Xref: 127.0.0.1 uk.rec.gardening:160992

On Tue, 22 Oct 2002 01:30:24 GMT, (Andy Spragg)
wrote:

"Akkerman's Plektrum" pushed
briefly to the front of the queue on Mon, 21 Oct 2002 22:37:00 +0000
(UTC), and nailed this to the shed door:

^ I chainsawed my (inherited) conifers to within 4" of the ground. What now?
^ Will they stop growing or do I need to do something else to kill the roots?
^ I'm sure some people move house because they have lost control over their
^ conifers!!

Grab your fork, and FOCUS on the task at hand ...

Andy
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With respect Andy, using a fork - or most any other garden digging
tool - to remove the root of a mature conifer is akin to scrubbing
the M1 with a tooth brush.

On our Silver Wedding Anniversary we bought a conifer *guaranteed*
to grow no more than 8 - 10 feet. By the time we celebrated our
"Gold," it had surpassed 17 feet and still shooting upwards.
After another five years I couldn't be bothered to carry out the
necessary trigonometry, the tree was tatty and dwarfing our bungalow.
With heavy heart I brought in the trees' "Knackers Man" to
fell it, and to 'grub out' the roots. His machine wasn't up to it and
died on the job. A week later he was back with a new device which
in turn gave up the ghost after four hours or so. By this time there
was a pit 18" deep and the remains of a trunk almost five feet across.
The guy had done all that he could, and in fairness I told him to
accept the fact that the tree had won.

Another two years on, the shrubs (small ones) with which I
replaced "Goliath" are happily underway, though even
they look as though their ambition may be "Excelsior."

Losing an old friend and burying him/her is difficult. Digging them
up, is b****y nigh impossible!
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