Garden

[sfnative]

Hi Everyone,

We spent some time at our new place yesterday and I applied myself and my various clippers to the overgrowth of plants in our small backyard.  I plan to get rid of 90% of the existing.

Our new backyard is really, really small: 15 x 20.  In the northeast corner is a lilac bush/tree that was planted in 1974.  It's not been taken care of, is very tall and spindly and takes up more that just the corner.  For these reasons, I'm going to take my baby chain saw to the branches, but don't know how to go about getting the rest of it out of the ground.

Do any of you have suggestions?  I'd really like to get the whole thing out, because my plan to create a Japanese feature really needs that corner.  I'd appreciate any suggestions and wisdom you can pass on.

Thanks so much.  ~Rebecca

[JustJazzmom]

You may have to hire someone with a stump grinder to remove the remains of the lilac.

[Scooby Doo]

If you plan on planting something else in the corner you will need the stump grinder.

I've tried cutting lilacs to the ground and they keep coming back.  You can put stump killer on it, but you can't plant over the roots.

[gardenman]

I'd be more inclined to dig it out if possible. Leave a few of the longer, stronger branches, excavate around the rootball cutting any large roots you run into, then use those long branches to lever the root mass up and cut off more roots and roll the root ball right out of there. Long strong branches can be a big help in getting a root mass out of the ground. The leverage you gain can make it fairly easy to get even a big root ball out of the ground. The hardest thing is to cut everything off low and then try to dig out the rootball. Long strong branches give you a serious mechanical advantage over the roots.

[Lilysmom]

I agree with gardenman.  Leave enough of the bush to use for leverage.  My neighbor took out awfully overgrown wild rose bushes by leaving enough to put a rope around it.  He then used his sit down lawn mower to pull it out by the roots.  Good luck!  LM

[JustJazzmom]

Lilac is going to be difficult to remove because if its a suckering type, any leftover roots could cause the lilac to emerge again. The stump grinder will at least get most if not all of the roots out.