Alicia... what kind of bushes were there? Do they have a huge main root? Any clue how deep it goes? You may be able to just dig them up.... depending. If you just cut them off to the ground, chances are they would just grow back.
Thank you sir, I do understand That's how the bushes got cut do to where they are at currently. I burned up two blades going through them too
NO idea. I think the one closest to the drive way is a Juniper. That one is down there pretty good but doesn't seem to be as spread across as the others. The one to the far right, closest to the door of my house on the other hand is...ummm...VERY spread out and the roots are VERY hard and they spread out all over the place. Let me see if I can find a picture of what they were to give you guys and idea of what they might have been....
*snicker* Time to frighten you folks with what the house USED to look like This was a pic from 2009 that they agents had when they were selling the house. I took that screen door off and have new windows now and that pampas grass is going when I can get to it. You can kinda see the Juniper (my ID could be wrong!) over there to the left. It was HUGE in that spot and created major visibility concerns in that location. That and I can't stand what lives in those things.... This is a pic of the bushes (sorta) in the other bed that I haven't gotten to yet. Gardenia maybe? Not really sure. But, the stump I have in the middle of the bed I'm currently working on is one of these bushes. And FINALLY! The REALLY scary picture! This is in December of 2009 when I went to look at the house in my adventures. The whole place was just INSANE and they did clean it up for me before I closed on it. It wasn't my first choice but in the end, I think it was the right choice
Okay I lied...ONE more scary photo. This one happens to show the leaves a little bit better...Sort of....
Ipyrbby, I had my sons cut all the bushes down in front of our house this spring. I told him to cut them as flush to the ground as he could. Then I just planted my flowers around them and didn't worry about the roots.
Yup, those are scary photos. We had something similar when we moved in here--7foot tall weeds, thistles with stems as thick as your wrist, and mesquite trees all over the pasture. It can be tamed--it just takes time and patience! About those stumps. If you have a good pair of long-handled pruners, you can dig around, cut the roots, and then dig down and get the tap root of the stump and cut that. The stump will lift out, you can rip up most of the roots, and go ahead and plant. That looks like a house and yard with a lot of potential. Please post pictures of your progress--we are all "rooting" for you!
I have the pruners...just no idea if they can handle these roots.... I'm going to try at it tomorrow. I have a LOT of digging out to do around the stumps though. And where all the big roots are is getting down into the really "thick" clay. And since that area is moist, it acts as a suction cup when I try to pull the roots out. We shall see though I may try to get another pic of the front of my house soon. All I have that's "recent" is this half pic from January after the privacy fence got installed. That alone made the house look SO much better. Part of the reason I want to make the beds look pretty too And no offense by this Carolyn, but I'd rather remove the stumps completely so I'm not limited with what I can do with the beds there. I want a clean slate if you will
No offense taken by any stretch of the imagination. Sometimes it is easier to work around something like this than all of the effort it takes to get it out. Mine was more of a time issue nor did I want to tear up my beds and fix the lawn afterwards( no time for that here). We have more equipment to use than the sawz all that you have been working with and if you know anything about boys, big or little, tools are... the bigger the better.
You have done alot of work already and it shows. Good thing you're still young and strong so you can tackle those nasty roots! :-D
I wish I had that saw on a permanent basis! Hoping the pruners can work. Keep in mind, I still haven't touched the other side of the house lol
I have a trick that I have used since I was very young to get a tough job done. Start a job when there is a guy around. Pick up the wrong tool and struggle with the task at-hand. Before you know it, they will be over showing you how it's supposed to be done. And before you know it... job complete! Still works on my brothers. And my husband. And male friends. Hey! A girl has to do what a girl has to do!
Hahahah! The trouble with that is I have no men around My neighbor just walks over every now and again to see what I've done...So, it's all on me! I didn't do much today honestly. We've got Irene looming around off the coast and I wanted to save some time for the dogs. I pulled some weeds out of the other bed and then decided I wanted to clean out the planter so I could put the other Calla lily I have there. Unbeknownst to me, there was a big ol' stump of sorts that needed to be removed! I had NO clue it was that big. Dug down as far as I could and severed the roots...in hopes (weak ones) that it won't come back. I planted this one yesterday afternoon And this one today
Irene has dumped a few inches of rain today and the sloping in the back has at least helped a little on keeping the water from standing near the foundation. One of my friends asked about maybe putting down a sand base? I have no idea who else to ask so figured I'd throw it out here
