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06/12/2005 11:26:28 AM · #1 |
OK...I have about 20 feet worth of old bushes that we cut down a couple years ago. I have to remove all the roots so we can put in a garden. So I head out there and start digging, right...well after spending 10 minutes digging straight down for one of the 20 bushes, the roots just seem to go forever. To make matters worse, there's block on the other side of them so I can only dig INFRONT of the roots.
I thought about pulling them with my truck, but there's nowhere to hook on to. Each shrub has just maybe an inch worth of branches left and like 50 of them sticking up that are frail and fragile. If the shrubs weren't cut down yet, I could see how that would work.
I'm dying here...anyone with any experience or ideas how to get rid of these roots? Am I going to have to rent a Bobcat?
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06/12/2005 11:30:03 AM · #2 |
Well, sounds like the bobcat is going to be the least labor-intesive method. If you can't yank 'em out with a truck, then I think the other option is to dig dig dig dig.
If the roots are small enough, a good rototiller might get 'em, but you'd still have to go through & pull out (or sift out) the root bits by hand.
Sara
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06/12/2005 11:36:27 AM · #3 |
Man it's 11:35 AM and I'm already sweating up a storm from this project.
I think I might go give this another try and just start digging. I'd hate to weasel my truck into position and have the rope just keep slipping off (as I know will most likely happen). It's not like I can just pull the truck up to them -- There's two 90 degree turns to make. Oh well back to work.
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06/12/2005 12:14:56 PM · #4 |
| Just make sure your cable doesn't run under the bushes. I did that a few weeks ago. I knew I was close to the phone/electric/cable, but thought I was just about clear. Nope, Comcast had taken the twisty route to my house. I was without TV or internet access for 24 hours, until they could come out an splice it for me. OOPS. |
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06/12/2005 12:20:59 PM · #5 |
Originally posted by larryslights:
Just make sure your cable doesn't run under the bushes. I did that a few weeks ago. I knew I was close to the phone/electric/cable, but thought I was just about clear. Nope, Comcast had taken the twisty route to my house. I was without TV or internet access for 24 hours, until they could come out an splice it for me. OOPS. |
If that's a concern you can call them and they'll come out (for free) and mark where the lines are so that you don't make that mistake. (BF worked for comcast for 12 yrs, now he's a Nextel man!)
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06/12/2005 01:21:32 PM · #6 |
If you don't have to clear them out of there this summer there is some stuff you can get that will accelerate the natural decay and they will rot away in a year or so, or at least what is left next summer will come out a lot easier. I can't remember the name of the preparation but we used to use it on stumps. Works well but not fast. It's a safe bacterial agent that speeds up nature's own process. Ask around at some nurseries or hardware stores, or maybe your county's agricultural extension agent.
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06/12/2005 01:23:23 PM · #7 |
Thanks everyone. I never managed to get any out all the way...and I swear, I dug deeper than I ever have before. I got a couple really low with an axe but that is hard work in the 90 degree sun. I had to stop. Not sure what I'm going to do...maybe look into this some more before I decide what method to use. Thanks again.
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06/12/2005 05:24:16 PM · #8 |
a pick, or axe or combination.
fire...burn the suckers out. oil, gas and a match.
Some HCL (hydrocloric acid...)
explosives - OK, that is the old time country boy solution.
fertilizer and compost and wait...they will rot. 2-4 years.
a bobcat excavator will do the sob in 10 minutes. i had one a few years sgo to dig up a sewer line, $250 for the weekend. i pulled out lotsa little stumps and pricky bushes and such. you might get one for 1/2 day for under $100. the one i rented was maybe 4 foot square and would did 6 feet deep. they had a smaller one too. (bobcat of pgh, in the north hills)
bury it all and plant a fence or lawn.
pay a landscaper to do the work - bonus: sit and drink beer and watch.
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