Pampas Grass Removal?

silverharp

We have a pampas grass which has grown too big for the garden. I was going to mow it down with a hedge trimmer and dig out the base, is this ok or is it harder then it looks?

Arcadian

I decided to remove mine earlier this year as it was taking over the entire garden with nearly a 12 foot spread. It turned out to be a much bigger job than i'd thought and it's still there:eek:

I got it down to about 8 inches high using a garden shears and a hand saw, i also had to hire a skip to take it away! Now i have what resembles a stump which is 8 inches tall and almost 5ft in diameter, with no idea how to get it out as it has apparently been in place for over 20 years. I think it's time to buy a pickaxe;)

ircoha

Google for pampas grass removal got this http://members.iinet.net.au/~ewan/pdf/PAMPASBROCHURE.pdf#search=%22pampas%20grass%20removal%22


What follows assumes u cant get a mini digger in and that u have some hwere to hitch the block and tackle, perhaps your carhitch

before u start digging, get hold of a block and tackle or similiar

http://www.tacklestore.net/home/group.asp?groupid=2

u may be able to rent them

the idea then is put a bit of chain around the base of the grass and then put a bit of a strain on the chain .

dont use nylon rope anywhere in the rig as it stretches and if it snaps the block will go flying!!

the idea is that you never have to actually pull the roots, pulling is what will do ur back in.

I do this all the time, I have a 1.5 tonne secondhand PB with some chain and it works a dream, all the effort is in the digging.
The strain also means that the roots dont move as u hack at them with your swiss army knife:) .

I have not done Pampas Grass
pm me if u need any clarification

silverharp

Thanks for the comments, the pampas is supposed to be a dwarf but doesn't look like it, it is in the ground about 5 years and if you cut it back it's probably about 3ft across does this imply it would be managable to dig out of the ground?