An easy way, Gill, is to dig a trench, alongside the hedge, fill with water and leave overnight.
Best if you have a strong trench spade, the sort that navvies use.
How deep a trench ? Is this to asphyxiate the roots ?
The hedge could be over 20 years old. Maybe even older. It has been laid (poorly), and is patchy in places. On the other hand, there are sections of it where the beech is turning into small trees.
The hedge could be over 20 years old. Maybe even older. It has been laid (poorly), and is patchy in places. On the other hand, there are sections of it where the beech is turning into small trees.
I ask for two reasons. Partly 'cos removing older beech and hawthorn is no fun at all, making Tahirs approach rather more appealing unless you can get some serious machinery involved (even digging a good trench next to it if its really rooty, I can imagine that would be hard work).
The other reason is of course because if it is rather older, you may want to make absolutely sure that it isn't in any way either protected or worth saving because of the diversity of species in it... I don't need to tell you that (I'm sure you already know whats there and won't be hacking out an interesting hedge!), but more generally I think its a message worth repeating.
In the 'olden days' an old hedge would be cut down to the stumps at ground level, and silt from dredged ditches was heaped up on the stumps and before you knew it the hedge regenerated and will mature much quicker than a transplanted one. BTW a 20 year old hedge is just a baby.
Last edited by Green Man on Thu Feb 14, 08 4:28 pm; edited 1 time in total
I'm fairly sure this hedge is the doing of the previous owner of this place, so yes, in the hedgey scheme of things it is a young upstart. It never has been (in the last 6 years) a truly hedge-looking hedge.
[quote="gil"]How deep a trench ? Is this to asphyxiate the roots ?
This loosens them, Gil
The deeper trench the better, a pressure washer or watering can also help to rid the roots of earth, then cantilever the stuff out.
As a last resort, tie a rope to the back of the car, and pull.
That is the way I removed hedges when doing gardens, could get on with other things whilst water was doing it's job.
Actually the last resort is a JCB digger.
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