Removal of mature leylandii - how long to replant?

[Palomb]

We are buying a house which has a beautiful large garden which has several 40ft leylandii which I'd like to remove, I know it's going to cost us a fortune.. Even more as the trees are at the bottom of the garden next to a pond and the garden is only accessible though the garage.. Nightmare!!

Anyway. I would like to replant the area with some more aesthetically pleasing trees but wondered how long it takes for the soil to recover? It's looks dreadful at the moment, dry, dark and dead. Should I leave it a year or is it going to take years and years?

We had several leylandii hedge/trees cut down, also two much taller conifers. The roots were then removed with a stump grinder. This produces a lot of 'sawdust' and chippings, that were dug into the soil.

So I don't think it will take too long, as the chippings 'condition' the soil, but it will also need feeding with a suitable fertiliser and organic material.

Can any use be made of the tree trunks, and/or branches, such as constructing a hut or wildlife area? Also, if you have any wood turners or crafts men in your area, they might be able to make us of the wood.

I'm planning to season the wood for a couple of years and use it in the log burner. The size of the trees it ought to keep me going forever!

We had a conifer similar to leylandii removed (stump remains) and the soil underneath was surprisingly rich. I could plant other things straigth away. Half a year later there is new quality grass and a hedge growing.

Thats good to hear. I have visions of the whole area being dead for a while.

You can transform it really quickly by digging in loads of compost, leaf mould, well rotted manure. You should be up and running really quickly!

You can plan over the stumps with climbers or get them ground, or if you have a friend with a Landrover and you can get a vehicle round, they can be dragged out of the ground to create a stumpery!

Leylandii wood is quite resinous so you're definitely wise to season it properly!

We removed 24 of them when we bought here and replanted a variety of climbers that have thrived, lavenders and apple trees. No problems at all. I hate them!