On Aug 23, 6:24*pm, Sacha wrote:
On 2011-08-22 17:42:46 +0100, Laura Corin
said:



It was a hedge (species unknown) which was neglected and grew about
twenty feet tall. *The bottom half was just trunk and the top had barely
any leaves. *Anyway, we are cutting it down to replant. *We originally
planned on hiring a digger to pull the stumps out, but a friend has
advised just cutting the stumps down to the ground, making deep cuts in
them to collect rain water, and letting them rot where they are. *We
have space to replant between/around them.

What do you think?

Thanks

Laura

As they rot, they will take goodness from the soil (which will be
replaced later in the rotting process, but quite a bit later) so
anything you plant between them may suffer accordingly from lack of
nourishment. *Whatever you decide to do to get rid of them, that is
something to bear in mind. *On the other hand, another solution is to
take all the branches off and paint the 'wounds' to prevent them
re-sprouting, string rope between them and use them as supports for
climbers, such as rambling roses and Clematis. *This will still offer
you some kind of screening and will be pretty, too. *In the end, it may
save you money! *It would help if you knew what the hedge plants are?
--
Sachawww.hillhousenursery.com
South Devon

You say you want to cut down and get rid of a hedge the type of which
you don't know to replace it with a hedge.
How large are the stems/trunks of the present hedge?
It might be possible to cut the existing hedge hard back or even to
layer the stems after shortening and let them regrow as a new hedge.
If the existing hedge was a form of conifer then this probably won't
happen.
If you need a boundary for security then you could use the existing
stems as poats to carry a wire fence, and as Sacha saysa you could
plant climbing roses and grow them along to form a temp. hedge.
A couple of pictures of what you have now would help, showing the
leaves and the body of the hedge.
David