I have a piece of ground that had a hedge which I back to just above the ground and now i want to dig up all the root balls. The trick is this piece of ground is about 30 feet long and 2 feet wide, and has the wall of my house on one side and the driveway on the other. I had other bushes dug up in my yard but there were no clearance issues with them and we used a backhoe which made short work of it.

Question, what type of tool would work and not run into the house? I have thought of hiring guys to dig them by hand but I think they might not be able to get the root balls out.

thanks
Fred

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MB-less

Day laborer digging tools work best in these situations. Pick them up at street corners or big box stores like HD or Lowes.

And, rent an electric jackhammer/demolition hammer and wide chisel bit to cut through turf and roots, have laborers dig up the bits and you're done!

Always pay them a living wage.

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Never a dull moment at Berry Hill Farm.

I could chainsaw the roots a bit and pull out the pieces but I am worried it won't get the whole ball, and this type of plant will keep coming back.

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MB-less

There's some FANTASTIC chemicals out there that will make short work of the rootballs.

I used some "Crossbow" herbicide (from Dow Chemical IIRC). I mixed it according to the directions on the label and CAREFULLY SPRAYED IT as the instruction insisted. EVERYTHING died as promised. The best part? I had a 1" diameter stump the was starting to "sprout" again and I sprayed that too. About 2 months after that, I was raking up the dead grasses and stubble and *POINK!* - out popped the stump itself. That stuff killed the stump and ate off the roots. I also had a birch tree that was growing within an enclosed anchor point fenced area. I sprayed the leaves (a ladder and a decent reach was all that was needed for that trick) and about two months later, the tree was completely dead. The following spring, I was able to physically push the tree over and have it land away from the guy-wires. This stuff is mean and killa'...so be VERY CAREFULL where and how you're using it. ANYTHING IT TOUCHES belongs to the ages...

If you need to do spot treatments, get yourself a small syringe, and drill a few pilot holes downward into the stump or the meat of the plant itself, then squirt the mixture into the holes. Problem is solved in a month or two.

BTW...nothing has grown "back" after the removal of the dead material (except new grass of course), so I'm convinced it gets EVERYTHING...root, stem and seed.

When I bought the stuff about 4 years ago, it was fairly expensive...about $60.00 for 32oz..

It doesn't appear to work as fast as any of the RoundUp brand of products, but it sure kills the stuff as dead, or better.

Just be sure to follow the mixing instructions to the "T" and be sure there's no wind if you're spraying it...it does have a "nasty" taste if you happen to be down-wind from a slight breeze. (Don't worry...I'm feeling much better now...now...now...now.... )

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Another oddball suggestion--
How about renting a Ditchwitch, or a trenching tool? Sort of like a chainsaw, but designed to cut through earth--something that would wreck a chain saw chain in short order.

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1982 300SD " Wotan" ..On the road as of Jan 8, 2007 with Historic Tags

They cut VERY well but chopping the roots will not guarantee they won't grow back. Plus, the digger chain would need to be offset to one side to be able to not hit the house or driveway.

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MB-less

Here at Berry Hill Farm we use Remedy for woody plant control. It's the rangeland manager's herbicide that is analogous to Crossbow; both are systemic herbicides based on triclopyr.

If you use Remedy or Crossbow, you will most likely not need to worry about digging out that root ball. If any offspring survive, a touch up next growing season on the saplings will finish them for good.

On smooth-bark woody plants, we 'frill' the cambium in a few places 6"-8" above the soil and apply a light coating of Remedy (mixed 1:3 with diesel or cooking oil) all the way around the trunk. Huisache and mesquite (the only things we try to control this way) will die within 2 weeks of application. Small saplings can be cut at the ground level and the bare end coated with a Remedy mixture.

We generally do chemical brush control in the late spring and then come back in the fall and winter to deal with the dead trees.

Search the TAMU web site for the "Brush Busters" program. There is a lot of excellent information regarding brush control that can be applied to your situation.

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Never a dull moment at Berry Hill Farm.

Maybe something like a Bobcat MT52 walk behind. It is only 3' wide. I think you can get a little backhoe attachment on it. Another idea I saw on TOH is they put a chain around the base and then pull it out with a Bobcat. But you would need to be careful not to rip the driveway out with it. Yeah, chemicals will kill the stump. Straight Roundup will do the trick and it says so right on the bottle.

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Where can you get Remedy or Crossbow? I am a bit too far from the Aggie mother ship to head back there...

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MB-less

FWIW, I gave the local church 250 bucks and they brought two guys, a couple shovels, a chain and a truck and they dug around the root balls, attached the chain and slowly pulled them out with a p/u truck. I then filled in the holes and aside from a couple bits of grass, no new remnants of the bushes. These were 35 years old and pretty well-entrenched. Took them about 5 hours for 5 bushes.

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Cat 304/5, will have it done in about an hour.



Go rent one with the trenching bucket.


I have used them in 10ft wide ally's, as long as you can get the tracks in the machine will fit they are zero turn. Just watch the sidding with the exhuast it could melt.

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1969 280SE
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Remedy can be had at Tractor Supply or almost any other ag supply outfit will have it. Methinks it only comes in gallon jugs...about $95.00.

\Have never purchased Crossbow. Google may turn something up.

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Never a dull moment at Berry Hill Farm.

See post #1: The site is 2' wide. Few tracked machines will fit in there.

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Never a dull moment at Berry Hill Farm.

He said he has the driveway on the other side, unless I'm totaly reading it wrong its a 2x30 patch of dirt between his house and driveway?

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1999 SL500
1969 280SE
2023 Ram 1500
2007 Tiara 3200

I think a backhoe/trencher will fit onto the site, but using such to pull up root balls will likely rip up some of the drive way as well.
It might be too late now, but I would killed the hedge with Round-Up first, then cut it to the ground and left the root balls in place to rot.