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If you were getting rid of an evergreen windbreak...
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 |
#2
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If you were getting rid of an evergreen windbreak...
"Laura Corin" wrote in message ... 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 -- Laura Corin Leaving stumps will either mean that they will regrow as Janet has said or that in time their getting some forms of fungi as they naturally rot down which can transmit to other woody plants in the area. If you have the room and money to get them out that is the best solution, if you decide to leave them treat the stumps to kill them and to speed up the rotting process. -- Charlie, Gardening in Cornwall Holders of National Collections of Clematis viticella and Lapageria rosea cvs http://www.roselandhouse.co.uk |
#3
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If you were getting rid of an evergreen windbreak...
On Aug 22, 5:42*pm, Laura Corin Laura.Corin.
wrote: 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 -- Laura Corin As well as the reservations of Janet and Charlie, there's the fact that you'll be hitting roots every time you try to plant anything so if you can get rid of them and while you're at it use the digger as a great big spade to dig the area much more deeply than you can by hand. Rod |
#4
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If you were getting rid of an evergreen windbreak...
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 |
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If you were getting rid of an evergreen windbreak...
On Aug 23, 6:40*pm, Dave Hill wrote:
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- Hide quoted text - - Show quoted text - Just wondering if you could have had a Laurel hedge http://i240.photobucket.com/albums/f...ry20Laurel.jpg ' if so it will grow back well from stumps. |
#6
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If you were getting rid of an evergreen windbreak...
"Dave Hill" wrote in message ... On Aug 23, 6:40 pm, Dave Hill wrote: 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- Hide quoted text - - Show quoted text - Just wondering if you could have had a Laurel hedge http://i240.photobucket.com/albums/f...ry20Laurel.jpg ' if so it will grow back well from stumps. .................................................. ........................ I had a Laurel Hedge down one side of the drive of my house in Leicester. 'Massive' thing. Got rid of it, complete with all roots. :-(( Then had put a fence up. :-(( Worse mistake I ever made in gardening Mike -- .................................... Don't take life too seriously, you'll never get out alive. .................................... |
#7
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If you were getting rid of an evergreen windbreak...
On Tue, 23 Aug 2011 10:48:07 -0700 (PDT), Dave Hill
wrote: pruned Just wondering if you could have had a Laurel hedge http://i240.photobucket.com/albums/f...ry20Laurel.jpg ' if so it will grow back well from stumps. If it is laurel, to say it will "grow back well from stumps" is a bit of an understatement. It'll grow back whether you want it to or not and even if you keep removing the growth, it'll still be trying 20 years later. It would really be worth identifying what the old hedge was. Do you have any pics or is there a bit remaining with some leaves that you could photograph and post via Garden Banter (you can post pics to GB and link to them in a post to this group but can't post pics direct here). [1] Getting an ID on the old hedge would avoid a lot of speculation and possibly a mistake that might come back to haunt you. As you refer to "leaves" I suppose we can rule out the normal hedging conifers but there are some other little "thugs" that might not take kindly to being decapitated and left as stumps! [1] Note to corvus: that is not a dig at Garden Banter; it's intended to be helpful, unlike your digital excretions. Cheers Jake ============================================== Gardening at the dry end (east) of Swansea Bay in between reading anything by JRR Tolkien. www.rivendell.org.uk |
#8
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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. 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. |
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Thanks Laura |
#10
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Thanks Laura |
#11
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If you were getting rid of an evergreen windbreak...
On Aug 26, 7:22*am, Laura Corin Laura.Corin.
wrote: echinosum;933868 Wrote: 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. That's not what I hoped to hear, but it's good to know. *We plan to replant with (non-running) bamboo of various types. *We have lots of space on that side of the garden, so the clumps of bamboo won't be a nuisance, even if they spread ten feet wide each. *We can plant the bamboo in front of the remains of the conifer stumps and let it work its way into that area as it is able. *Our 'neighbour' is a large field, so the stump remains wouldn't be an eyesore. Thanks Laura -- Laura Corin If you had said they were conifers at the start it would have made answering your question so much easier. |
#12
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If you were getting rid of an evergreen windbreak...
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 |
#13
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If you were getting rid of an evergreen windbreak...
In article , Martin Brown
writes Most things grown as hedges can tolerate incredible levels of cutting back there are few exceptions too like the notorious Leylandii. Not sure if I missed something - but if the OP is getting three fellahs to do the removal, they will usually do stump grinding for not much more. Doesn't get rid of all the root, but takes it reasonably back. -- regards andyw |
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If you were getting rid of an evergreen windbreak...
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