Leylandii trees.

[chris]

Take the b****y lot out mate,or you'll regret it

later.

chris.

[spasor]

Leylandii??????

My local MP Stephen Pound is pushing through a bill about these nuisances. ( Did you know the tallest one in the UK is now over 140ft tall and still growing?) They are all cultivated from 1 freak sapling discovered in the late 50`s.

They are wonderfull for use as a windbreak or to hide ugly fences etc. Unfortunately too many are used by the "I know my rights brigade", to get at neighbours who they wouldn`t dare question on their doorstep!!

Leylandii also have a nasty habit (through their fibrous roots) of leaching all nutrients from the ground in which they grow. Sometimes many yards away from the actual tree.

As stated previously, they have to be kept in check!! My neighbours have actually chopped theirs down to 6ft after I had a word with them.

The proposal with the new laws are for a 7ft max.

Howard? 25ft trees. Don`t bother growing veg within 8ft of them, even after you`ve cut 2 thirds of them down. Try digging a trench within 6ft of the sods and see how dusty the soil is.

Cut them down and burn them in situ if you can. They make wonerful potash. Great for breaking up clay soils. Or get your toolkit out and turn them into poles for a couple of raised beds?

Paul.

[Vagabond]

Eileen B:

Howard, have you seen any bird/wildlife living or hiding in th Leylandii?

I doubt it . British wildlife prefers British indigenous trees which harbour British indigenous invertebrates. Precious little for them to eat in a Leylandii tree.

 

Another no-no are eucalyptus trees. They belong in Australia, where they harbour plenty of Aussie insects and plenty of Aussie birds. Transplant them to other continents and they become barren of insects and suck up a lot of water which would be of more use to native trees.

 

One of my neighbours has a eucalypt snow gum in his garden. In Oz such a tree would be full of parrots - over here the tree has no parrots but no sparrows, finches or even starlings either

[chris parker]

Used to have them next to me at my last house went up to 30 feet, neighbour would not do anything so I used glyphosate and a copper nail in the trunk. Down within the year. Problem solved. The neighbour found out it was an arm and a leg to have them professionally removed. So he asked me and my chainsaw to cut them down. Cheeky sod eh

[Dan]

I hate leylandii and would strongly recommend their removal but think about what you want to put in their place, and about any screening they offer for you and your neighbours. A replacement beech or hornbeam hedge may be a good option they are easy to trim grow suprisingly quickly from cheap bare rooted whips to a manageable height in well prepared soil; give good wind protection, wild life habitat and keep their dead leaves till the spring so giving winter protection too. Do not remove the leylandii in the spring once the birds have started to nest, you may fall foul of wildlife protection legislation, our birds do nest in them!

 

Ref big sheds, check with the local planning authority you'll be surprised what isnt considered "permitted development" and does require planning permission, but then how much do you want to p*ss off your neighbours! I recommend talking first!

 

Dan

[poledark]

Dan it is not a question of whether I want to **** them off, I did ask them if I could fit a higher fence and got a rebuff. Her husband has recently been coopted on to the parish council so I would not hold out much hope there!!

 

When we moved here about 18 months ago they had an old shed by the fence, it was poking up about 9 inches above the fence which is 5ft high.

They informed us that they would replace it, not that I was bothered. They then proceded to install a concret base about 18inches thick and on top of this they put the new steeply pitched roofed workshop, this is now over 5ft above the fence and the windows face directly in to the rear of my house.

If you look at the pic of my garden on the fish keeping forum (what have you got) you will see that I did have a super view across open farmland, something for which I spent a long time searching. Fortunately most of the view is intact but the shed is an intrusion.

 

We put up a trellis screen with artificial ivy on it and that has lessened the eyesore, we then considered leylandi, buying them at 8ft high, but I do not like them, so we have opted for a "Golden" form of cuppress' which will hopefully reach 7feet by the end of the next summer. If we find that that is high enough then we can prune them and keep them at that height, if not then I will let them grow untill they hide the workshop entirely.

 

Believe me this has caused us a considerable amount of upset and worry and we have not taken this decision lightly and do not want to fall out with them, but when they said to me that they would "keep their heads down" when working in there, then it was obvious that they were very aware of the way it overlooks us.

 

I like the idea of a beech hedge but I am 65 now and do not want to wait 7 or 8 years for it to grow.

 

Sorry about the rant but you did ask!

 

Den

[Colin Brett]

poledark:

Dan it is not a question of whether I want to **** them off, I did ask them if I could fit a higher fence and got a rebuff. Her husband has recently been coopted on to the parish council so I would not hold out much hope there!!

 

Den

Den,

 

Parish councillor or not, I would go thatway if it was me. He would be unable to have any input except by lobbying other councillors and if it's anything like where I live the Council is quite evenly divided, so if he can't vote, it gives the others a chance to get one up on the opposition. So you lobby the opposition!!

 

Politics, you can't beat it!!

 

Colin :mad:

[rondo]

As has been said.GET RID! I had one planted as a twig,and in 10 years it was about 15 ft tall.I had to renew a fence and it had to go.On cutting down I found the roots had run over 2 gardens!about 20 feet.God knows where they would have finished.

 

rondo

[bobbyf]

Big problem when they get taller..they are like all conifers shallow rooting and if u are in a very windy situation not a good choice..they will take all nearby moisture being shallow rooted and would advise you either 'top' them to a manageable height this will encourage them to bush, maybe as a hedge? the height your choice!! if u do get them removed ,get someone to come in and take them down and as mentioned before the application of Glyphosate will eventually kill the roots..the tree surgeon should be able to apply this properly..if u have plenty time on your hands, i would hedge them but your choice...sometimes they can be a pest if you have any drainage nearby as in their quest for water they will do as poplars and willows bugger your drainage up..

[Scott]

I have a row of them on 1 side of my garden, they are currently 15-18ft tall. I'll let them get to 20ft or so and then start trimming the tops.

Before anyone moans, my garden backs onto a road which is 12 to 15ft above the surface of my garden, up a banking, which means anyone walking on the pavement (sidewalk Newt) can see over them into my garden.

I also live near 2 school's and about half the kids from them walk past my house every day and for some reason think my pond's are there to collect cans bottles and whatever other rubbish that can be thrown into it.

 

Now this new law worries me, mine will be 6-7ft above the pavement but around 20ft in height.

Now in situations like that will any sense be shown by the people making the decisions or will it 7ft max?

 

Scott.