What a frustrating day in the garden.

[Namechangeforthis88]

Making the most of our isolation here. Two jobs planned. Finally get rid of the conifer I've been chipping away at. I dug right down around the trunk, no significant roots around the side so far. The thing is not even beginning to budge slightly. I have vastly underestimated the scale of the job. Next job, I want to move a chaenomeles that the previous owner mysteriously planted (probably 40 years ago) about 5 inches from a rhododendron. It's almost hidden by the rhodo, I'd love to put it in a big old pot against a sunny wall. Fought both the thorny chaenomeles and the massive rhodo for a while. The bastard chaeno isn't budging either. Also, why has the previous owner planted shrubs that you would hope/expect to reach a decent size right at the front of the border?

Please tell me I'll get there in the end!

Finally get rid of the conifer I've been chipping away at. I dug right down around the trunk, no significant roots around the side so far. The thing is not even beginning to budge slightly.
Ours wouldn't, either, until the neighbour lent us a gurt big crow bar.

You'll get there in the end!

My dad would either lend me his pick axe or offer to do it himself, but... isolation. I'll sleep tonight though, all that exertion and fresh air.

I always just sawed ours off near the base. People buy plants without any kind of comprehension of how big they'll get I fund.

*find

Yes, everyone tells us he was a very keen gardener, but he seems to have paid zero attention to how much space anything is going to need. Massive stuff at the front of a border, and a big gap at the back.

If you want a garden to look good instantly you tend to over-plant. You have to be comfortable with the thought of getting rid of whole plants when things have grown up a bit.

Big gap at back is useful for fence tending

Yes, it did occur to me it might be useful to get in at the fence. That will want replacing at some point, not that you can see most of it right now! I need to learn patience. Really, really need to learn patience.

@MereDintofPandiculation

If you want a garden to look good instantly you tend to over-plant. You have to be comfortable with the thought of getting rid of whole plants when things have grown up a bit.

Big gap at back is useful for fence tending

And for hedge cutting. Hate the job but when I get round to membrane and bark at the back it'll be so much easier.

@Tal45

I always just sawed ours off near the base. People buy plants without any kind of comprehension of how big they'll get I fund.

This happened before my arrival in the garden I now work at. Plenty of stumps sawn off at ground level. Impossible to get leverage to get them out so plenty of blood, sweat, axe work and almost tears.

The roots were everywhere so I can't plan new plantings without having done this....

If you ever think you might want rid of the stump, leave 6in+ above ground. PLEASE for whichever poor sod like me will need to shift it

We made the mistake of putting the pond too close to the hedge. So I teeter along a 9inch strip, with water one side and spiny hawthorn the other.

I do cut by hand, so If I fall in I just get wet and smelly, I don’t electrocute myself

My husband tends to do this, I think it’s an instant gratification thing, he plants things where they look good now. And doesn’t really think ten years down the line, it’s resulted in a few domestics. 😂

It took me 3 days to dig out a 6ft laurel bush last year. At the time i was cursing but finally dug round the roots and heaved the bugger out it was a massive achievement being only about 5f 2 inches myself. I remember jumping for joy.

Ah. The conifer and the chaenomeles have both been dealt with yesterday. We do now have a stump situation on both counts. Any tips? The chaenomeles is so far under the rhododendron and quite small, so I don't think it'll get in the way of anything.

Well you can hire a stump grinder, or you can hire someone with a stump grinder, or you can dig like you’re heading for Australia and get it manually 😃

There are lots of things on line, like cutting crosses in it, filling it with oil daily then burning it after a few weeks, but they seldom work.

For the stump, I'd advise hammering in some rusty nails and leaving it until next autumn (it won't be particularly noticeable if you do some planting around it). I did this and all the roots rotted away. I could basically just roll it out of the ground when the next year rolled around. Much preferable to grinding or digging for a day.

It just so happens that we have a supply of rusty nails at the moment. That does sound appealing.

ahhh my people!

We have inherited an over planted garden with in appropriate and ugly planting that we are gradually sorting out so are somewhat experts in removing stumps with a lot of leg work and no machinery.

one of these these is invaluable

if you can stab it in at 45 degrees and then do a rowing action to rotate it under the main root, it twists off the smaller roots and eventually you can hack, stab, axe out the longer/bigger roots.

we've had buckets of these bastard yuccas which have roots as deep as they are tall and are like dinosaur teeth so hard to get out. lockdown was 'fun' last year!

@Namechangeforthis88

Ah. The conifer and the chaenomeles have both been dealt with yesterday. We do now have a stump situation on both counts. Any tips? The chaenomeles is so far under the rhododendron and quite small, so I don't think it'll get in the way of anything.

axe. And hire me, I'm pretty bloody good at stumps now ;) Dig around, chop small roots, hack and wobble and eventually, bingo!

@Raaraaboonah

ahhh my people!

We have inherited an over planted garden with in appropriate and ugly planting that we are gradually sorting out so are somewhat experts in removing stumps with a lot of leg work and no machinery.

one of these ]] is invaluable

if you can stab it in at 45 degrees and then do a rowing action to rotate it under the main root, it twists off the smaller roots and eventually you can hack, stab, axe out the longer/bigger roots.

we've had buckets of these bastard yuccas which have roots as deep as they are tall and are like dinosaur teeth so hard to get out. lockdown was 'fun' last year!

oh YUCCA. Still finding root bits when they resprout. And I took it out maybe 3 years ago :/

I’ve inherited a garden that has ridiculous plants with roots down to Australia that have been in forever. I found a pick axe is my go to weapon for serious war for getting something out. It’s also quite good for making holes in really tough ground.

@Namechangeforthis88

Ah. The conifer and the chaenomeles have both been dealt with yesterday. We do now have a stump situation on both counts. Any tips? The chaenomeles is so far under the rhododendron and quite small, so I don't think it'll get in the way of anything.

The conifer is unlikely to resprout, most of them do. The Chaenomeles will, but will give up eventually if you cut new shoots as soon as they appear - there’s only so much energy stored in the roots, it can’t go on forever without leaves to replenish its energy supplies.

My Dad is a pick axe man for preference, and he got a holly out for us. He's in his seventies for goodness sake, can't be asking him to go through that again. It took hours of graft. There's talk of investing in a crow bar, we could have done with it for demolishing one of the two rotten sheds. Or the item suggested by @Raaraaboonah. Or maybe a mattock. Bit mad to get several similar tools.

I'm chuffed to bits with my pruning saw though.

I'm in danger of developing a tool buying habit, the kind of behaviour I have judged harshly when DH was in the grip of it with DIY stuff.

I think you could legitimately buy a mattock/pickaxe and-a wrecking bar, they do different jobs.

I spent a happy time googling the difference between mattock and pickaxe. I forget the details, but it depends on what you have at the end. A pick axe has to have a spike as one of the end bits, then the rest of the classification depends on how wide the chisel-y bits are.