I cut down a large laurel bush and a few Leylandii a month or so back to make way for a new shed (due mid Sept). We got some of the longer roots out but by no means all. The roots don't have to completely disappear but I don't want them growing again.
I drilled holes in the roots in which I've been regularly putting Epsom salts. The Leylandii seem to be dying in that the exposed stump has darkened quite a bit and there is no sign of new growth.
The laurel is just sprouting some new growth along the side of the root, though the exposed stump does look pretty dried out.
So is it time to try something else, if so glyphosphate seems the cheaper option (and doesn't neutralise the soil) whereas grinding will probably be upwards of £100 which I'd sooner not spend. Or I could plough on with the salts.
If I were to apply some glyphosphate this week would it reliably kill the roots, and how long would that take to see happening? That would leave me time to get the grinderman so long as I could see whether or not the roots were dying.
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You could have saved yourself a lot of trouble with the Leylandii. Once the green stuff has been cut off they will not regenerate.
I removed a mature Leylandii hedge a few years ago and left stumps about 1 metre high, as I knew that within a couple of years or so I'd be able to loosen them or break them off the roots, which is exactly what happened. Not so good if you need to clear the area straight away, of course.
Laurel is a totally different matter. Maybe drilling holes and using glyphosate herbicide would work, but it's better to use SBK brushwood killer (main ingredient is triclopyr).
Last edited by: James Loveless on Sun 23 Aug 20 at 15:49
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Ahhh I wish I'd know re the Leylandii.
I just happened across glyphosate but am open to any suggestions. Do you think I'd see a rapid result with the SBK stuff, and is the soil OK afterwards, quick enough to know whether I need to get the grinder in? Seems about a tenner's worth would be more than I need, so a lot cheaper than a grinder!!
I must say £100 worth of grinding would be a bit excessive... I reckon it won't be much less than that
Last edited by: smokie on Sun 23 Aug 20 at 16:51
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I don't think anything you do will get rapid results with laurel. Not even sure a grinder will kill it. I suggest you use SBK, applied every six weeks, but the label says a maximum of two applications per season, but I might ignore that for a stump.
The manufacturers recommend waiting for six weeks before replanting, so there must be some residue that hangs around.
TBH I wouldn't try to do anything with the area for a while. Eventually you'll have to dig out the roots to be sure of getting rid. You do NOT want a laurel growing under your shed.
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Cut them to ground level. Drill some holes as big as you can and fill with a mixture of waste oil and SBK. Job done.
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Glyphosate will be less than effective. It relies on being taken up By the green parts of the plant, mainly leaves of course, and then translocates around the plant when growing fairly vigorously If it’s just a few stumps then there will be minimal movement of the material relative to the job it has to do.
Regrowth could well be a problem but I think the SBK advice is the best in the circumstances, so I would certainly do it. But also dig out the stumps as much as you can. Some nice deep drill holes then filled with the material, never heard of engine oil being used but I guess it keeps it in the right place. In the good old days, when SBK contained something called 245T, closely related to agent orange, we would plug the holes drilled in stumps with, er, ladies sanitary products.
If it’s a big flat stump then holes filled with diesel fuel allowed to soak in and then a bag of charcoal placed on top and lit can do a remarkable job. Take a look on YouTube, plenty of redneck back woodsmen happy to share the art!
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At the end of the day none of the methods outlined work very well. Do the job properly. Dig a square round the stump. Use a mattock if you have one. Axe or saw through as many roots as possible, Rock the stump until it is freed and remove it. It helps if you have left four or so feet of trunk to give you leverage.
Always worth doing a job properly.
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Well done CGN, Very sound advice!
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I had a row of 5 conifers I took out last year using my mate’s advice.
Cut down to about 3 feet high. Then dig out as much soil as possible around it. Then tied a ratchet strap to the adjoining trunk and just tightened away and the trunks just slowly lifted clear off the ground. It was a beautiful sight!
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>> Cut down to about 3 feet high. Then dig out as much soil as possible
>> around it. Then tied a ratchet strap to the adjoining trunk and just tightened away
>> and the trunks just slowly lifted clear off the ground. It was a beautiful sight!
What happened when you got to the last one?
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>>What happened when you got to the last one?
The last two came out together, just slowly leaving in towards each other.
However the back up plan was my mates towball.
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Many years ago I spent a half day working on a major hardwood tree stump. Even hired a chain saw but useless when stones fill the roots.
Gave up and got a man with an axe in. He took it out in a out half an hour and for less than the saw hire fee.
I’m with CGN re methodology but I would find a professional to dig them out. They have the grunt and the gear.
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Many people have misconceptions about the root systems of trees. The believe that trees have a long taproot reaching deep into the ground.
In fact most trees don’t have tap roots but have far reaching lateral roots which form a root plate. Even in very large trees They won’t go down very far and in shallow soils they will be virtually at the surface. Look at a fallen tree in a forest. It is surprising how shallow-rooted they are . It is this plate that gives the tree stability. Cut through these lateral roots an the stump can be removed fairly easily.
Last edited by: CGNorwich on Mon 24 Aug 20 at 09:24
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I am hearing those who say dig it out but tbh I'm afraid I'm too old/lazy/unfit (or more likely I just cba) to diy and part of the root is likely to go under the concrete base for the shed anyway. There is a poncy gardening service round here that people use that probably costs an arm and a leg but I'll maybe find their number and get a price. I'm waiting for a price from the grinderman too.
Thanks for all the advice, I likely will be taking a different course of action from when I started this thread!
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Round here we are are an agricultural area which maybe helps us avoid the poncy contractors. If the grinder doesn’t meet your needs, do you have a local online noticeboard where you can ask for local recommendations? Also thinking laterally fencing companies might have the wherewithal to dig them out.
Like you I am getting a bit past this sort of work. I agree that the roots will be mainly laterals but the last couple of large shrubs I took out still had some tenacious downward roots that were very resistant.
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Actually I should have thought of the fencers - I have two blokes coming round to do a bit of fencing - I think they are brickies by trade - but they are young and fit and probably game for anything for money!!
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As the weather was nice I decided to go and have a dig after all. I'm about a foot down all round and I have found four reasonably large roots going outwards which I will deal with when I can borrow my mate's reciprocating saw. I'd already cut away some other large roots. If it doesn't even rock once I have cut away these roots I will admit defeat but if there is any movement I'll keep digging for victory.
I have already ordered some SBK and I can use the saw to re-open some fresh wounds to pour the stuff over.
Last edited by: smokie on Mon 24 Aug 20 at 17:01
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>>but they are young and fit and probably game for anything for money!!
They friends of Keith Vaz?
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Thanks for the advice here, really appreciated.
I've taken it slowly (not least cos of rain!) but over the past couple of days I have dug out a huge hole and used the reciprocating saw to cut all the roots I could find. The thing still wasn't budging.
I started cutting down from the top to try to reduce the amount remaining above what will be ground level, before treating with SBK. Even the saw was struggling!So I got my trusty tyre lever out to see if I could split it at all and by some fluke, and after quite a bit of grunting and swearing, managed to pull it in the right direction and it unexpectedly all came loose!
So I now have the whole of the main part of the root out. I can't do much about all the bits that radiate out under the ground but hopefully they will wither and die. (I took out as much as I could without doing a whole load more digging, and pulling up my lawn!!)
Plus I can send back the pack of SBK to Amazon which arrived today!
Thanks again.
PS My mate lent me a mattock too but I think you need a bit of practice to use that properly...!!!
Last edited by: smokie on Tue 25 Aug 20 at 17:47
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Resting on your laurels then?
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You have to be careful with ratchet straps under tension. I was using one on a flatbed lorry once to square up a shifted pallet of paper rolls (three layers of 9 rolls, 100kg per roll) when the strap closest to me came free of the truck bed and smacked me right in the altogethers. Never known pain like it. I walked like John Wayne for a fortnight.
Last edited by: Dave_ on Tue 25 Aug 20 at 20:23
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Grinding or what? - James Loveless
