Landscaping: Easiest way to remove large ugly shrub?

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BlueBarnLdy Elsberry, MO (Zone 5a) April 27, 2008 9:19 PM	I have a foundation shrub I think I have identified as Euonymus kiautschovicus. I have lived here for nearly five years, now and I hate this thing more with each passing year. It looks like a 8-10 shrub that has been trimmed to 3.5 feet for 40 years. When it blooms it is covered with flies. It is just way too big for the location; I have trouble using the walkway to the garage unless I keep it trimmed constantly. It is also a formal evergreen broadleaf in the middle of my plantings of informal perinnials. I don't have access to a buffed out teenager, and I have limited muscle power. My current thought is to chop it off at ground level and paint it with glyphosate (roundup). But how long will it take to rot? Would I be able to plant around it? Is there a better way? View Larger
ecrane3 Dublin, CA (Zone 9a) April 27, 2008 9:24 PM	There's stuff you can buy for tree stumps to make them rot faster, I assume that would work here too. Or if you've got a friend with a truck, you can hitch it up to the truck and pull it out that way. Not a recommended approach if you're trying to save something and transplant it, but for something you want to get rid of that can work. Or you could hire someone to dig it out for you, it shouldn't cost that much just to remove one thing. If you have it removed or yank it out with the truck you've got the advantage of being able to plant something new in its place much sooner.
Tir_Na_Nog Houston (United States) (Zone 9b) April 27, 2008 9:26 PM	Hi! Given your title I must tell you, the best way to get rid of it is to post it in a free ad for FREE :) at [HYPERLINK@www.craigslist.org] for your area. I have posted free plants for folks to dig from the yard, even big grassy tall plants and people always come to take them. :) Save yourself some time and money and post it for free. Someone will save it. Good luck!
tcinmb Myrtle Beach, SC (Zone 8b) April 27, 2008 11:38 PM	I just removed some very large trimmed out red tip shrubs with a recepricating saw.
JasperDale Long Beach, CA (Zone 10a) April 28, 2008 1:00 AM	Before you get anyone in there with a truck and a winch, you should check to make sure you don't have any water or gas supply lines in that vicinity...especially since it's right up against your foundation. Trying to pull it out that way could be a disaster if you've got your water or gas main line under the roots. Proceed with caution. If you can cut the top growth away, and down to about 2 feet tall, (leaving just a few main limbs) then carefully dig down and try to find where the main roots are, you can lop the roots a few inches below grade level and get the main body of it out. Then eventually the roots will rot and decompose. Many of those stump killer products don't work very well on green tissue...and you have to drill holes in the base to put the product in. This may take some time for the product to kill it, and may not work as fast as you want it to.
NatureLover1950 Vicksburg, MS (Zone 8a) April 28, 2008 11:16 AM	I agree with everything JasperDale says. I would be very concerned about damage to the foundation if you pull it out with a truck and, as Jasper said, the possibility of water or gas lines. Jasper is also correct that the stump rot mixtures don't work well on green trees/shrubs. Your own idea of Roundup is a better one. If you are unable to do the work yourself, perhaps you could hire someone to do the digging for you or get help from a church group.
BlueBarnLdy Elsberry, MO (Zone 5a) April 28, 2008 8:01 PM	Thank you all for your suggestions. Although I know there are no utility lines there, I am afraid that a shrub that has been in that location so long would certainly put roots under the sidewalk. Although I don't particularly like the sidewalk, I have so many things higher on the priority list that I would hate to have to replace it right now. A friend and I actually tried to remove a similar sized Japanese Honeysuckle that way.... we'll just say that those seatbelt straps that can't be broken, can. Thank heavens there wasn't a video camera around! So I'm going with the reciprocating saw and Roundup drilled into the stump. I'll try annuals with shallowish roots there for a couple of years. Thanks again!
tcinmb Myrtle Beach, SC (Zone 8b) April 28, 2008 9:58 PM	The red tips were not the only plants that I have removed with a reciprecating saw. I also removed some rather mature holly shrubs that way. If you want to know the procedure I used let me know.
heyitsmejudy Lawrenceville, GA April 30, 2008 4:36 PM	I had horrid junipers in front of my house when I bought it... I had someone take them out, it was relatively inexpensive considering the work, the shrubs lined the entire front of my house and had been there for eons, from what I'd been told ... After they'd ripped the shrubs out, they used a brush hog to chop up the stumps and the roots, etc. I was able to plant a hummingbird garden there the following weekend.
Eileenbo Canton, MA May 1, 2008 1:16 PM	I am a newbie. I live in Canton Massachusetts. I think I am zone 6A.....I have several shady areas in my yard where the grass won't grow. I would like to use some type of ground cover, maybe ivy??? I would like something that grows quickly. The areas get very very little sun and I think the ground cover would look nice. Any suggestions?? and where would I go to get the ground cover? a nursery?? As you can see, I am not very knowledgeable on gardening, but and very very interested in learning. Thanks
heyitsmejudy Lawrenceville, GA May 1, 2008 3:31 PM	Eileen.. Ivy would be a good ground cover but once you have it, you'll have an H of a time getting rid of it. Hostas do well in shade. I have several shady, grassless areas in my backyard as well. once you have a few the following year you can split them when you first see them pop out of the ground and plant them elsewhere. I started with around 8 hosta when I bought my house and now have a loop of them lining my back yard... simply from splitting them when they started the growing season. Vinca is a good ground cover vine, with pretty bluish purple flowers. A nursery is your best bet, although Home Depot has decent plants as well.
ecrane3 Dublin, CA (Zone 9a) May 1, 2008 10:40 PM	Hi Eileen, welcome to DG! More people will probably notice your question if you start your own thread for it...to do that go back one page to the one that lists all the different thread in this forum, and near the top of the page just under the row of tabs, you'll see a link to post a new thread.
Rainbowman18 Weston, FL (Zone 10a) May 1, 2008 11:39 PM	Eileen, Good evening. Go to Springhillnursery.com and check out all the wonderful ground covers they list for zones 3 to 6. I am sure you will find something satisfactory there. Judy is right when she says you will have a hard time getting rid of it or keeping it under control. I see a carpet Scarlet Flame Phlox that looks nice. There are so many different choices that it boggles the mind. Here in south Florida we have some tropical ground covers that do very nicely. I am cultivating some gloxinia sylvatica that is now out of bloom and setting up for new plants in one part of my garden and I am trying to take cuttings and introduce it to some other parts of the landscape. I also have have some blue daze growing as a ground cover, which particular plant has medium blue small flowers that look great against some yellow-blooming Cuban buttercup and purple-blue Porter Weed. You should try to experiment by buying a couple of popular and hardy ground covers and see which one does the best for a certain spot. After some experiences with different plants your thumb will turn greener and you won't be a newbie. It just takes some research and trial and error. Good luck in your new endeavor. View Larger

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