How to Get Rid of a Shrub

Shrubs are an important feature in any landscape design. Sometimes, however, they can become a problem and you may need to get rid of them. Shrubs can become diseased or infested with insects to the point where they are not salvageable. Alternately, they can become so overgrown that they no longer work well in their original location. Getting rid of a shrub is sometimes necessary for the health of your garden.

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Gardening gloves
• Pruning shears
• Shovel
• Hatchet

1. Prune the shrub if it is too large to easily handle. Protect your hands with gardening gloves before you begin. Cut it down to the ground.

2. Use a shovel to dig around the base of the plant. Dig to a depth of two or three feet, or until you expose most of the root system.

3. Clip the smaller roots with your pruning shears or shovel. Get rid of as many of them as you can cut, or else the roots could re-sprout and interfere with any new plant you want to establish in that location.

4. Place the shovel underneath the large roots and use your weight to leverage them up a bit. Rock the plant back and forth until the roots are loosened. Small shrubs may come all the way up out of the soil at this point.

5. Use a hatchet or other similar tool to break up stubborn, thick roots in large shrubs. Once the plant is free of the largest roots, you should be able to grasp and lift it out of the soil. Again, make sure to get rid of all traces of roots left in the soil.

Tips & Warnings

• If you are not going to use the land for planting, you can pour weed killer or bleach on the soil to kill any remaining roots.

References

• Stretcher.com: Killing a Shrub

Resources

• Garden Guides: How to Remove Dead Shrubs