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Gardening

removing a privet hedge

(5 Posts)
bichonmad Wed 27-Mar-13 10:33:48

has anyone ever taken a privet hedge out,i want to take one out because its past its sell by date my son has offered to do but i wondered if anyone has done it and was it very difficult

whenim64 Wed 27-Mar-13 10:45:36

Quite easy to do bichon. I had a 6ft privet hedge taken out because it was straggly and hadn't been looked after by previous owners, and I wanted to put fruit trees and climbing plants in. The 15ft length of hedge was removed by two men in just over half an hour. The roots were quite near the surface. The soil was very poor, but I wanted a fence with concrete base, so it was done very quickly. I put fresh topsoil in afterwards, as privet apparently leaves poorly nourished soil after it's been there a long time.

bichonmad Wed 27-Mar-13 10:58:43

thank you whenim64,thats a big help i will let him go ahead now,if we ever get decent enough weather to do it smile

UnigranMA Thu 04-Apr-13 22:11:43

Privet hedge shouldn't be a problem to lift but whenim64 is spot on about soil quality - privet drains all life from it!

If you are intending to re-plant with hedge, shrubs or whatever, do replace the topsoil and add some humus/manure to give the new plants a good start.

annodomini Thu 04-Apr-13 23:07:36

That has given me an idea. I'd love to get rid of the big featureless hedge at the end of my garden and put in a fence with clematis and climbing roses.