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Giving unwanted plants a new home
gatecroft
Posts: 2
Hi, I am buying a house where I am going to have to remove a number of very mature and established hedges, trees and large plants. I would much rather they find a good new home than find their way to the rubbish dump - any suggestions for how to find people locally that might want to come and take them away?
0
Posts
Freecycle is good as are local Facebook selling sites.
Or if you don't want the riff raff try www.greenplantswap.co.uk
Last edited: 05 August 2017 19:04:13
Great, thank-you!
Just be aware that it is very difficult to remove mature plants without damaging them and to establish them in a new site. You may spend a lot of time, effort and money removing them carefully, only for them to die regardless. Sometimes you just have to bite the bullet and dump.
If the OP is only in the process of buying a new house it may well be into the autumn before they are actually in a position to uplift the plants. They'll certainly have a much greater chance of survival if that is the case.
It was the 'very mature' bit that worried me.
I had trees and large shrubs cut down when I moved to a new house. The tree man brought his shredder and the waste went back on the ground as mulch, thus restoring (eventually) the nutrients they'd been taking up for years. Three years later, I'm still trying to dig out the stumps. Conifers die when you cut the tops off, but some deciduous trees will keep sprouting from the base.
Among the trees I got rid of was a row of conifers against the back fence. I had the man cut them level with the top of the fence, and now each trunk has a different variety of ivy growing up it. And I have a lot more light in my garden.
It would be diplomatic to ask any neighbours who might be affected by the change if they have any objections, in case they are the sort who get upset about loss of privacy.