Hmmmmm, it could be tricky. Is it close to your house/foundation? Close to a sidewalk? If it is and you dont want to risk damaging a structure, you may have to use a chainsaw and shovel to get it just beneath the soil and then use an herbicide to kill the root. If its not at risk of damaging a structure and you have a way of trying to pull the stumps out, that may be an option, but i dont know how far the roots of a privet hedge travel.

If you are wanting to plant something else there, i would think you would need to get rid of the trunk and as many roots possible, and not use any herbicides.

Well, that was as clear as mud and probably not very helpful im afraid, but just typed what came to the top of my head.

Good luck with it and i know someone more knowledgeable than i will be along to help you out soon.

Emma

With a hedge that old, I think getting all the roots out will be a challenge.

If you are wanting to put something else there, it may take a backhoe or something similar to dig them out.

You can cut the privets off at the ground level and paint a good herbicide containing 2-4-D onto the stump, particularly the exposed freshly-cut part. It might take a couple of repeat treatments. The advantage of using the 2-4-D is that it won't contaminate the soil if you want to grow something else there.

If you don't intend to plant anything else in that place for a few years, you could use a stump killer containing TorDon. The problem with TorDon is it seems to leave a strong herbicide residue behind that can make it hard to grow things there for several years.

Good luck,

Dawn

I do much the same as dawn, but carry it a little farther. I leave the stump a little above the ground. I try to cut it as near level as possible and drill holes down into the stump and pour then full of 2,4,D, bend some aluminum foil over the top to keep the rain from washing out the chemical, then wrap it with duct tape, then put 3 or 4 staples thru the tape. If the stump dies I come back later with a recip saw and then cut the stump as low as I can. I think recip saw blades only go up to 9 or 12 inches, so if it is a large stump you may have to use something else.