Question
I recently moved into a new home and have these large evergreen shrubs in front of my home.  I am wanting to get rid of them and put something that would give the home more curb appeal.  How do I go about removing these?  They are fairly close to my foundation and don't want to do any damage to that.  I have no desire to replant them anywhere on the property.

Thank you for your help!

Anna

Answer
Hi Anna,
Thank you for your email. There are several ways you can go about this project. But not knowing the type of shrub and all that is around the plants to be removed. We'll just go with the basic's. You want to dig a trench around each shrub or if they are pretty close together, you can dig around them all with one big trench. And dig some crossing trenches between them. Then you want to take your garden hose and fill the trench allowing the water to soak the ground around them. As the water drains away pull out more of the dirt exposing the roots. This will also let you see what else is in the ground. Things like irrigation pipe, copper pipe, grey conduit, low voltage wires, rocks, etc. You really want to be careful digging and chopping the roots away with out having a good look at what might be in the ground. Let the water run slowly in the trench for a period of time(depends on how big they are, you'll need to run the water for a few hours) After the water has run for awhile and you have a good idea what or whats not in the ground with the roots.You can chop away at the roots with your shovel or you can use a pair of loppers or a small ax to cut away the roots. As you cut the roots take your shovel and try to get under the base of the root ball and pry up on it, exposing the roots that grow straight down and chop or cut them. It should pull right out from that point. Just beaware of the chance of other things being in the ground. If you have doubts about pipes or wiring, you could contact your electric and cable providers to come out to your home and they will mark the ground were their lines are. Most utility companies will do this at no charge. Hope all goes well. If you have any other questions or need more info, please feel free to write again. Have a great day. Bill-WOOD's Irrigation & Landscape Inc.