[Zak the Rabbit]

ok, heres the task -

along one side of my garden is a row of laylandii. I want them out so i can start growing fruit espaliers there. Theres virtually no foliage on them anyway.

I can obviously cut them down to stumps, which im doing little by little (and finding all sorts of odd things to do with the timber - split some 2"dia, 8" long pieces in half and used an indelible pen to make markers for my garlic and onions!)

But, im going to be left with stumps, and roots. No, chemicals wont remove the roots, only kill them. I cant get access with any winching gear and i cant afford to hire a stump grinder!

The question is, what sort of a risk will the roots be to any new fruit trees i plant?

can i just dig out what roots are close to the new trees, ie the ones in the planting holes! and will the new trees manage to grow ok?

[DIGGER]

Dont think that the roots would effect any new growth. The concern if the leylandi is high and its near any buildings would be heave which is the opposite to subsidence.
If that is the case move some now and some at a later date.
Hope that is not the case.

[Zak the Rabbit]

no, there not tall (about 10ft) and nowhere near any buildings (my plot is the bottom third of the garden, which is some 200ft long

my thoughts are to chop them down, then deturf around them say 2/3ft, and dig a trench, removing the stumps and as much root as possible as i go, then backfilling, adding compost/organic matter etc. That will probably take me until autumn next year!

think i need to treat myself to a new felling axe (dont like chainsaws)

my prefered way of removing stumps is unfortunatley illegal in the UK

[DD.]

Tip - if you're going to dig them out Zak, (I feel this is the best method), do NOT chop the trunk right down, take it down to about 4'. This will give you some good leverage when it comes to getting the roots out.

[Bombers]

Get your self a good splitter............... no not that sort. (an Axe splitter)

Leave the last 3-4' of stump as DD suggested, and dig around the base enough to throw the splittter at the roots. Yo'll 'av 'em out in no time! :roll:

[poultrygeist]

I dug a few out that way. Except I didn't have a splitter, just a mattock.

Took a lot of effort and time and had to hack through the main roots about a foot from the stump, but they came out.

Main worry with large roots, would be rotting and fungus but don't know if that would be a problem for other trees.

Good luck with it.

Rob

[Lardman]

I also found a cheap reciprocating saw VERY useful, the blades are cheap as chips so it doesnt matter about the soil dulling them and you can stuff them in places you can't get a hand saw. Great for cutting section of root so you can get access to the rest.

I've removed my fair share of them over the years and ways take the roots out, its a PITA but really the only way to go.

[tam]

We had a dozen or so removed a couple of weeks ago. They were about 8' high but chunky as they were 30yrs old. The guys that did it had a rope and like a hand crank/pully that pulled the rope tight (don't know the proper name :oops: ) They roped from the base of one to the top of the another and used that to pull them over. There was a bit of chopping at the odd root and swinging on the ropes but they came out pretty well.

Tam