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How to Remove Old Established Shrubs (Digging Out Well Anchored Plants)
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How to Remove Old Established Shrubs (Digging Out Well Anchored Plants)



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This video is a detailed description of how to remove old established shrubs. In this video I dig out a twenty year old Holly from the ground. This is the first step in a series of landscape jobs I am going to be doing at my house. Using good techniques, it is not terribly hard to remove old plants.

Music – “Bombs Away” by Josh Woodward. Free download: http://joshwoodward.com/

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How to plant in clay. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3c2Zjfc9z74
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47 Comments

  1. Steve B

    Thanks so much, learning about that trenching shovel and root breaking process should make a similar
    job I need to do this weekend much easier.

  2. Deborah Agre

    QUESTION: Can you replant in another location with this removal method? Apologies if you answered this already.

  3. Rely Flores

    Work smart! Get urself a weasel claw and a trench shovel…it worked for me within 2 hours only

  5. overdriver99

    thank you so much! I had to do this because of HOA… I just learned from your video. Thanks! I guess its roots is not too deep.. I have to get rid of Indian Hawthorn in Texas..

  11. Virginia н

    Those hedge trimmers look like my Stihl HR-45 trimmer that I have. I had to rebuild the carburetor on mine. When they were new, the throttle would stick. After a year, they loosened up.

  15. matthew Arendt

    I wish I could rent or borrow an 80 or 100ton wrecker for the job.😋 I have a folding serrated hand saw which works great for sawing through the roots.

  16. Mike John

    Not all heroes wear capes. Have you thought about a cape? Jk this is waaay too much work but It's good to know how.

  18. Kenna Rose Salverda

    In my backyard we have a rose bush that's probably over 30 years old and half dead. I've been trying to muster up the courage to dig it out so I can put something new in its place

  19. Your Darkest Fears

    Lol. I have to dig out an old flower bed that's been grown over with weeds that have turned into a mall trees. Fun fun. And al I have is a shovel and rake. Yay

  21. Nice Guy

    Thanks for teaching us how to dig. I dont think I could have figured it out on my own. Im not as educated as you are. Priceless information.

  22. Marcia Bodak

    Jim, I enjoy your videos and the beautiful garden you have created. I have a question about my pear tree that has lower limbs that are in the way of mowers, what kind of cutting can be done on it and do I have to have it professionally trimmed.?? Thank you

  24. Seven Chang

    I had to take out some shrubs. What I used was a tie down strap and an engine hoist. Wrap the strap and tighten it around the shrubs at the bottom, then tie it to the engine hoist. Hoist it up and it pulled the shrubs right up in less than a few minutes. Had to cut the roots to avoid damaging more of the ground surface, but it was super simple with an engine hoist to lift it up if you have one handy.

  25. Auron FFX

    same technique i used to get a dead shrub out of the ground. it had 5 anchor roots including one big thick one underneith other 4 where near the surface tons of little feeder roots. I looked like I had been wrestling a bear afterwords so covered in dirt but i got it out.

  28. Kevin I

    Agree with prior comments, bush like that. Use a truck and a chain or similar.

    Visiting my folks here in NY. Helped out with a few things, did the old school digging like this man to get rid of one bush. Too much energy, I flush cut the other two.

    Ugly diseased shrubs that just had to go.

  31. G P

    I wrapped a tow strap around the base and attached to my trunk bumper. Ripped out, roots and all, in 15 seconds

  33. Iris Morales

    we did pretty much what you did in your video, to remove an overgrown large shrub that had grown in place for over 45 yrs. Had to do this over several days (we are in our 70's!) but finally got the invasive, unattractive shrub out, including down to its roots. HOWEVER, about 2 wks later, little leaves sprang up — yes, the dang this was aiming to re-grow😱!!! So how do we "kill off" the unwanted roots without harming the azalea and evergreen growing on either side🤔? We'd like to plant a perennial plant(s), or can you make suggestions? All we know for sure is that we do NOT want the uprooted plant to ever regrow via whatever remnants are deeply existing still…😳

  36. anne rose

    Jim, Thanks for the video! I have five 45 year old 6 x 6 Indian Hawthorn that are getting too much shade now, not blooming and getting dieback. I want to replace them with smaller shade shrubs. I think I (69 F) can get it started and show my gardener it can be done.

  38. EvoEquix

    My Dad always yelled at me as a kid while he was teaching me to do things like this so I never learned. Thank You so much for these videos they helped a lot.

  39. Trina Penno

    Thanks, we just moved into a house that was built in 1910 and I need to get rid of the evergreens clise to the house

  42. Shereese G

    Boy you are working really hard on the roots. ME, I soak the ground, put a chain round the bottom of the bush, the other end to my truck and pull them out.

  43. Linda Maslanka

    Saw this video at just at the right time. We have some 25-year-old birds nest spruces that need to be replaced. Thanks for showing us the right way to get the job done without paying an arm and a leg. We will probably do it a little at a time as you suggested. 🙂

  46. doug b

    i just did the exact same thing. Came here looking for a better tool. Maybe the trench shovel could have saved me 20 minutes or so.

  47. doug b

    next time, try a high pressure car washer. You'd be shocked at how fast this can go. Messy, but it all cleans up.

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