has anyone removed a leylandi hedge? How/was it worth it?

[dangermouseisace]

I moved into a house in the summer with a massive garden which I'm really happy about. What I'm not happy about is the leylandi which are planted in my garden for about half the length on one side. Right next to an otherwise perfect veg spot. There are conifers on the other side too but they are next doors and look like they are kept well trimmed.

Mine aren't too old but must have been trimmed once if ever. I reduced their height by about a third to 2 m but they've grown again. I think DS2 and I are allergic to them as well as we both had skin rashes. I hate leylandi- my parents have them and I think they are ugly and kill everything beneath them except for ivy. Ideally I'd have them gone.

Has anyone ever removed them themselves? I am a single mum but physically fit and strong so I never feel I need a 'man' to do anything. How did you go about it? Was it expensive? Do I need to get pros in? Will the leylandi, even if they are gone, have scuppered my veg planting ideas?

The "safe" distance depends on the height of the trees, the shrinkability of the soil and the depth and type of foundations. How old is the house? If quite new, then the foundations will have been designed with leylandi roots in mind.

I suspect/hope quite a few of the hedges in this thread are a way from the houses in question.

My neighbour has a leylandii - huge one - around 10 metres from my house, and 5 metres from his! Hoping this doesn't cause too many problems if they decide to take it out one day (fingers crossed, it really blocks our view, but neighbours are lovely in every other way so we can't complain!!)

Dh hacked ours down with a chain saw then dug out the roots.

I pulled out a couple a few years ago fairly easily. I think they would have been at most about 8 yrs old. Unfortunately I left one and I hack away at it about twice a year to keep it at the same size. I didn't plant them.

Bike - that reminds me, I was watching one of those home renovation shows recently - they showed a garden with a lot of overgrown trees (and broken drains as a consequence); there was a manhole cover on the edge of the lawn which stuck up several inches above the lawn level. They cut down the trees; a few months later the manhole was the same level - the lawn had come up that far with all the moisture left in the soil!

Oh my gosh playinggrownup that sounds like you had a forest!

haveyouseenherlately your dad sounds AMAZING. Trunks when I saw them in summer were fairly thick…definite tree trunks.

leylandi are quite far away from the house bikerunski- don't start until about about 4/5m down. I'm going to contact the council though as they own the house and the last thing I want to do is wreck the house, or next doors!

I should hire him out dangermouse

Good luck with your trees. As other posters have said, the difference is brilliant!

BikeWell, I am a Chartd Landscape Architect (sticks out tongue in a friendly kind of way) and we deal with trees and foundations constantly. It is a complex area, but I believe Cupressus leylandii is no more than moderate risk, and it very much depends on how close it is to the foundations. There is published guidance on this & if you are at all worried, google "Trees and Foundations"
BTW bought my house surrounded on two sides by leylandii and am slowly removing most of it. Got tree surgeon to do it. You don't absolutely have to grub out the stumps.
For my next phase, I am having the trunks cut to ground level,will leave stumps for a year, and then get them grubbed out with a digger. Much easier after tree gone & roots die.

I would def get the stumps ground, then remove as much of the wood shredding as possible. Then might be a good idea to get a metre cubed of compost delivered to improve the soil. We've had several LL trees removed and soil improvement is important.