Getting rid of giant hedge

[lamby12]

We have a nice ish garden, lots of potential but we've really not reached it yet. Funny shape, lots of weird paths, steps, rockeries and nooks and crannies. At first I liked its character but it's a lot of work and really doesn't give any function at the moment, it's just a dump we fight with every year and vow to get it sorted by the next.

Over the last few years we've had a baby and an extension; both of which have taken their toll on the garden (lack of time and money).

We want to really use the garden rather than being slaves to it, all we do is fight back massive hedges and bushes and never have any time to create areas we can actually use or plant a few nice pots etc.

The main culprit is the whole garden is lined with giant conifers, approx 30-35 metres worth and 2.5metres high. At least a metre deep. Takes us weeks each year to cut it back and still looks a pigs ear. Quotes over £300 to have it trimmed for us and we really can't spend that on a hedge, we've a long list of other house and garden stuff to do as we save money. However, we're thinking of bumping the hedge up the priority list but to get it all ripped out, including the bushes that sprawl out of it, and put a fence up. We'll gain a metre of garden all the way round and less maintenance.

Does anyone have any experience of this and was it a success or a mistake? I'm worried about losing character and greenery from the garden. It's not a square and still lots else going on so it won't be like a box, just wondering if anyone has done such a drastic move? And any ideas on cost?

Thanks!

We ripped out ours as well. It is so much better without it. It was a fast-growing conifer and should never have been planted in such a small garden. We just did it ourselves. Just rented a skip and a chain saw.

We have a nice deciduous hedge in the front garden which just needs a trim now again. The conifer hedge was a monster! Bigger than the house.

I removed an overgrown conifer hedge, luckily not as long as yours, , looks so much better gone, had been trimmed too much by previous owner and had ugly brown patches and was over wide for the space.

Conservation area so I had to put another hedge in (I choose yew), but I've put hazel hurdles in so we still have privacy while it grows. (6ft high by 6 ft were £50 each).

Top tip - do not replace your conifers for hawthorn hedge. It is a fecking nightmare ....

Box hedge or fence is what I would suggest.

Every spring there's a battle cry of 'Let the games begin' with our mature garden and all it's hedges. Finally have got on top of the hawthorn mixed hedge --

@PhilCornwall1

Complete experience of this. We had a conifer hedge for years. About 60 foot in length, 10 foot high, needed cutting twice a year and was a pain in the arse.

We had it ripped out a couple of years ago and replaced with a fence. It's the best thing we ever did. More light in the house, no more getting it cut, perfect. Most I will do this year is put preservative on the fence.

We have gone further and had all the grass, borders and bushes removed from the back garden, so next to no maintenance, apart from removing the odd weed from the gravel.

It all makes life easier and I'm not a slave to the garden. Just mow the grass on the front and side in under an hour and job done.

Can spend the rest of the time enjoying the space drinking chilled wine in the sun. How sophisticated!! 🤔

With absolutely nothing left to wildlife, nature or to help alleviate surface water flooding? And people wonder why species are dealing and flooding getting worse. Still at least it's easier for you

@leafygarden42

Top tip - do not replace your conifers for hawthorn hedge. It is a fecking nightmare ....

Box hedge or fence is what I would suggest.

Every spring there's a battle cry of 'Let the games begin' with our mature garden and all it's hedges. Finally have got on top of the hawthorn mixed hedge --

We've not got any issues with our hawthorn. I'd be interested to know what's causing a nightmare?

Yours is one of the saddest posts I’ve ever read on here, PhilCornwall1.

Can I vote for my beech hedge? It changes colour but keeps its leaves. It does need trimming if you want to keep it small but it’s not spiky so I enjoy trimming it!

Our neighbours have done the same. It wasn't a conifer hedge but some horrible, spiky, fast growing bushes. Must have been well over a metre wide. It was a nightmare to trim fortnightly and I only did our side! They have put in a lovely ship lack fence with hedgehog gaps and planted some small shrubs. We have the sunny side and have used bee bombs to create a wildflower area.

We’ve go similar, perhaps a bit bigger than yours. Needless to say we will not be waiting until Autumn to deal with it, we have plenty of other bushes and trees in our garden and the surrounding gardens. It was allowed by the previous owners to get way too overgrown and if it were a normal size it wouldn’t bother me but if we try to cut it back to a reasonable size now it will die anyway.

Waiting until father in law can come up with the chainsaws, hiring a chipper and we will be away. The neighbours have the fence next door already so no issues there.

With absolutely nothing left to wildlife, nature or to help alleviate surface water flooding? And people wonder why species are dealing and flooding getting worse. Still at least it's easier for you

I certainly does make life easier. Oh and the wildlife seem quite happy in the front and side gardens.

@ChardonnaysPetDragon

Yours is one of the saddest posts I’ve ever read on here, PhilCornwall1.

One of the saddest posts? I'll lend you a grip.

@PhilCornwall1 I think it's just hard for people to understand why you would remove so much nature from your garden when nature and biodiversity are in crisis, and lots of us are doing everything we can to try to help?

@Haiyaa

We’ve go similar, perhaps a bit bigger than yours. Needless to say we will not be waiting until Autumn to deal with it, we have plenty of other bushes and trees in our garden and the surrounding gardens. It was allowed by the previous owners to get way too overgrown and if it were a normal size it wouldn’t bother me but if we try to cut it back to a reasonable size now it will die anyway.

Waiting until father in law can come up with the chainsaws, hiring a chipper and we will be away. The neighbours have the fence next door already so no issues there.

If there are any nesting birds in there you will be breaking the law. Please check thoroughly before commencing work. These laws are in place for a very good reason.

OP - don't plant a box hedge. Sadly box moth caterpillars are spreading throughout the country and destroying the boxes in their path. It would not be a good investment to put in new boxes at the point.

We had a very similar hedge! It cost a fortune to maintain and was sucking moisture out of the lawn. We had it totally removed and stumps ground out, then replanted beech hedging all around (you can get 5-6ft bare rooted trees so that's what we got). That was 10 years ago and it's a lovely solid hedge now, about 10ft high. Well worth the effort!

Plan for the work now. Get it done in the autumn - at least you’ll be able to enjoy your current garden over the summer.
Autumn is a good time to replant any trees / large shrubs.

Don’t get box. I’ve got to rip out my beloved box hedging (planted 12 years ago) as it’s been decimated by box blight. Gutted.

[quote Hoppyfrog]@PhilCornwall1 I think it's just hard for people to understand why you would remove so much nature from your garden when nature and biodiversity are in crisis, and lots of us are doing everything we can to try to help?[/quote]
Very easy to answer that. For over a decade I battled with the hedge and garden, I have zero interest in gardening and never will. Having then been diagnosed with a condition that gives me chronic pain, it was the ideal reason to get shot of it all. I'm not going to spend my time working on something that I get no enjoyment from and causes me pain. It now looks miles better and for the first time in years, we can actually enjoy the space and there is more of it.

Thanks for all the suggestions on different hedges to put in front! It's great to have these suggestions.

To clarify we're considering taking out the perimeter hedge but the rest of our garden is lush green, lots of grass and other hedges, trees, rockeries, it's pretty wild (which is a problem in some ways!) so we're not going for stripping everything out. Just the hedge on top of the rest of the garden is too much work and takes up too much space.

I'm worried about losing greenery as the rest of our garden is very green, think cottage garden style but fairly big. However I'm loving the ideas of hedgehog holes, beenhotel, wild flowers and other hedges in front of the fence.

Thanks!

With absolutely nothing left to wildlife, nature or to help alleviate surface water flooding

Yes, becayse hers was the only garden left in the world.

My parents had three huge conifers removed from the end of their garden. It cost around £3,000 three years ago and although they panicked at the price, once it was done they were delighted with it (as were their neighbours). The tree surgeons quoted in spring but couldn't do it until autumn because of nesting season. The cost included removing the trees and stumps. It took a good few days because they were abseiling and cutting it down in pieces. They live in a dense area surrounded by terraced houses and gardens so the priority was getting them down without damaging properties. By the time they were finished, you couldn't really tell the trees had ever been there and their house is so much brighter.

All well and good suggesting people keep trees for wildlife but when you're the person watching a huge conifer bending over towards your house during every storm, it's easier said than done. Plenty of smaller sized hedges and trees can help wildlife without forcing a homeowner to compromise or risk damage to their property.

Conifers are horrible bullies, almost as bad as willows for sucking the life out of the garden and shading all the other plants and ruins any attempt at a lawn. I’d cut them down, dig the roots and not look back. Then when you’ve had a look at your new space choose a few wildlife friendly plants to replant. It will be so much nicer to have a garden you can use and kids can play in, plant veg, fruit trees and herbs, have sunlight on the ground etc. Don’t worry about the kind of people who tell you you should suffer because the hedgehogs and birds like the current set up, there are many ways to be wildlife friendly and cut down the plants you don’t like.

May I add my vote against hawthorn as a replacement? The thorns are vicious, the fallen berries throw up endless saplings all over your borders, they are deep rooting and fast growing, and a full time painful spiky job to remove. Hand weeding among dead leaves will rip your skin to shreds on small hawthorns you didn’t spot in advance.

What is on the other side of the boundaries where you want to replace the conifers?

@RandomMess a fence! Our neighbours fence, so it's 1.5-2m of dense conifers and a fence that is almost as high at the other side. So the conifers are on our land.

We would probably put another fence up against theirs, as it's such a long stretch of the perimeter we done want to look at the bad side of a very old fence. But we'd still gain lots of space and can then put stuff along the perimeter that's more suitable for us to upkeep.

Sad I read this thread. Surrounded by neighbours who come into mature gardens & rip out hedges in bird season. Saw nesting rooks have their tree cut back hugely, losing the nest last year. Totally illegal.

All the birds have taken refuge in our garden, so it cheers me up that OP is taking on board things that will help birds & hedgehogs, who are endangered. 😊