I’m trying to turn my garden into a low maintenance one as I’m always either at work or out on bikes – I don’t do gardening!

The garden we inherited from the previous occupants has a lot of bushes which just get bigger each year despite my half hearted and infrequent efforts to keep them in check – they are taking over the garden. We’ve made the decision to have them all out, and just have patio, grass and some pots which I can control.

Chopping the bushes right down is no problem, but what’s the best way to get the roots out? And how much do I need to get out – just the central clump or all/ most of them?

Explosives would be fun but probably wouldn’t go down well with elderly neighbours. Any more practical solutions?

You need a mattock.

Depends on the plant, some will potentially grow from a large root, but most shrubs won’t. Mattock and/ or trenching shovel, a decent set of loppers and a bit of determination should shift it.

But learning to prune properly and control them will probably take less time overall, and pots aren’t exactly low maintenance…

Edit – most shrubs will grow back from a severe pruning, be brave

Just need to get the central lump out but you do need to get it all. The rest of the roots will eventually rot away or be easy enough to dig through. Best way I’ve found is to dig around the root then cut any root you see. Use long handled loppers plunged into the soil. It will knackered the loppers eventually so use cheap ones. Basically dig a bit, trim some roots, dig some more. Best digging tool is a pick-mattock. It’ll even cut through the thinner roots and can be used to lever out the stump.

Explosives would be fun but probably wouldn’t go down well with elderly neighbours. Any more practical solutions?

Pity, I was going to suggest some sort of home-brew mix that goes bang with extreme prejudice, at least as far as the shrubbery is concerned.
I remember listening to some recordings by a bloke called Blaster Bates, a demolition ‘expert’ talking about getting tree stumps out with dynamite. Pissed myself laughing, but possibly not the answer.

Just wondering whether winching them out with a rope winch would work, to just drag them out? I’ve got 2 large trees I could lash a rope winch to, wrap strops round the stump and winch away? Bit like this but less gurning?

I’d much rather do a 6 monthly pruning job than have pots littered about, needing repotting every year, new plants etc. Thats if you remember to water them religiously through the summer…

Use a trumpet

Fair play if you want to do it yours of but you could always get a tree surgeon in with a stump grinder and get a proper job done quickly. I do this type of thing all the time for customers and it’s very effective. It sounds like a couple of hours work with a grinder. Some hire shops hire them out for about £80 a day if you want to do it yourself. Good luck.

+1 for Mattock

Black Labrador puppy is what you want…..I had a lovely garden full of shrubs up until we got Smudge, now there’s bugger all left apart from holes and root balls on the lawn…..well I say lawn it’s more a compost pile now 😆

Jetwash

Pots are a total pain, far better leaving something in the ground and pruning a couple of times a year!

Photoshop

Get a gardener in to properly prune the bushes / shrubs twice a year .

Thank you Northwind for bringing back Adam and Joe memories.

Hit the big ones perpendicular or ideally clear them completely…

elbow grease, couple of spades, long thick metal digging bar(2 is better), couple of thick wood blocks, very small/compact power/handsaw you don’t mind knackering the blade on

dig our around root, spadeing/sawing thru roots as required, lever root up with metal bar (using wooden blocks), get saw underneath to slice remaining roots

I’ve done a lot recently. Quite a few of them were previously ground to four inches below the surface, but in the way of planting.

Leave a couple of feet of stem for heaving on if it’s not too late.

Spade for digging, mattock for digging and cutting (I sharpened the axe side with a file which saved a lot of effort, and my good axe!), digging bar/pry bar for loosening soil and finding roots, oldest/cheapest loppers for small roots, pick axe for levering.

When you’re cutting roots, cut them at the edge of the hole, and close to the centre/stem. Gets it out of the way and lets you work underneath it.

Knackering work, but immensely satisfying. You start with a something completely immobile, work half an hour, have a heave, get demoralised because it’s still completely immobile… Keep working, it will succumb! Yearrrgh!!