Digging out an established shrub properly means getting the root ball out with it — not just cutting it back to ground level and calling it done. Cut-and-leave takes the visible growth away and leaves a live root system sitting right where it was, doing exactly what roots do.
Some species, particularly anything hedge-adjacent like griselinia or buxus, resprout readily from roots left in the ground. What looked like a cleared bed six weeks ago is now full of new shoots coming up from the stump you thought was gone, and the job has to be done twice.
The full removal takes longer up front — digging out a spread root system is real work, sometimes with machinery on a bigger shrub — but it’s the only version of this job that’s actually finished when we leave.
So the extra time on the root ball isn’t us padding the job. It’s the difference between doing this once and doing it again next spring.