Connifers - What to do with them?

I would spread out the stump grindings evenly and roughly level the area before digging, I also think I'd spread and then dig the manure in rather than leave on the surface.

 

I wasn't planning to leave it all on top sorry! I was going to use my Matlock to dig out a bit and also loosen the soil, spread the manure then use my rake to try and mix up the loose soil / stump grind leftovers and the manure.

I'm just concious about the fence panel levels and not wanting to ruin them all etc.

 

The stumps are being ground out tomorrow!

But another question as always! from when the trees were cut down they left behind a tonne (~2-3 inches thick in some places if not more) layer of connifer remnants on the ground all around the stumps.. Would it be okay to mix the leaves into the soil / ground stumps and manure mix or before I even bother with the manure mix should I get out there with a shovel and clear away as much of it as I can and enjoy a few trips to the tip (as no soil in green bin and I'm sure it'd end up mixed in with it all)

I've had to chansaw away some ivy this evening to get clear access to one of the stumps but that's going to be a huge pain as its growing from neighbours & to the side... so will have to get out there one weekend with some shears I think for that at least.

 

@SBcBWIQN I think I'd just dig the whole lot, including the manure mix, into the ground as soon as possible and then wait until spring before replanting.

 

Thanks Its been a bit back breaking I won't lie! I ended up removing as much "big" sticks and any ivy elemetns I could find.. broke the ground up, raked it a bit then raked in farmyard manure (I got 200 litres from the local garden center for £20)

Fun surprise for no-one.. it needs quite alot more.. I may be overdoing it on the coverage aiming for around 2 inches ish or is that about right? Google suggested that for "Soil improvement"

 

When digging a hole in the garden it's amazing how much soil comes out of it. When it comes to adding soil, manure etc. it's also amazing how quick it disappears. The more manure you can add the better, I would double the amount you've used so far. Let it lay on top and worms will disperse it for you over time.

 

Hi,

I'm with @Sheal regarding laurels; once in and established they are bomb proof and even cut right down to the soil; up they come again and every part of a cherry laurel is poisnous and they give off cyanide gas; I've taken dozens of car loads to the tip but with wide open windows and I've shredded a huge amount.




Laurels galore; the previous owner went mad planting lots and lots of cherry laurels; just dig a small hole and drop one in then if they are left alone they go bersek and this is whats seen above ground; please see next picture.


I had a full 60' long hedge of these at the very top of the rear garden at around 30' tall. Over the years I kept going up ladders reducing their height until eventually they were about 10' tall then I took the lot out stumps and roots too. Here's what a mature cherry laurel stump looks like; it took 24 tons of hydraulic jack pressure to break it free and a 2,500lb winch to drag it across the garden out of the way.


Cherry Laurels; Conifers and huge Hawthorn tree; oh boy have I worked for many years clearing the lot.


Not just one hedge but a double hedge; I kept reducing the height of both but I managed to get the front hedge lowered first; enough to get rid of it; the back hedge mostly laurels I kept lowering but the year after they kept growng back; you can't kill the things. The whole lot has now finally been cleared including the grass which at the moment is giving me grief it being couch grass. The front hedge had lots of snowberry included and this too was a real pain walking down the garden as it spread; Bron and I also inherited a forest of well over 30 very tall trees up to 80'


Here's the garden now but it's taken 38 years of constant hard graft. Planting is easy but removing is very difficult and incredibly hard work.

Good luck with yours @SBcBWIQN. Usually the hard way is the best way; if things are dug out completly then job done. I'm now on hands and knees weather permitting each days clearing the middle meadow of couch grass; we bought a nightmare.

Kind regards, Col

 

If you are to replace fence panels with new, then fit a gravel board ,timber (or concrete if budget permits). This will protect the new panels from decay and allow an increase in soil levl over time. The remaining retained panels can be done either now or as they need replacing

 

Thanks again everyone. For now all the area needing manure has been manured and I'm still exploring as to what heding plants to put in.

Having a cat I've looked for what the local garden shop sells (all potgrown) that is considered as cat safe has come down to the following (in price order low to high):

- Griselinia (£7.40 - £12 for 70-80cm / 100-110cm)
- Beech (Purple - £8 for 80-110cm)
- Photinia (Red Robin, £7.50 - £25.. 40-50 cm cheapest - 100cm)

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe most of these recomend ~30-60cm gap for planting, so covering the main back line of my garden I'm looking at ~35 plants..

An online place selling Bare root hornbeam mind recommends ~5 plants per meter which would be 70 which seems excessive for ~14m?

Pot grown I'm guessing is easier to deal with, and would be "faster" to establish or is bare root suitably easy to deal with?

 

Personally I'd rule photinia out its a great plant when its happy wants to be but can be a bit thin / bitty with hedges, and they commonly get a purple leaf spot which can make them look a bit ill .

Purple beech are beautiful and easy I've not grown griselia before but they makes a nice glossy evergreen hedge . I tend to plant every 40 - 45cm which I think is around 35 plants that you've mentioned . I do find pot grown easier to establish especially beech, I planted a beech hedge next door bare root and its took ages for them to take, I've been slowly taking some out and replacing them with pot grown .

 

Wyevale hedging has a big selection of native shrubs. as does ashridge

Only yew is potentially dangerous for cats, holly is spikey but our cats have never cared. Hawthorn and blackthorn/sloe are a bit spikey also. i wouldnt even worry about cherry laurel being poisonous honestly, unless your cat chomps stuff voraciously.

if you really want cheapskate elder roots like nothing so just let it grow for a year, take cuttings and fill it in. you will read elder is toxic from cyanide but it is very mild and a cat at worst would just throw it up.
hazel is quite cheap and if you get seedling hazel you can get a decent harvest eventually, though theyd be smallish nuts.

wyevale seedling hedges are marked as "UK405" and theyre selling 50cm hazel for 1.15 each. hazel will take a few years to get established though
ive found hedging in general often does nothing its first two years as it builds a root system.

 

Hawthorn, sloe, elder all take well from cuttings if you want to fill gaps. Stick prunings in the ground in autumn. Also consider hazel, bird cherry, guelder rose and wayfaring tree.
Consider drip irrigation or a leaky hose along the base of the hedge and use regularly.
If you search for English/UK native hedging you will find a number of companies that can supply bare root or potted, getting a bit late for bare root this year.