Removing hideous giant conifer trees

[Brambles34]

We recently moved into a new house which has 2 conifer type monstrosities growing out the front.

How do we get rid of them?? Paying someone is not an option as money is tight and they charge a fortune so it's going to be a DIY job.

My dad is coming down at the weekend with a trailer and chainsaw so that bit isn't a problem but how do we deal with the stumps?

Will they eventually rot into the earth? Can we paint anything on them to encourage rotting? How long should we leave the stumps?

Pulling them out won't work (I'm guessing) as the trees are the height of the house so big root system etc

Thanks

Firstly be very very careful
I personally wouldn't remove large trees myself as it is easy for it to go wrong and threaten property and yourself. We found a qualified tree person really wasn't as expensive as we thought (although we did get one expensive quote which we duly ignored). I am naturally wary as I have a colleague who died removing trees from their garden AND know of another person who suffered serious injury - both thought they were competent amateurs and were being safe.

If you do take them down yourself, consider that they will be drawing a lot of moisture from the ground. If you are in clay soil and the trees are close to the house or any walls you may find that you suffer from heave in the soil if you take them both down at once and in one go. This can cause cracks and subsidence - if you have clay soil you should take them down in stages to allow a more gentle transition and avoid damage.

Stumps are usually ground out using a stump grinder or dug out
Guide on removing stumps here www.rhs.org.uk/advice/profile?PID=229

Good guide to safe felling techniques here www.husqvarna.com/uk/support/working-with-chainsaws/working-techniques-and-safety-when-felling-trees/

Good luck and I hope you get them removed safely and can enjoy your garden. We removed a huge 30ft tree last year and we haven't regretted it one minute. If you cut logs from the tree make sure you let them dry properly before burning them inside.

We paid a stump grinder to remove the roots for us when we took a long conifer hedge out. They don't go down that deep but remove the big roots and I have been able to plant climbers since.

you said growing out the front. Does that mean giving onto the road?

You need to leave at least twice the height of the tree you are taking down in safety space, do make sure you cordon off a large enough area so when they fall there will be no damage to people or property.

Also agree with what wonkylegs said about subsidence, taking out large trees which are near a house is risky in terms of the structural stability of the building.

We had the same problem in our last house, but in our back garden.
We stupidly let them (2 of them) get to big. We paid a tree person (4 people) to take them down and it was surprising how cheap it was actually. And they get rid of everything as well.
They asked what we wanted to do with stumps and in the end we kept them high enough for putting cups on and made a bench joining the two stumps.

You say they are as tall as the house - what 6m? More ?

And are they more than 6m from the boundary of your garden and from the house ?

If not, when you bring them down your could hit your house, your neighbours or the street .

Does your dad have experience of using a chain saw at height , and have all the correct safely equipment ? If not, he could get seriously hurt - I wouldn't want that on my conscience .

Please get a few quotes and hire someone who knows what they are doing . You might be a couple of hundred pounds, if they need to hire a stump grinder . They should have a chipper .

Depends where you live - I'd pay £50 -80 a tree for felling only , but we live in the country . You can save money by chopping up the trunk yourself and disposing of all the waste . I get free logs and chips from the local tree surgeons

I live in a densely populated conservation area, on a road lined with trees (all with TPO in place). A couple of the trees on my road were removed last year due to instability/ill health and they took the trees down in sections using chains and pulleys rather than felling in one go (which wouldn't be possible due to the size of the trees and the surrounding area).

I've never seen a tree in an urban area felled like in the woods (timberrrrrr! Styleee) so I don't know where the 'Xm from the boundary of your house' thing would come in. There's not enough space and the method is not predictable enough to be safe anyway.

I'm not sure why you think I'm recommending that method , weasel

The OP doesn't say where her house is (rural or urban) or how close it is to the road or other buildings.
Our tree lady removed some trees in one go, the 30ft one was only removed in sections because it would have ruined the lawn of felled in one go (although it was safe for this to be done as we have a truly massive plot and it was well away from anything it could damage - well except the lawn of course)

We have similar but in the back, 3 trees with the canopies grown together to form a giant. Only one is in our garden, not sure how we tackle it as it's not possible to deal with just our tree in isolation.