That 'big project' I've been banging on about for a few years now....

[James Harrison]

They are fir or pine trees.  Basically, those awful evergreen ones that go brown in the middle and have loads of heavy branches.

[Deimos]

They are fir or pine trees.  Basically, those awful evergreen ones that go brown in the middle and have loads of heavy branches.

Yeah...those are the ones that you have to strike a really tight balance with water between too much vs not enough.
And then if they get stressed and pests get to them it's basically "game over."  
Out here if pine trees get distressed the bark beetles gets to them and finish them off.

[Mercury Wells]

Laylandii

[James Harrison]

That reads very much like what I have. 

[Deimos]

My local cemetery has them ....Cemetery cypress

[James Harrison]

This evening in the garden....

- I managed to remove more soil from underneath the tree;
- Two more roots got smashed up;
- A one-man recreation of this scene from the 1990 film 'Misery' took place:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tURhk-5mDpE

The tree, incidentally, is still standing.  Which is more than can be said for me. 

[James Harrison]

Tonight's update from the trench.  There's only the one root still supporting the tree.  Unfortunately, it's 5" across and has so far defeated all efforts to cut through it. The tree, meanwhile, can happily be rocked back and forth through 20 or 30 degrees.  This may yet take a few days to get it out. 

[Sorontar]

Time for a battleaxe?

[SeVeNeVeS]

Not sure if this could help you in any way James, B&Q have opened some stores again, with restrictions.

No clue what part of the country you are so here's a list.

https://bqsocial.tumblr.com/post/616025338029457408/bandq-store-list

Time for a battleaxe?

My mother is far too old and frail to travel these days. (Joke, I do   love her dearly)

[James Harrison]

Yes!  Stafford's on that list!  Now, I've got a sort of human-powered razorwire chainsaw thing on order (should be on its way via Ebay) so I'll wait for that to arrive, however it does mean that paintwork can proceed in the sitting room. 

[Deimos]

https://bqsocial.tumblr.com/post/616025338029457408/bandq-store-list

Time for a battleaxe?

My mother is far too old and frail to travel these days. (Joke, I do   love her dearly)

Now that is funny 

[James Harrison]

Update.  I'm leaving B&Q for a week or so as it appears the notion of a DIY store reopening has everybody off their collective rockers and queueing around the block to get in.  I've no desire to spend three hours in a queue (inevitably in front of or behind the one idiot who thinks that advice about not going out if hacking and coughing apply to everyone else but not him) and then find that the paint I want isn't in stock. 

Which leaves the garden.  I've excavated all around the first of the trees to be removed and underneath it, with the exception of the one side where it runs hard by the garden path and dives under it.  The only root I'm aware of supporting it now is a 5 or 6" diameter tap root which- wouldn't you know- immediately it gets below ground level turns under the path.  I've used the only saw in my arsenal- a mitre saw- to start cutting away at this and I've got maybe 2 to 3" through it, considering how awkward it is to get to it and how tough the wood is I consider this an achievement.  In so doing however, and in removing the comedy Tom and Jerry-esque wedge to encourage the root to break, I've blunted the saw so there's nothing to be gained in continuing cutting. 

The tree now gently rocks back and forth in anything other than a dead flat calm, however as these things usually are it's pivoting about a point about 8 or 9" below where I've been able to cut.  Hopefully the bicycle chain/ chainsaw hybrid arrives today so I can progress the work.

[SeVeNeVeS]

May I humbly suggest buying a reciprocating saw and a savage blade, I have used these to hack away all sorts of garden vegetation, including tree parts and roots. Could save a lot of effort and time. Also a handy tool to have in the arsenal, you never know what the future brings when owning a home.

[James Harrison]

I've got a garden saw on order but it's taking its sweet time in arriving, and I'm not the most patient of people.  I think- yes- if I can get onto a hardware store website today without having to wait hours I'll order a saw and just go pick it up.  

~Edit~

Ah! Yes, that's what I meant to say too.  Progress in the garden has gone forward in spite of lack of the necessary tool to get the trees out.  I've ripped out two of the three bushes that are also on the disposal list.  They came out a lot more willingly than the tree has. 

The overall plan for the front garden is to lay out something in the way of an Edwardian formal front.  I'm not planning, right now, to remove the concrete path, but I want a small low hedge alongside it.  I'm going to have a bit of a planted border following the line of the garden wall and in the middle of the garden and front of house I'm going to lay some terracotta edging- you know, the sort that have the knotted rope effect at the top- and then lay some gravel in there, (I have in mind a yellow colour gravel), and then buy a stone bird bath and maybe a small stone bench to place in there too. 

[Banfili]

You could tile your concrete path in the appropriate vicwardian colours - red & yellow, perhaps, to match your yellow gravel.

[James Harrison]

Now there's an option- I'll have to investigate.

[Banfili]

As long as you remember to chip/rough up the surface of the concrete the tiles should bond ok - you could use black and yellow for contrast - either that or red, or even a dark blue or green. Yellow and black are probably the best hi-vis options.

[SeVeNeVeS]

You could tile your concrete path in the appropriate vicwardian colours - red & yellow, perhaps, to match your yellow gravel.

I salvaged 100 original victorian tiles from my Mums garden before it was slabbed, I would say more of a dark cream rather than yellow, but a few hundred years of dirt on an unglazed tile could show more patina than original colour, the reds vary in colour, some close to maroon, also the firing of the tiles could be at different times and under different circumstances, they are 25mm thick.

[Banfili]

You could tile your concrete path in the appropriate vicwardian colours - red & yellow, perhaps, to match your yellow gravel.

I salvaged 100 original victorian tiles from my Mums garden before it was slabbed, I would say more of a dark cream rather than yellow, but a few hundred years of dirt on an unglazed tile could show more patina than original colour, the reds vary in colour, some close to maroon, also the firing of the tiles could be at different times and under different circumstances, they are 25mm thick.

Lucky you! Either would work just as well.

[James Harrison]

Victory.  The first of the big trees is out. 

[James Harrison]

The tree, uprooted. 



The hole I had to dig to get it out.



The roots running under the path that I had to cut through. 

Those roots, incidentally, I can't remove, without severely undermining the path.  So I've backfilled over them and if they start growing new trees I'll just uncover them and cut away again. 

This afternoon, I've been finally able to order the paint for the sitting room. 

[Mercury Wells]

James, would it not be cheaper in the long run to remove the path (& the roots) then relay the path to how you want it?.

[Banfili]

I doesn't look like a particularly well made path - not very deep, and doesn't look like it has any structural reinforcing - in fact, it looks like the top of my septic tank before a slab of it fell into the tank!!

I must agree with Wells, it would probably be better to rip it up and re-lay a decent path, at least twice as deep - then you could lay those lovely tiles on the top! If the roots continue on under the next-door fence, the roots can be killed with an injection of 'Tordon' - a renowned tree killer!

[J. Wilhelm]

James, would it not be cheaper in the long run to remove the path (& the roots) then relay the path to how you want it?.

Third opinion, yes replace the path and make it thicker. If you're going to lay tile on it, that's a must. Steel rebar for reinforcement, and segmented with expansion joints. As it is, after loosening the dirt, the concrete will begin to crack in no time at all.

May I humbly suggest buying a reciprocating saw and a savage blade, I have used these to hack away all sorts of garden vegetation, including tree parts and roots. Could save a lot of effort and time. Also a handy tool to have in the arsenal, you never know what the future brings when owning a home.

Reciprocating saws are enormously useful around the house. I've used them with diamond blades to cut limestone, brick, and with the proper blade even wrought iron. Not to mention wood.

[SeVeNeVeS]

Oh, I'm going to have to agree on the path, doesn't look that good, not sure about the need for rebar, but belt and braces, 100mm 0f concrete sat on scalpings, whacker plated should do the job, then tile on top.

Did I ever welcome you to home ownership? A constant, ongoing pain in the butt, you do stuff now and in 10 years, yep it needs attention again    

Spending money on tools and learning how to do things yourself, youtube etc, can save a fortune on labour costs, takes a little longer, but is worth it, where I live the average day rate is 150-200 plus materials.