I had some tree guys come to look at some sadly neglected hedging cedars. they have been seriously butchered, and are diseased. They have been "topped" and the trunk is about 4-5" in diameter (at the top - 8-9' tall). The bottoms are next to the front sidewalk, and look pretty "ratty". He suggested cutting them down and grinding the stumps. I'd rather pull them out, including the root system. If I soak the ground around them, could I do it with a 2 T come-a-long?
You could pull them out with a come-along, but it's not pretty. You'll be pulling up large sections of ground, as the tenacious roots will extend beyond the dripline of the hedge, and will tear up ground as they come up. If they're growing on a property line, you'll likely pull up good sized chunks of the neighbour's lawn as well. Wherever they're growing, you'll have to fill in the holes, which is more work again. Given they wont resprout from a stump, grinding is probably the easiest option, unless your intent is to plant a new hedge in that spot: in that case, you'll need to pull them.
Thanks W.S. They are located right by the sidewalk to the front door and are blocking light to the flower beds between them and the living room window. They gotta go, just want to know if it's possible to rip them out...
