removing hedge

[Marco1976]

Hi,

I have a 10m long hedge by 1m tall.

I'd like to remove it and plant something better. this is a really old hedge and a lot of branches are now dead.
The hedge is situated behind a retaining wall 0,5m high along the public footpath. The hedge is also about 7 or 8m away from the front of the house.
Could the removal cause heave or subsidence?
Also can I use weedkiller to destroy the roots? I don't to pull these out in case they have grown round service cables or pipes.

Any advice would be appreicated. The hedge is yew tree.

 

[ColJack]

how deep do you think the roots of a 1M high bush will go?
no more than a foot I'd say, and your services should be a good 18 inches down at least..

if you kill the roots with weed killer, how do you think your new bush or plants will do?

 

[Marco1976]

thanks. do i take it subsidence or heave would not bee an issue?

 

[marshman]

If that's a yew hedge you can cut out the dead wood and prune it back to the trunks that are left and it will side shoot
from these from the ground all the way up.

 

[oilman]

What species is the hedge? If it is other than conifer, you can just cut it back to a few inches, and it will regrow quickly in most cases.

Forget weed killer, mechanical methods are more reliable and don't kill off everything else at the same time.

 

[noseall]

thanks. do i take it subsidence or heave would not bee an issue?

Are you situated in a clay area?