How to remove a large bush with regular tools

Рет қаралды 7,856

2 ай бұрын

This video will describe the process you use to cut down and dig out a bush using common household landscaping tools like pruners, lopers, shears, pruning saws, and shovels. Nothing fancy, just regular stuff most homeowners have.
Links to some of the tools used in this video:
The two most important pruning tools:
Pruning saw - amzn.to/3mMdizL
Lopers - amzn.to/3NfhlSZ
Electric Chainsaw - amzn.to/3i1MMif

Пікірлер: 35

@jenniferharper5236 2 ай бұрын

I appreciate the information about your dimensions. I’m a short midlife woman and I often say that a small tool CAN get the job done, it just might take a little longer or creative approaches may be deployed!

@growitbuildit 2 ай бұрын

You are welcome Jennifer. I'm not a small person, but I'm certain you can do the job. Just make sure you sever the roots, and you will be fine. Also, placing a wooden block or rock (something to get more leverage) under the shovel handle will really help you out.

@dianeladico1769 2 ай бұрын

Thanks for the video. You made a daunting project doable. My favorite tool for removing shrubs and trees is a mattock. It's great for digging, prying and cutting. The longer end lets you really swing it to build up some speed and the shorter end functions like a hatchet. Since the ends are 90 degrees from each other you can get to just about any angle you need. The long handle gives good leverage. Plus I want your super pointy shovel-that's cool.

@growitbuildit 2 ай бұрын

Thank you Diane - that was the exact purpose of the video. To show that a big job broken into smaller parts can be done in a reasonable amount of time. That shovel I use is simply known as a spade, and is available in most gardening stores. If there is a 'Fisker' brand near you, buy that kind, as they always come with a lifetime warranty.

@Vezmerize Ай бұрын

Weird I didn't get notification of a new video!

@growitbuildit Ай бұрын

Hi - I didn't have this one send out notifications, as I figured most people wouldn't be interested in this video. You should get a notification for the next one though (tomorrow morning).

@ThistleKing 2 ай бұрын

Thanks for the tips. I have some exotic non native bushes I’d like to replace with native bushes like indigo bush, elderberry and choke cherry.

@growitbuildit 2 ай бұрын

You're welcome - I'm still debating what will go in these bushes place, or how many....Inkberry, Winterberry, and possibly Ninebark

@Simsane Ай бұрын

I have two Rhododendrons that were very large and very old that I had cut down but I need to get the roots and root balls out so I can plant something else where they were. Hopefully I can succeed, thank you for this video.

@growitbuildit Ай бұрын

You can do it - just go slow, and be deliberate when you cut. And use a lever! It really helps for loosening and finding the remaining roots.

@francestaylor9156 Ай бұрын

Yah I've done this with the boxwoods in the front of the house. Just used a saw and large pruners to cut the shrub down and then used a shovel to remove the root ball. Saw is helpful in this case too because sometimes you have to cut the roots to get the root ball out. It's an absolute pain but I'm 5'3" and 140 lbs. I did like 5 of them so seriously anyone can do it lol. Remember to clean your tools off or use tools you don't care about because digging in dirt when cutting up the roots is going to lead to rusty tools. I would jump on the trunk like you did to get the plant moving too. Just gotta make sure to have good working boots. Branches I would put through a wood chipper. Good for a nice mulch. At least I have that to put on the new beds. As for the trunk and root ball... I still have them lying around. Maybe they'll be good as firewood now.

@growitbuildit Ай бұрын

Great tip on cleaning tools - I forgot to add that. Dirt contains little bits of hard material that will scratch and dull anything too

@threeriversforge1997 2 ай бұрын

Good stuff, as always. If I might offer some tips that I've learned over the years.... The standard spade is nice, but a "trenching" shovel is an order of magnitude better. The narrower blade makes for a shorter frontal cross section, which means you can really sink it into the ground! When digging up shrubs, the trenching shovel is able to get around those roots, between obstructions, and will even cut through smaller roots because all of your force is applied to a smaller area. Even for general digging tasks, I find the trenching shovel to be better. Sure, you don't get a huge load of dirt with every move, but that's a small trade-off for the ease of penetration and more erganomical blade/handle angle. Tip Two - the pressure washer. Learned this one just last year and couldn't believe how easy it made removing two shrubs. Both shrubs were about the size you show here, with a similarly stout root ball. My pressure washer is one of those cheap types from the big box stores, only 1600psi and no heating element. With the jet nozzle, I was able to excavate both bushes in about ten minutes by simply washing the soil away. It wasn't nearly as messy as you'd imagine. Excavating down the full length of the wand takes about 2 seconds. Then it's just a matter of moving over a few inches and making another hole. In no time flat, you've got the root ball surrounded and can feel all the larger roots that will need the loppers to cut through. It's easy to even angle your attack so you can excavate directly under the shrub. There are a lot of videos on YT about using a pressure-washer to excavate fence posts, and the process doesn't change for bushes. Quick and simple, and fun. It's a little mesmerizing, I'll admit. Digging holes and making mud with power tools? What guy wouldn't get a kick out of that?!?!

@growitbuildit 2 ай бұрын

Thank you! I fully agree regarding the shovel - all your points are right. And I had not heard of the pressure washer. That is a good idea (I don't have one though).

@threeriversforge1997 2 ай бұрын

@@growitbuildit I hadn't heard of the PW trick until last year. 50 years of aggravation behind a shovel, and it's only once I'm a geezer that somebody invents a better way of doing things! Within a minute of plugging it in, I had dug 10 wholes for 4" pots. Only needed three of them for the Carex pensylvanica I was putting under the oak, but was having so much fun that I decided to 'aerate' the ground just because I could. 😁

@growitbuildit 2 ай бұрын

@threeriversforge1997 that's cool

@dianeladico1769 2 ай бұрын

Agree about the trenching shovel. Absolutely love the pressure washer idea-that made my day as I have a few small trees to take out. That's going to make the job so much easier, thank you! I also have a swale that needs to be reshaped. Now I'm wondering how it would work edging a new flower bed. This is going to be fun... One quibble-girls get a kick out of making mud with power tools, too ;)

@threeriversforge1997 2 ай бұрын

@@dianeladico1769 I'm honored that you liked the idea! My pressure washer is just a cheap 1600psi type I got from Lowes, and it didn't flinch at the task. You might jam up the turbo nozzle with grit while you're excavating, so that's something to watch out for. Here's a short video that shows just how fast the pressure washer can dig down -- kzbin.info/www/bejne/ppvNdmaMetSbe5I 20 seconds, and he's got a hole that's 16" deep and probably 3" diameter! It really is that fast. There are plenty of videos of guys using pressure washers to cut trenches. The edge isn't very neat, but it goes so fast that you really can't complain. I used the fan nozzle to slice through the sod creeping over the road edge and it left a very sharp line. Sliced right through the grass, but I think a lot of it was due to the ground there being very sandy and easy to cut because it was only a couple inches before you hit the pavement underneath. When I pulled out those two shrubs in the front yard, I thought about using a shovel and mattock, but they were right under the awning and I wouldn't have been able to get a good swing with the mattock. All the roots promised to be a bear, too, so I oped to follow this guy's model. In just a few minutes, I had both bushes completely removed. I'll bet it wasn't even 20 minutes total work, and I didn't sweat a drop. You can easily feel when you hit a root, and the water washes all the dirt from around it, so it's super easy to get the loppers in there to cut the roots if you need to. The only negative is that the dirt's magically gone so you'll need to have something to fill the hole. I don't know where the dirt goes, honestly, because it's not splashing all over the place. I almost want to say that the water just compresses it down, removing all the air pockets. Some washes away, sure, but it's amazing just how much disappears! Being able to clean out the root ball while it's still in the hole means it's really light and easy to lift out. Overall, I can't recommend it enough. So get out there and make some mud!

@ToMu29 Ай бұрын

awh man those boxwoods are great! wish i lived near you to get it

@growitbuildit Ай бұрын

You could have had them!

@francestaylor9156 Ай бұрын

@@growitbuildit - lol for real. I've taken out 5 of them and have like 10-15 of them to get rid of. UGH. I want to replace them with Ilex glabra or maybe even make the front a really pretty native flower garden for pollinators and hummingbirds. The boxwoods do nothing except maybe for the paper wasps that like to use the leaves to make their nests.

@growitbuildit Ай бұрын

@francestaylor9156 I'm probably going to get dwarf inkberries for the front, just so I don't have to prune each year, and so I have room for two. I've got 5 winterberry seedlings I'll plant on the side, and hopefully have a male and female within those five, then reduce to just a male and female

@DeciduousSnurb 15 күн бұрын

Looks like they were Japanese Holly and not Boxwood by the way. The alternate leaf arrangement is what Japanese Holly has, Boxwood have opposite. But still were some nice bushes though.

@Soulofagreathero 19 күн бұрын

I wish my roots were that shallow lol I’m talking 5 inch in circumference going deep deep down. I was able to get out the root bowl on most but one I had to clip and leave it. It seemed to go below the houses foundation.

@growitbuildit 19 күн бұрын

Wow! That sounds like quite the job. I probably would have just poisoned the stump on that one.

@trishferrer8209 8 күн бұрын

Fun to watch. I need to get rid of a whole ugly row of nandina/barberry (((what were the landscapers thinking???))) I am not about to get my 64-year old self (female w/arthritic hands and knees) out there and do what I just watched you do. 😂 But, for someone physically able, this was a straightforward instructional video. Still, not sure the barberry would allow you to get all up in its business. Lol

@growitbuildit 7 күн бұрын

Thank you for the kind words, I'm glad you enjoyed it even if you've got to many shrubs to handle yourself! Hopefully they do come out easily. I plan on taking out a 20' tall Chinese Holly later this summer.....that will be a good test!