Removing leylandii, carefully

The previous owners of our house planted 2 leylandii horizontalis and a small leylandii-type tree in the front garden. I haven't been hugely keen on these since we moved in (they were growing into the road!), but it didn't worry me too much until my next-door neighbour pointed out that the water meters/stop cocks were under these bushes. The previous owners had obviously planted them to hide the covers, but now the covers have been pushed up and are at wonky angles, presumably due to the roots moving them. So we decided they had to go. 30 minutes work with a saw has put paid to the above-ground parts, but I want to remove the roots to a decent level, so we can make a small bed there instead (with flowers that don't have huge roots!).
So in a nutshell, how deep will the leylandii roots go, or do they spread out? What's the best way to remove them (bearing in mind that there are water pipes there)? Use an axe on the easy bits and leave any difficult bits in situ?
I'm preparing for this to take a full day or two, but my girlfriend wants me to do it all before haer parents turn up in a couple of hours!
The leylandii were about 8 years old BTW.
Thanks,
H

 

Hi H,

The dreaded leylandii roots strike again. Normally leylandii roots tend to spread rather than have a tap root that goes straight down. However, roots tend to grow wherever they can get water and nutrients, so they could, in theory, have gone anywhere. For total and quick root removal you'd ideally want to get a stump grinder in, but that could be costly. The alternative is blood, sweat, tears and some sharp and heavy tools in order to rip the roots out. Someone may chirp up and give the old, "drill some holes into the stumps and pour petrol/diesel/biocides/salt/etc down them," but that will not work in aiding you I'm afraid.

 

Wouldn't a clematis grow over and cover the stump?

 

Flicking through a gardening book I came across the novel idea of hollowing out a tree stump and using it as a planter...but that still involves some of those blood, sweat and tears treesurfer mentioned!

 

They are not Leylandii. Probably Chamaecyparis and/or Juniperus. So a less vigorous rootsystem. Easier to remove bit by bit.:thumb:

 

The Stump grinder will leave you with wood chips - that you can put on the compost heap, or just mix in with the soil (it will rob some Nitrogen rotting down though, so you may have to give extra Nitrogen fertiliser for a year or two).

If you dig them out you'll have a whole lot of bits of root to get rid of (bonfire will sort that, but I don't know whether they are allowed much these days?)

Having said that, if the plants have only been in for 8 years the diameter of the trunk may not be enough to warrant hiring a stump grinder, and you certainly don't want to grind through the water main!

 

Stump grinder or a hard slog with a pickaxe and mattock!!

Other option is to dig the soil away from the base with a pickaxe and or spade then brush off and or wash off any lose soil, cut the stump low then cover the soil back over the top and allow it to rot.

Personally id of left them higher and pulled them either over with a tirfior if there is something substantial to anchor it to or up rooted it with a jackal rail road jack.

 

Thanks for the comments so far.
Having had a closer look, they aren't leylandii, but some sort of generic evergreen. Not Juniperus, but maybe Chamaecyparis. Anyway, I've left above-ground stumps for no, but don't want to pull them out, for fear of damaging any pipes. Unfortunately I don't know (yet) how deep the pipes are, or even the exact direction they run. Looks like I'll have to get busy with the pick-axe, saw, and maybe an axe too.
I'll let you know how I get on!

 

Thread resurrection!

I bought a mattock, borrowed a pruning saw, and just went at it. It took several hours work, but the roots were more spread than deep, so I didn't have to dig down too much. The water pipes were about 3 feet deep, so my concerns about root/water main interaction are gone.
Where the roots went under the law, I simply sawed them off. I don't know what they'll do over time, but that bit of lawn is quite scrappy having been shaded by the evergreens for so long.

 

If you're sure the roots aren't under the water pipes and the trees haven't had time to develop too elaborate roots, you might be able to rip them out with a winch. My dad and I have removed a few young trees by this method, using a 3 tonne winch (that's 3 tonnes pulling power - it doesn't weigh 3 tonnes ). That said, we tried it on my land for removing some Gorse bushes, with very little success. So I guess if you can borrow a winch for nothing, its worth a try, assuming that is that you have something to fasten the other end to.

 

If you have the space, a strong rope round the stump and tied to the car towbar is cheaper than hiring a winch. I've cleared many a stump(and a privet hedge) this way

 

That's a good idea, as long as you make sure you don't exceed the maximum towing load/force and start busting the car

I once had an old car that I knew was going fail its MOT miserably. I was going to put it on my land and then SORN it, and use it for this very purpose, but then for some bizarre reason, my sister's boyfriend wanted to buy it, so I sold him it for £80. Of course I made it clear to him that he must get the long list of faults fixed and get it through its MOT before he used it.