Best way to remove a pampass grass?

[mattman]

We have a huge pampass(?) grass in the back garden from the previous owners which we want to get rid of - its about 3ft in diamater and I'm not sure how best to get rid of it.
Before xmas I attacked it with a hedge trimmer and got the majority of the leaves down, but there is still this giant mass left and I've no idea how deep the roots go, or how best to remove it. I can set fire to it as one family member suggested as its adacent to the neighbours fence.
any suggestions gratefully received

[Lord Pikey]

If your into Swinging keep it, in my old village it was the symbol to say that you and your partner were into the old car keys in the fruit bowl game.

[Percy Flage]

Dig it out. I had one of a similar size and dug out a root ball about a foot in diameter. No doubt I left much of the root ball behind, but it has not grown back since, and this is now two years ago. The area is now grassed over and as the remains of the root ball rot down I top up the slight dip with topsoil over the grass.

[Percy Flage]

Lord Pikey said:

If your into Swinging keep it, in my old village it was the symbol to say that you and your partner were into the old car keys in the fruit bowl game.

I heard that too. The estate I live on was fairly new when we moved in and legend has it that the builders (Bryant) planted the things as a joke.

[Smiler.]

Lord Pikey said:

If your into Swinging keep it, in my old village it was the symbol to say that you and your partner were into the old car keys in the fruit bowl game.

Wasn't Wargrave was it? I've heard the rumours & there's certainly a lot of it about (the grass that is)

[Lord Pikey]

Smiler. said:

Lord Pikey said:

If your into Swinging keep it, in my old village it was the symbol to say that you and your partner were into the old car keys in the fruit bowl game.

Wasn't Wargrave was it? I've heard the rumours & there's certainly a lot of it about (the grass that is)

Nope, Newton-with-Scales up in Lancashire

[Wings]

Set fire to it, then dig out what you can of the roots.

[Dogwatch]

I assume you meant to say that you can't set fire to it as it is too close to the fence. Not sure that setting fire will do any good anyway - a neighbour at a previous house used to set fire to hers once a year in the same way that one would prune the roses - it loved it!

[spikeyhead]

Weedkiller, of the right sort, mixed with the right amount of sugar

[JRM Rossi]

This is how i removed my one,I reversed my recovery truck up to it put the winch cable around it and pressed the button the cable pulled tight hey presto job done in less than 10 mins,mine was 10ft tall and was blocking all the light through the window,
My friend up the road took 4 hrs to remove his, & NO im not into key swapping lol

[bitwrx]

JRM Rossi said:

This is how i removed my one,I reversed my recovery truck up to it put the winch cable around it and pressed the button the cable pulled tight hey presto job done in less than 10 mins,mine was 10ft tall and was blocking all the light through the window,
My friend up the road took 4 hrs to remove his, & NO im not into key swapping lol

Ironic, cos if you were, you could lend him your recovery truck.

[HiRich]

Weedkiller - A contact type based on diquat like Weedol 2 would be good. Fairly quick acting, and doesn't reside in the soil.
Alternatively, just dig the bugger out - as mentioned, a fairly big rootball, but fairly 'simple' roots.
There's always a risk of seeds already distributed, which will start cropping up. If so, the only serious option is eternal vigilance - inspect frequently and pull them out before they set seed. Eventually, you'll have got them all.

[eliot]

JRM Rossi said:

This is how i removed my one,I reversed my recovery truck up to it put the winch cable around it and pressed the button the cable pulled tight hey presto job done in less than 10 mins,mine was 10ft tall and was blocking all the light through the window,
My friend up the road took 4 hrs to remove his, & NO im not into key swapping lol

Cant beat a bit of V8 powered gardening..

[Mighty Flex]

KILL IT, KILL IT WITH FIRE!!!
or maybe not
sorry for shouting guys, but no a big fan of large grasses (apart from bamboos)
Pretty easy to dig up - as long as you get the majority of the root ball around a foot below the ground, it should be fine. This is the bit where it grows from, and once its gone the plant won't come back. I was surprised how easily one came up recently - cut back the leaves dug it up and just left it to rot on the ground - it didn't even re-root. i guess it dryed up in the summer and was to weak and shocked to recover.

[DrDeAtH]

you can burn it out... but it will grow back TWICE AS BIG!!!