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




--
Laura Corin

 @gardenbanter.co.uk says...

  Plants used for hedging are usually selected for their ability to either
sucker or regrow from violent pruning.

  Janet

 
Janet;933758 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.


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.




--
echinosum

 
echinosum;933868 Wrote:

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

 On Aug 26, 7:22 am, Laura Corin <Laura.Corin.
8cd1...@gardenbanter.co.uk> wrote:

If you had said they were conifers at the start it would have made
answering your question so much easier.