How to get rid of a privet hedge?

[ExplodingSmittens]

We want to take out a privet hedge and replace with fencing but not sure how to go about it.

Before anyone comes at me over the wildlife we’ll still have plenty of hedging and will get the local wildlife charity in the make hedgehog holes.

Do we just cut down the hedge? I’ve heard that the roots ate quite shallow and you can just rock the plants out?

Not sure how old the hedge is but I’m guessing over 30 years, possibly a lot, lot longer.

Cut it down to about 60cm and then use a spade to dig round and cut any roots and you should be able to remove them with a combo of rocking the stumps and cutting thw roots with the spade.

Thank you genetics. That’s helpful. We are having to remove it because the BDog has turned into an ex cape artist and we’re worried about them being run over.

And no, BDog is not a typo. In this instance it stands for Bastard Dog…

@ExplodingSmittens Ask the local bonsai society whether they would like to come and dig it up. Privet is extremely popular as bonsai and people are always on the look-out for mature specimens when someone wants to get rid of an old hedge.