Is this Leylandii?

Right, ok I have an idea of the maintenance involved now, thank you. If we reduce them to 1/3, they would still be over 10’ tall. Getting up that high to prune them twice a year would be a challenge, as I am vertically challenged myself (ie, short!), and getting a professional out would be too costly. I wonder if the long term solution would be to save up to have them removed :/ I feel like Leylandii should be on a banned plant list, as too often they are left to become unmanageable.

If we do go the route of removing them, we will have about 5 homes looking directly down on our garden. What would be a sensible option to plant for privacy, that is fast growing but remains manageable?

 

Thanks to my local council putting a preservation order on a shelter belt of fast growing trees in the early 80s I have a selection of Leylandii, Cupressus, Larch and Sitka spruce growing alongside my house. Needless to say dry and shady. Growing under them among other things is Iris foetidissima (self seeds), A variegated Dead nettle, Ivy (has to be kept under control, could try variegated), a number of hardy geraniums have self seeded including G phaeum and I have recently seen a cyclamen has self seeded into the area. All of these grow within about 6 to 8 ft of the trees sometimes right up to the stump. You could try some of these watering will be needed to establish them. Also I have the advantage of Devon's rainfall, most years, and a moisture retentive clay soil. @YellowLab you don't say where you are or type of soil in the rest of the garden; so the above may be of no use, but.

 

I am in North Yorkshire. I’m not sure the type of soil, possibly loamy? The pH is around 6.5, and seems quite decent soil. The garden was absolutely rampant with nettles when we moved in, I’ve since cleared it all out.

 

After speaking with my other half, I’m now waffling on topping the trees down to a height I can still prune on a ladder, or removing all together. Cost is also a major factor, as we have had to spend so much of our savings already on this house-ownership adventure! I’m worried the cost of removing them all will be eye watering, but will have to speak to a tree surgeon.

I just want to do the best solution possible, that is within our financial means.

I’ve cleaned up the bare trunks on the already pruned portion, and it looks much better. Perhaps not ideal, but at least better.

 

Quote..."I think that’s a bit harsh and uncalled for.."

Aplologies if I offended you...that was not my intention.
I was trying to point out our own experience re tree growth and the very real problems of subsidence/conifers near to properties which had not been raised in previous answers.

 

My apologies also if I got a bit heated, and misunderstood you. If I were to rip out the Leylandii entirely, would this cause an issue with subsidence? There are 6 that are quite large in diameter, and 6 that are still small in diameter but quite tall. I’m wondering if the roots being removed/dying would cause the soil to shift?

I guess my question is...which is better in the long term re:subsidence issues, removing them or keeping them topped/pruned?

 

This takes me back to our second house. We inherited leylandii along the left and top borders. The ones on the left were only 5ft tall but a constant maintenance issue. These were taken out as the neighbour had a good wooden fence in place behind the conifers.

The ones at the top of the garden were taller than the ones in your image but belonged to the neighbour behind us. They didn't cause us an issue but did mean that the soil was dry and not much would grow.

A look on google maps and, 30+ years later, the trees are still there (behind the trampoline) and pretty big.



Where am I going here ?

If it was me I'd remove them when funds allow and plant with a more suitable hedge.

I'm not a tree hater, having planted mixed native hedging around our chicken paddock (a week long maintenance task once a year).

We are gradually replacing a hawthorn hedge with laurel at the top of our garden but something like this may not grow tall enough to give your privacy.

Hopes Grove Nursery will give you a few ideas of what to replace with (if you go down that route).

 

£600 sounds like a very fair price. We recently had 3 men and a serious (£22K ) shredder chip down my pile of trees and that was £180 for 30 mins work. Granted, there was travel time as well. It saved me two skips and gave me a good pile of mulch.

The other option is a chain saw and get it down in the next 5 days and get a group of youngsters to take it away for a bonfire. But I guess that doesn't happen now as it did back in the day .

 

Please do not think about doing anything with a chain saw.
Without full training and the protective special mesh clothing they can be lethal.

Over several years we have felled many bigger trees as well as conifers with nothing more than a bow saw and long strong rope, to fell it exactly where we wanted..... plus a lot of very hard work...those tiny saplings I mentioned earlier...that grew and needed thinning out.

Felling yourself can be done in approx 30 -60mins ...removing branches and getting rid of them is what takes the hard work and time.( Expensive if you hire a shredder.)

Using children/adults to take the branches away for bonfire night on 5th November is a brilliant idea. The resin in conifer branches makes them burn really well.

 

I think ours will be very problematic because they would only have access through a small garden gate :/

 

I might go the handsaw + rope method...will definitely need to watch some YouTube videos first so I know what I’m doing. That’s a brilliant idea about Bonfire Night!