Roots removing-Do you know what is the best tool and the best way??

Lilach Loughead
by Lilach Loughead
Finally got my garden clear but need to pull out the roots. Do you know what is the best tool and the best way to remove them without breaking ones back?
Thank you.

  4 answers
  • Shoshana Shoshana on Nov 20, 2017

    The backhoe features multiple tools that are useful for ripping out not only roots but also the stumps. Larger tree stumps and roots are removed using the digging bucket. Small and even medium sized stumps can sometimes be removed, roots and all, using the front loader bucket of the backhoe.

    • Lilach Loughead Lilach Loughead on Nov 20, 2017

      thank you, but I don't think that is what I can use in my back garden, it is roots of brambles I was looking for something much more simple than that.

  • 2dogal 2dogal on Nov 20, 2017

    If you are talking about removing tree roots - be careful you do not damage the tree. Roots are easy to remove if you dig around them and cut them off with a Sawzall.

  • Judi Scharns Judi Scharns on Nov 20, 2017

    It really depends upon what kind of roots you have. A backhoe might be needed if it is tree roots. If it is shallow rooted plants then simply deep plowing would work, followed by raking out the roots. One year we cleared a garden area of trees and used a backhoe to dig out the roots, but the hardest ones to get out were from the vines that climbed those trees. They propagate from rhizomes (root nodes) some of them were huge and went really, really deep, so we plowed multiple times digging in deeper each time. The best tool to use after the plow and before the rake is a three tined hoe, it will help you grab the big roots, sometimes the rake wants to bury them. Whatever kind of roots it is still going to be hard work to clear it, maybe just not back breaking. But the gardeners rule of thumb is dig a $100 hole for a $25 dollar tree. This applies to the whole garden preparation. All the hard work you do now will pay off handsomely later. Since it is winter (I think) after you get those roots out, spread manure and compost on the garden area, cover with fall leaves and let it rest for the winter. In Spring start building your garden beds or rows leaving the compost on top, then plant right into all that goodness.

    • See 1 previous
    • Judi Scharns Judi Scharns on Nov 20, 2017

      Good luck!


  • Rai2755762 Rai2755762 on Nov 20, 2017

    I use a reciprocating saw. home depot or lowes.