Remove large hedge by own effort?

I am attaching a photo in which you can at least partially see the hedge that borders our future property on the right and left.

We find it visually very oppressive, it is also not 100% well maintained, we think that cutting it will be a lot of work?

Such a hedge forest does not appeal to us visually, we also find it unsuitable in terms of burglary protection (one could move around quite unnoticed in this thicket) and would prefer a fence for safety reasons because of the children.

But: Various people with more gardening experience have told us that removing this hedge will be quite an undertaking. It is still unclear to us; we need to check again: The hedge apparently extends beyond our property and the neighbor also has a portion of the hedge.

Putting that aside: Is there any chance of removing this hedge as a DIY project? That it will be rather strenuous, yes, but is it doable? What tools would be needed for that? Or is it better to leave it to a professional? What do you estimate would be the cost of removing such a hedge by a specialist?

Wow yes you can do it yourself but it will probably be a huge effort. Without a mini excavator I wouldn’t even start there. The most expensive thing will probably be the disposal anyway. Just ask a local construction contractor what an hour with an excavator including driver costs and at a container service about a container.

Wow, how many meters is that? And how high in total? It seems that there are still planting stones set underneath?

Anyway: we also inherited a dark hedge with our first house. Cutting it down is always possible, but the problem is the roots. You then need connections to a farmer who quickly pulls out the roots with a tractor. However, you have to expect that the thick root parts will still need to be worked on with an axe, meaning split so that the root core can be pulled out, the longer root parts remain in the ground or are dug out later. I no longer know how far the roots spread, I believe not very far.

Good luck!

The planter stones extend up from the courtyard, but they probably shouldn’t be directly under the hedges.

Meters... good question. I think about 20?

It should be possible to get a small excavator in, but how to get it to the garden area without everything being flattened afterwards...

Hello Mizit

I would start with a clean slate. Chainsaw everything down to about 20 cm above the ground. Then you can take a look at the roots. If necessary, they can be dug out. It’s a job for someone who has killed their father and mother. Or you can consider inoculating the roots with fungi. In a few years, the problem will be resolved. But first and foremost, you need to know how the hedge stands in relation to the neighbor. If you tear it up with the excavator, you might possibly have to repair the neighbor’s garden.

Steven

What kind of little wall or fence have you planned? If it becomes a wall, you will have to dig a trench for the baseline anyway. Maybe you can combine that? Otherwise, nothing stops you from pulling at a corner and seeing how easy the fun will be. If you need a week for a little tree, I would use heavy equipment.