On 24/08/2011 10:30, echinosum wrote:
Janet;933758 Wrote:
Plants used for hedging are usually selected for their ability to
either sucker or regrow from violent pruning.
The main exception being cypresses and the like, which, in compensation
for their other unpleasant habits, will at least stop growing if pruned
at ground level.

I have the stump of a cypress I cut down 10 years ago, which I suspect
predated most of the other conifers in the garden, as it was much
fatter. All the others I was able to dig out the stump by hand, but this
one is too big. But the remaining stump has barely rotted at all in 10
years.

The trick is to drill a few one inch holes into the top of it and add a
few grammes copper sulphate to each and water in and leave for a month.
Then pack the holes with potassium or ammonium nitrate and leave. This
should create the conditions where wet wood rotting fungi can easily
colonise the tree stump and weaken it to the point where you can dig
down and prize it out with a couple of scaffold poles. You may still
have to wait about 5 years for a really big tree stump though.

The trace of copper is needed to inhibit the residual enzymes in the
dead wood that protect it against fungi.

I have rejuvenated overgrown hedges of laurel, beech and viburnum tinus
by very radical pruning, ie, removing about 90% of the plant. There's
no need to be gentle or careful about it. It is a good idea to make
sure that the stump you leave is at least 2 feet below the top of the
eventual hedge you desire.

Most things grown as hedges can tolerate incredible levels of cutting
back there are few exceptions too like the notorious Leylandii.

Regards,
Martin Brown