Using Ecoplugs on side growths and suckers

[tree-fancier123]

21 minutes ago, Dan Maynard said:

I'm always sceptical about felling and subsidence, doesn't seem like an equilibrium game anyway - but obviously don't know any specifics here.

yeah -  severe drought years seem to cause a lot of movement on their own.

[Philadelphus]

Woody Paul was right.  We did go back to insurers, who refused to fund more treatment.  We shd have stuck to our guns, but we are committed now.  I think it's important to make it clear to both insurers and possible future buyers that the subsidence problem has been dealt with and the mitigation works carried out exactly as prescribed.

Tree-fancier123, many thanks for that very detailed advice - really helpful to have precise measurements to follow.  

The problem with letting it grow is that we would be continually having to cut back - not a simple weekend job with a 3m stump.  We might let a sideshoot regrow as part of the hedge (if it survives the treatment) and see how we get on.  Now that there is more space and light I'd rather embrace the change and plant on either side of trunk with hazel and hawthorn seedlings, more interesting than the leggy privet we inherited.