Hello from Kent

Hi all,
My name is Robert and I live in Herne, HerneBay, Kent. I moved into my current property in 2011 and have now got around to doing some work on the garden as it was mostly lawn and quite bare.

 

Welcome to Gardeners Corner Robert. There's a lot of knowledge amongst the members here and all willing to give you a helping hand if necessary.

 

Thank you I will most certainly be needing help with planting ideas I am just preparing a shrub bed in the corner of the garden which is shaded by leylandi even the grass dose not grow well there

 

Oh! The dreaded Leylandii, it's a trouble maker in most gardens. You'll find it very difficult to grow anything near a Leylandii, they rob the soil of nutrients and water.

 

I was thinking of digging a trench about 6 feet away from the base of the trees and setting paving slabs on their edges to create a raised bed which would give me about 8 inches of top soil at the back sloping down to 3 inches at the front I could then add compost to this a couple of times each year do you think that would help.

 

To be honest no, sorry! A raised bed even with topsoil will not stop the roots from invading the space.

My horror story..... my neighbours 14ft high Leylandii hedge was approx. 15ft from my house. The roots destroyed my drains twice and damaged my house foundations. Being an older property the drains were clay pipes and the roots had broken through those to get to water. It cost £5,000 to have the drains and foundations replaced/repaired, luckily the cost was claimed on insurance. My neighbour kindly removed the hedge to stop further problems. Because of the root issues with Leylandii I wouldn't plant one within 40ft of any building.

 

Welcome Robert

 

Hello and welcome, you will like it here

 

Thank you

 

Many Thanks

 

Thanks for your help, looks like a chainsaw job then.

 

Welcome to GC Bob....this 'ere raised bed ...you could maybe try lining it with some kind of strong polythene liner before filling with the odd drainage holes in so it doesn't become too wet,it would mean keeping on top of the watering until new plants/shrubs got established..there's alot of shade loving plants that would go there if you didn't fancy tackling the Leylandii

PS ...That's a whopper of a fish

 

That sounds like it's worth a try as I've spent the last couple of weeks reducing the height from around 20 feet to 8 feet just the one a the back to go Thanks for you advice

 

Hi Trapper Bob,
welcome to Gardeners Corner. Plenty of info and help on this Forum - hope you like it here,
Jenny namaste

 

Thank you I'm sure I will lots of ideas and help already and I have only asked one question