How do I remove the roots of 2 juniper trees planted too close to our new house? The trees are about 7 feet high and have not yet been taken down.

 

Cut the small trees down, leave a stump, wrap a chain around stump tightly, and pull it out with a vehicle. Worked for me. Good Luck!

 

Hi Old Guy,

Love your down to earth approach. Works for me. Only one caveat. Locate all water, sewer, gas, electric lines - any services underground.

Our neighbors did this and managed to break a water line. Interesting geyser effect!!

 

Hi Ladybug!
I know where all of my underground lines are, and I just assume that folks have enough common sense to know or find out first, before doing such. OR, like your neighbors...they'll learn. LOL

 

Hi Old Guy,

You're right. They should know. We found out what happened. The previous owner had apparently decided to "re-grade" and a line that used to be "way down there" was just a little ways under the surface. Made for some interesting FAST activity by our neighbors when it happened. Better than television - I didn't think Paul could move that fast.

Ladybug

 

There is a hill in the front yard and we do not have the space to pull out the roots with the car and a chain. Are there any chemical preparations that eat out the roots?

 

Hi redhat,

Making sure there are no buried service lines just dig down approx. 1-1/2' and approx. 1-1/2' to 2'out from trunk.

Since the shrubs are only 7' tall any roots you encounter will not be excessively large. Chop through them with a sharp shovel blade, grub hoe, or ax if need be. Just keep toes and hands out of way.

Best - Ladybug

 

We had several bushes up against the house. We cut them down first, then we rented a very small backhoe and were able to dig them out within a very short time. And of course, we knew there were no buried lines prior to digging. (I had tried to dig by hand and worked for approximately six hours and didn't even get one root to budge. With the backhoe, it took us approximately an hour to remove six roots. Good luck.

 

I like you old guy... I think we'd get along.
Yeah a backhoe is the way to go...
I recently rented one for $100 for a weekend.
cleared out 75ft by 100ft of dense forest in a day.
Sure beat my old massy hehe.
Plus on the farm here, there is always use for a front end loader for whatever time ya got left.