Privet?

Privet is my guess too. As you can see, they do well as a trimmed hedge which is about all they're good for in our area. If you want to get rid of them, I would cut them down then paint high concentration roundup on the stumps. Once you're sure they're dead and not resprouting, then yes you can build a raised bed right on top of the stumps. You won't get good results until they're in active growth in spring because that's when the herbicide will be best processed down to the roots. it'll probably take you a whole growing season to get rid of them fully and build the beds, so plan for veggies next year.

Ajs, thank you! That was what I was thinking of doing - I hate to kill them off, but I seriously doubt I can dig them out without damaging the retaining wall. Spring is nearly sprung so hopefully I can get started soon! I was hoping to get the beds built in the next couple of months and ready to plant by May, though. If I build a bed over the stumps before they are fully dead, do I run the risk of them sending up sprouts through the bed? There is a mixture of grass and weeds behind the hedgerow that I need to kill off or otherwise manage before creating the beds as well, so I was planning to smother the whole area with newspaper/plastic - will that speed the process with the stumps as well?

Yes, that's the risk you run. I don't have personal experience with killing privet to know what you're in for but I suspect they're pretty tough. Some woody plants I've dealt with require several rounds of cutting sprouts and painting, even armed with agricultural grade triclopyr. I don't think the smothering will help with the shrubs. You can kill almost anything with plastic and newspaper given enough time but that technique won't be nearly as effective with woody plants as using strong herbicide.

I think May is too ambitious. If it were me, I would plan for the whole of this year to clear the site. You would need to wait until April for the shrubs to break dormancy for this to work best, which doesn't leave you much time till May even if you kill them in one shot. If I'm planting veggies over something like this, I'd also want to wait a good while for the herbicide to break down. I also don't think you'll be able to kill the weeds and grass by May through smothering. That's usually a several months long process even during the height of the growing season.

Thanks ajs, that's great info. I will work on clearing things out and see how it goes. Luckily I inherited a couple of smaller raised beds when we bought the house so I can use those for more modest plantings this spring while I get the new site cleared.

If I build a bed over the stumps before they are fully dead, do I run the risk of them sending up sprouts through the bed?

==>>> imo.. yes.. they are fairly aggressive .. i would suggest a stump killer at the minimum ...

they look very old.. and they will have significant roots ... a lot of stored energy ... you arent going to kill them like some annual or perennial weed ..

but the bigger problem i see ... is the wood left there.. it could take 3 to 5 years ... for it to rot away ... and that is going to make it very difficult to dig holes to plant new things ..

on some level you have instant gratification ideas ... unfortunately.. with this project i dont think it will happen ... you can try.. and maybe you will win ... but dont be surprised if you dont ...

if you have or get a sawzall .. with a tree blade.. i would suggest you go at it methodically ... and remove as much as you can ... i bet.. once you get the hang of it.. it wont take but a couple weekends ... start removing soil around a trunk ... start cutting roots .. until the majority of it.. comes out ...

if you are a tie it to the truck bumper type.. then yes.. you could destroy the wall ...

good luck

ken

Thanks Ken. As much as I would love to tie them to my car and yank them out, there is no way to do so given the layout of the property. Probably for the best since it will keep me from doing something rash in a fit of pique! I am planning to build fairly deep beds over them so I'm not too worried about the stumps, as long as I cut them close to the ground. Time to invest in a chainsaw and roundup!

as a stump killer.. RU is labeled at full strength ... no dilution ... [the % of the package you buy.. not 100% ... cant buy it] .. do not use pre-diluted product ...

and for sure.. its NOT a spray thing ... you apply it to the cut stump on the cambium layer .. i use the applicator at the link ... it can tip over without major spilling.. and allows precise application without excess ...

now all you have to figure out.. is what to do with all the cuttings ... good luck with that .. lol ...

and OMG ... i think i saw another post by you.. asking for an ID and suggestions for replacements .. breath deep... and listen.. DO NOT PLANT A HEDGE THAT WILL REQUIRE ANNUAL SHEARING.. .lol ...

so much to do.. so little time ....

ken

https://www.google.com/search?q=plochmans+mustard&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a&um=1&ie=UTF-8&hl=en&tbm=isch&source=og&sa=N&tab=wi&ei=XQTcUYCCC_OFyQGCg4DAAg&biw=1154&bih=805&sei=XwTcUbmZHZK4yAHD0oDYDw

btw.. dont forget to sharpen your shovel.. so it cuts thru smaller roots more easily ... ken

Instead of RoundUp (glyphosate), look for triclopyr. Products like Brush B Gon or Brush Killer. Triclopyr is intended for woody plants and works faster and more efficiently than glyphosate in knocking them back.

Always use any herbicide ONLY according to label directions.

Ken, your link turns up a page of images of Plochmans mustard. I assume that is not what you intended.................

My husband is a licensed dealer in agricultural herbicides. His recommendation follows what has been said above: cut them as close to the ground as possible - probably a chain saw is your best bet - then treat the stumps WHILE THE PLANT IS ACTIVELY GROWING. In my area, this would be April or later.

When the herbicide is applied, it must be painted on FRESH CUTS so the product will be absorbed into the plant. So you could cut them down now and then rough up the stumps again just before you apply the herbicide. DH's weapon of choice is Tordon. I have used it many times myself for projects of this type.

Your hedge is very mature so I would expect you may have to treat some stumps more than once.

Edited to add: I wouldn't expect to build beds over this area until next year. This fall, hopefully all your stumps will be dead and then next spring you can kick them out with your boots. THEN you can build your beds.

Ken, I did start another thread asking for IDs on a couple of shrubs: http://forums2.gardenweb.com/discussions/4477999/shrub-ids I'm not necessarily planning to plant another hedge, but these plants are already growing on my property and I would like to know what they are. Thus far they seem to be fairly low maintenance, although I haven't experienced their growth habits in the spring/summer yet since we just bought the house in August. We have a "privacy" hedge in the front of the house that is in poor shape (and doesn't actually provide much privacy because it's not evergreen) - I would consider replacing this hedge with the shrubs I'm trying to ID, but only if they are relatively low maintenance, LOL!

BTW, here is closeup of the backyard hedge. As far as I know, it doesn't produce berries or flowers, but we'll see once it breaks dormancy. My Plant ID app seems to think it might be boxwood? Not sure it matters as it sounds like the process of getting rid of it will be the same no matter what sort of woody shrub it is...

Littlebug and Gardengal, thank you! I will look into those two herbicides for this project and plan to build my raised beds next season. I'm sure my husband and I will be fighting over who gets to wield the chainsaw!

The plus for Glyphosate, generic RU, is that is has a relatively short effective life. There are other herbicides that have a longer life, and may kill the veggies if they root deeply enough, so I would carefully read labels. That said, I know nothing about Triclopyr or Tordon so they may not create any issues at all with the future veggies.

Triclopyr is the active herbicide ingredient - Tordon is a brand name :-) Some Tordon formulations contains triclopyr but they also have a few other active ingredients including picloram. Picloram does have a reputation for being a very persistent herbicide that could have adverse effects with growing other plants. It (and clorpyralid) were the two primary herbicides found in the contaminated compost issue that was prevalent several years ago. They can remain effective in low concentrations for years.

Personally, I would not use any product that contained picloram anywhere close to where I wanted to grow edibles.

Gardengal, I think that's exactly what Ken meant to show. It's his super accurate method of applying chemicals to exactly the right spot. Bonus is you might not have to buy it, just have to finish off the mustard in your refrigerator. ;-)

(He has recommended this applicator before.)

Triclopyr it is! Amazon recommends a product called Brushtox that apparently contains about 60% triclopyr - that's the highest concentration I'm finding online. Any other brand suggestions?

Good point, Babs! I forgot about the veggies!

i asked DH about the residual effect of Tordon on the soil. He said 3 YEARS! So I retract my recommendation for Tordon.

I bought my high strength triclopyr on Amazon as well. Brand name was Alligare but you can get any brand with the highest concentration you can find. It came in a gallon size for about $60.

Re: the mustard thing........it would help a lot if any links were labeled as to what they were in reference to as opposed to just posting a URL. I seldom pay any attention to those but I was curious about using the RoundUp as a stump or brush killer so I clicked on it and was then completely mystified :-)

Biondanonima. Your plant is privet, not box. Box is fully evergreen apart from anything else. It has not produced flowers or berries because it has been kept tightly clipped.

Thanks floral - I was reading up on privet and was confused that mine didn't flower/fruit, so I tried the ID app to see if it could help. Garden Web folks are 1000x better than any app, though! :)

Chinese privet. VERY STRONG HERBICIDE AND BRUTE FORCE.

The hedge is not Chinese Privet, Ligustrum lucidum. It could could be Japanese Privet, L japonicum or L ovalifolium but it's too chopped about to be sure and I don't know which would be most likely in th OPs area.

I'm talking about ligustrum sinensis