Okay, ongoing saga about the sister's new house...
Having got her central heating working, to a fashion, thanks to the help and advise from this group, attention has turned to the garden.
In its time, with the previous owner, the garden was revered as a place of beauty. The rear boundary was a fine example of hedgerow used to separate the neighbours. As is the way of the world, maintenance became a problem as the owner grew old, and the hedge fell into disrepair.
At the time that the owner died, the hedges were cut down by one neighbour to the extent that there is now only 12-18" of stump above ground. The hedges were obviously mature (the stumps are bloody thick) and closely spaced.
Sister wants to secure the property to allow her dogs to roam in the garden (the small enclosed "yard" is getting a bit deep in dog-shit, and she wants them to have greater freedom).
So, to the problem:
To fence in the garden requires the removal of all or part of the stumps.
To my mind, the easiest way would be to cut to ground level and using some chemical to kill the plant by pouring onto the remaining stump. The question is - is there any such chemical easily available?
The best, and by far the most difficult solution - to dig out the stumps, root and all. This is difficult since the neighbour has erected a series of rented-out garages along the property boundary. I'd expect the hedge roots to extend underneath the garages.
My sister is open to option 1 - to cut/kill roots, effectively loosing maybe 1ft/18" of the boundary and erecting a fence inwards of the property. Is this a sensible approach?
As the winter months close in, any opinion / experience would be gratefully received.
Mike