GETTING RID OF LOVELY MATURE GARDEN...HOW?

[bignose]

Iv been in my house about 2 yrs.I have 2 young children.All round the sides are nice mature bushes that someone at some point would of put a lot of worjk into but I dont want it.
I would really like to know how to get rid.
They are like small trees so have thick roots and there are lots like them.
Last year I pulled out the hole of one side but no way could I get the roots out myself so its all back.
Money is an issue but hard graft is not but I do only have a certain amount of strength(no muscles).
How much would it cost for a gardener.Would a gardener do this sort of job?
How do I find and trust one?
How long will it take?
Will I be able to have grass there?
Im desperate to have some more room in our garden as its small enough and I think this will make such a diff.

can you not just cut them right back?

Cut them back, dig down to below soil level and cut through as many roots as you can with secateurs and a saw! Then pull. I have been doing the same here, take them one at a time and do a little each day, they will soon be gone. The remaining roots will rot down in the soil.

Yes you can put grass over it. Just keep the bits you clear free from weeds etc by putting weed fabric or cardboard down for now. Then dig it all over, rake and seed in the autumn.

its worth bunging grass seed down anytime tbh... i have various patches sprouting now from seed v recently put down.
covering the ground and keeping light out of it for a considerable amount of time will kill of anything under it.
it needs to be for about a year tho, or at least a season. weed control fabric or thick black plastic bags even... if you scatter play bark on top it wont look too bad? play bark is fairly cheap i think

R u saying to put the weed fabric down under the soil when I have pulled all the roots out and then put soil over the top of the weed fabric.Im a bit confused about this a little.Sorry

I pulled out the "mature garden" in our back and eventually front gardens.
For the back I had an electric saw for the thicker trunks etc, pergola, 2 sheds ..... I'm sure an ordinary saw would do the same trick. Got rid of everything I could see and then started digging. Dug the garden over loads of times. Soil was REALLY compacted to start with (had 3 layers of hard landscaping over a lot of it). Was also totally meshed together with roots. Just pulled out all the roots I could get. If I couldn't pull them out I cut them off as low as I could. Finally I dug a 1-1/1/2 feet deep trench, then dug another alongside tipping what I dug out into the one I'd previously dug getting rid of the last few nasties whilst doing so. I then roughly levelled the garden and dh covered it in about 20 bags of compost. I then dug all that in and levelled it "properly" again. I then left it to settle for a month and played around with the levels again. Dh then laid the turf (which took hardly anytime at all - could have done it myself).
Took me 5 months in all (was pg with ds1 and had a dodgy leg), though the bulk of it was done in the first 2 months.
Took the same approach with the front garden. 1 week to get rid (had my Mum staying to look after ds1 and help during naps etc.) and another 3 or 4 weekends of digging whenever I had the opportunity. We then had someone build a new wall for us and it took another 2 weekends and a week's evenings to sort it out (gravel and beds). Has been less successful on weeds for some reason though (hardly a problem in back at all). Wish I'd put down a membrane. Neighbours gardens both sides not best kept so probably comes from them in part.

Wow wow wow!!
I cant believe u did all that.I just dont know if I have the patience.Well done to you.
You have made me want to try though.Im going to start at the weekend.Thanku kindly.
Is the membrane what people are calling the weed fabric?

Where di I get fabric from?

Landscape fabric/membrane can be bought in garden centres, pre-cut in packs, but bigger garden centres sometimes sell it by the metre, which tends to be cheaper.

Do you have any allotments near you? They often have their own shop/depot, where you can buy things at less than shop prices for a small annual fee. You might also find ads there for jobbing gardeners (and if not, perhaps in the local paper?). Their rates vary but will be less than a full-blown landscape company which is not what you need.

You could also hire a rotavator if you need to break up compacted soil. It's still hard work - you have to get all the perennial weeds out first or else you'll be ploughing their roots back into the soil, where they'll regenerate - but might save you some time and effort.

Happy gardening!

Im going ou there now!!

How did you get on?

To answer your q. The fabric/membrane goes down on top of the soil when you have cleared a bit to stop weeds (and any roots left) growing while you do the next little bit. Weigh it down though (I put some pots of pansies etc on mine) as the wind will blow it about.

Also if you have a Wilkinsons near you they were doing weed proof fabric for £3 for 8m x1m which is quite a good price around here.

Thank you.Not too bad.I have discovered that I need a saw though as the trunks of the big bushes/trees are so thick!!
Can they be hired?

I did quite a bit but its gunna take so long!!

I think most equipment can be hired, but it may cost you less to go somewhere like Wilko's (I'd forgotten about them - my dad is a big fan) and buy a cheap one.

Yes Wilkos or Woolwoths do a cheap hand saw. They are a serrated blade that folds into the handle for safety. Really useful for root and heavy pruning.

Where are you? I have a fab gardener in my family.

northamptonshire-kettering.

Oh. Miles & miles. Hope you get it sorted out.