On Sun, 09 Mar 2003 15:46:16 +0000, Rosie wrote:

I've chopped down an old hebe that had turned into a twenty-foot afro
sitting on the lawn. Now I've got a two-foot clump of about twenty large
'trunks' - I tried to dig this up yesterday but HA! no dice AT ALL. What

Hi Rosie,

I feel for you. Since inheriting this garden (2 years ago yesterday!) I've
dug up several hebes and one HUGE pampass grass.

I'm afraid your only route is persitance and leverage. Progressivly
digging round the "stump" and cutting smaller roots as you go (I found a
pruning saw *very* helpful for this), will help loosen the central mass. A
pickaxe wedged as far as you can under that lot, then levered up and down
gradually in multiple positions will help lift the mass and allow you to
cut roots from under it.

Just make sure you pickaxe handle is sound, and have somewhere soft to
land! How do I know this - having dug a moat round my pampass grass in an
effort to dig it out, I got the pickaxe under the pampass grass roor ball
and heaved with all my might, just as the root ball lifted a little, the
pickaxe handle snapped in half, landing me on my rear end rather abrubtly!
I was not best pleased to say the least.....

You may want to work over several days to ease the frustration / back ache
factor. Wet soil could also help

Sarah