Cut down a maple that was cracking the brick planter. Now the planter is full of big roots. It's impossible to dig with shovels and axes, but don't want to use heavy equipment for fear of damaging the planter. Any ideas how to get the roots out so the planter can be used again?
by LastConference
21 Comments
Should have removed the planter and kept the tree 🙁
I’d use loppers, saw and a mattock. It’s not fun but one piece at a time. The stump will be tricky. Gotta go down then cut in horizontally.
Do you need to remove the roots? I would plant some native plants and the roots will break down in the next few years without issue.
Lol buddy they is no way you don’t end up having to damage that brickwork so you can use a stump grinder. That brickwork was doomed the second it was installed around a tree surrounded by concrete.
Probably not worth salvaging.
Cost of building another poorly conceived stone ring around a living tree will be less than destroying and rebuilding the first poorly conceived ring.
A sawzall will cut the root with ease.
Hire a hydro vac guy then burn the roots
Fire
Cover with 4 inches of wood chips. Inoculate with wine cap strophoria. Plant creeping thyme. Wait a year. Plant whatever you want after that
Cutting down a tree to save brick edging lol…
Pressure wash around roots, cut with loppers, sawsall, spliting maul what ever you got lol.
Use a pickaxe to get roots out and shovel.
The Root Assassin!
This is the only tool we have ever bought that exceeded the advertisement. I bought it for my husband who will be the first person to admit he’s hard on his tools/equipment. He grew up on a farm, and was used to fixing any and all farm equipment with a foot and a half long crescent wrench that weighed so much it was hard to carry.
Also it has saw blades on it!
Wash the dirt away from the roots with your power washer. Then you can see what needs chopping to get your plants in. Chop then refill with new soil
We want to see the before picture with the tree
Do you need the brick/paver planter? Just remove all of that and grade it out with your yard wtf
You cut down a tree to “save” the bricks?
Get a sawzall and cut the entire thing, the same design as the lattice on top of a pie. Go back and start ripping.
Pruners, pry bars, shovel…patience, sweat. It’ll be fun.
Lay a few tarps around the outside and start shoveling. Once you get down about 18 inches, use a pruner to cut the roots you can and a sawzall with demo blades to cut what you can’t with the pruner.
Refill with the dirt from the tarps until you can pick up the tarps and pour any residual dirt.
sawzall + few bags of soil + 100 tulip bulbs = roots die in 2-3 years