Mumsnet Talk

We are probably about to plant some right Down the side of the garden, 20m on each side. We are planning to plant away from the fence so we can get in and trim but can anybody tell me what length/depths the roots grow to. we are growing them for privacy but I don't want I upset my (nosy) neighbours so need to be armed with the facts in case they kick off.

Don't do it, they are so ugly.can you not get decent fencing in?

The fencing is already in. Actually when they are kept neat and boxed I don't mind them

Leylandii are one of the most common causes of neighbour disputes. They're also not very attractive. Are you sure they are what you want?

Yes but mainly because it grows quick (and its cheap) We'll want to move in the next. 5-10 years and think the privacy it gives us will help the resale. On side we have a tumbling down wreck the other side is nosy but nice neighbours. Open to alternatives but having a trench dug next week and keen to plant up ASAP

Think twice before assuming it will help resale. The first thing we did when we bought this house was remove an overgrown (30ft high) Leylandii hedge. It cost £1600 to remove and our offer on the house was adjusted accordingly.

we are only planning to have it 8-10 max and keep it boxed short though. I agree 30ft ones are awful

Another vote for "don't do it!"

We inherited an overgrown leylandii hedge and got rid of it after a few years because it was such a pain to keep in check. It was a full weekends work to trim it (admittedly it was worse because it had been allowed to get so wide and we were limited as to how far we could thin it out) If it could be kept at 6 foot it wouldn't be bad but we liked it higher but then cutting at 10 foot was such hard work. Are you definitely up for twice a year chopping?

What about trellis on top of the fencing? Then planting for privacy?

if we could afford it i'd go for beech - but its so slow growing. i'm not a fan of laurel...we are definitely up for chopping 2x's a year. theres a man who can quite cheaply round here. the front is more of an issue than the back really, I come out my door and feel every one can see straight in from way down the street, I want to close us in.[confused

How about a Escallonia Macrantha (Rubra)

fast growing and flowers so looks alot better than Leylandii

www.pfaf.org/user/Plant.aspx?LatinName=Escallonia+rubra+macrantha

It will not help resale, they are nasty nasty trees. If you do manage to sell, the new owners will likely either rip them out or if they are lazy buggers will not prune them and your neighbours will end up with 30' monstrosities on their border. They dry the soil out for a long way around and also release chemicals that prevent anything growing near them.

I wouldn't buy a house with leylandii or neighbouring a property with them. I wouldn't plant them unless I hated my neighbours and was feeling really malicious.

I'd go for a trellis and some lovely fast growing climbers instead.

Oh yes, and the roots grow down as far as hell and are nourished by the devil's own manure

[cantspel] that's a lovely hedge plant. I'm just trying to check out (bare root) availability and of course cost

I'm looking for about 100 plants

Another one for don't do it!!! We just paid a fortune to have ours ripped out. Nothing grows within metres of a planted Leylandii hedge. I have a friend that had subsidence problems at her house because of a neighbour's hedge. Also to keep it neatly trimmed, you will be cutting it right back twice a year within 4 years and it will drive you mad because they are not easy to cut. They might give fairly quick privacy but you will regret it. What about red robin or photinia. We have an "evergreen" hedge against our neighbours which is a mixture of lots of nice evergreen bushes, and then in the gaps in front we have planted things like lilac and other nice deciduous plants which flower. It sounds as though it would take a lot of space but it doesn't as it is quite tightly planted. I would have thought this was better for resale than a leylandii hedge.

Prunus lusitanica (Portuguese laurel) is another good evergreen for hedges. Fast growing, cheap, dense and has attractive flowers/berries. It's totally different from other laurels.

Surfing the net and doing more research. But have stinking cold and feel rough so may need to come back to this

If you ever listen to Gardeners Question time on R4 you'd know that these are the scourge of the home owner, let alone the gardener.

In my opinion you'd be devaluing your property.
Try Viburnum seiboldii which can reach 20 feet and has lovely white flowers.

Ok so today's thoughts are thuja at the front and green beech at the back. Root balled. Depending on Dh's opinion

We've got leylandii at the back and hawthorn down the sides, both planted the same time. The leylandii are beautiful and the hawthorn is a twiggy 3 foot mess, the hawthorn is going to come out and be replaced with flowering shrubs.
My veg bed is directly in front of the leylandii and the first foot or so is too dry to grow anything but good space for spuds in bags the rest is very productive and unaffected by roots.
We went for the hawthorn after being convinced that leylandii are a bad thing but I wish we hadn't bothered and stuck with leylandii all the way around to be honest.

Had chat with DH who now fancied pleached hornbeam at the back and if we buy/plant soon we could get bare root (cheaper). I'm not a fan of pleaching as I like the au natural look but it will give us screening left and right above the 6ft fence. Still thuja at the front I think- but do we go pot grown or bare root????

Pleached hornbeams very very classy. Good choice.

It would put me off buying a house. I can't stand lylandii. They are ugly even when maintained properly. I would rather see a small hedge of beech than a more mature lylandii.

If i saw an immature beech hedge i would know it would eventually grow into a lovely hedge whereas If I saw lylandii I would just see a problem as I would have to dig it out and replant something nice.

If you buy beech bare root whips they are not tat expensive at all.

A mixed hedge would also look nice.

Yes Thuja plicata much better option as slower growing and rejuvenates from brown branches when cut back.

I have no privacy in my garden thanks to my neighbours cutting their trees down a few years ago <grrr> but am gradually getting it back and have planted a mixture of evergreen and deciduous screening trees and shrubs for interest. I know you're not keen on laurel but works well if combined with other trees and shrubs and is very dense

Interesting thread, we have a nightmare neighbour and can't have a fence at the front so we are planning a hedge instead. Lots of other people have hedges so we know we're ok on that front.

Tell me in simple words please what would be good, we want fast growing and not too expensive, but can't lower the value of our house because we fully intend to sell within three years. We're not garners so cutting back hedges is about our limit, that and mowing lawns and growing things in tubs.

Manchesterhistorygirl. Look at what your nieghbours have. You could also ask at your local garden centre and see what they have on offer.

You can keep costs down by planting bare root 'whips'. They are much much cheaper than potted plants (although tend to have a higher failure rate).

If you are going to plant bare root shrubs you should get onto it straight away as you have to plat them when they are not actively growing, ie in winter.

Whatever you do, don't plant leylandii. Even the slow growing ones. They are horrid. (IMO)

A lot have lleylandii, so they're no bloody use. Thanks for the help you've given in bare root thingies.

[Manchester] In my now (considerable) research I would say thuja(red cedar) pot grown @ 80-100cm is your best most economical route. Evergreen too

Pleaching a hedge requires painstaking training in the first few years and regular correct pruning thereafter.
Don't undertake it if you don't consider yourself a keen gardener - you have to make a pleached hedge, you can't buy one.

Pleaching is fun and immensely satisfying though!

Yes I agree there Rhubarb! I have a couple coming on nicely after five years.
Not for the novice though.

But I'm not intending to stay here that long. Maybe I'll just have to put up with her next door trampling all over my lawn and watching my every move.

Anyone want to buy a house?

Go for laurel or thuja Manchesterhistorygirl - even if it's not fully grown when you decide to sell you'll be nearly there and it'll be easy to maintain neighbours can be a right PITA can't they....

Our neighbours planted leylandii next to our boundary fence. they are now about 30' and still growing. I worry about the repercussions if we want to sell our house but there's nothing we can do about it. The neighbours aren't the approachable kind

You are doing the right thing looking at alternatives. I bought a house with a row of 5 leylandii. 2 neighbours complained and I ended up felling them. I now have a row of trunks and can grow nothing where they once lived.

Manchester - the ubiquitous privet is cheap and easy!