need to basically chop away the ground inch by inch, hoiking out roots as you go. You can leave any roots that are more than 6 inches down if you’re happy they look well chopped up/damaged.

The manual method won’t be much harder and involves chopping away the ground inch by inch with a sharp mattock. I’d have left 4ft of trunk on the stumps to lever them out with but it’s too late for that.

Dig around the roots, I’ve taken a couple of laurels out the front of our garden and it was surprisingly less hassle than anticipated. Dug about 10-12″ deep around the stump/roots, cutting off the roots as you uncover them with a pruning saw. Then just pull out the stump. As you say, the roots go horizontally which actually makes them easier. About a year later what’s left in the ground (nothing bigger diameter than about 50p) will be rotten enough to put a spade through.

The only thing I would have done is get a sprayer and some gallup360 (dilute 1:20) and spray every visible leaf. At that concentration it’s dilute enough to not kill the leves straight away but be absorbed into the roots and kill the whole bush. If you use it more concentrated (as it’s sold in roundup etc) it kills the leaves before the tree is dead. Otherwise all those roots left behind will grow back!

martinhutch – Member
Did anyone else spot the ghostly shadow figure standing where the hedge used to be?

johndoh – Member
There are three people in that photograph… Can you spot them?

There’s a headless one in a pink hoody too

There’s a headless one in a pink hoody too

Yup – she is contemplating jumping off there and into the ginnel down the side of our house 🙂

Ah it’s a scene from the sixth fence

😀

Would a microlite digger be powerful enough to rip through laurel roots? Just looked and it is only £110 for a day’s hire and my FIL knows how to drive them…