I need to cut down the Leylandii, don’t I?

[Coffee62]

No idea how tall it is exactly but you can probably tell by the scale of the washing line it’s bloody enormous!
We only moved in last year so the planting is nothing to do with us.
It takes up a LOT of the garden, and I can see it’s already gone into the neighbours garden too.
I think it needs cut down but I almost feel a bit bad because I do kind of like it, but it’s only going to keep growing, isn’t it?!
I’m also actively trying to plant privacy trees/shrubs etc and this tree does provide a lot of that, but it’s just a bit much!

Image under review!

I would. They are a menace and conifers need chopping not cutting back.

We've grown Beech which, if you live somewhere a long time, make lovely tree hedges. We get a tree surgeon every couple of years to keep them manageable and tidy for us (and the neighbours).

It’s completely in the wrong place and will only bring misery to your garden and the neighbours.

Either cut it right down or get it removed.

Top it out so it still obscures the windows behind?

We have lots of those . Huge. Planted years ago by previous owners. It's a love/hate relationship.

I love the privacy they provide, and the birds using them every year, but they are a pain to keep down to a reasonable size.

If it's just the one, why not just cut it right back? I'd leave it tall enough to provide some screening from the windows behind you .

Needs a trim and a tidy up :) shame to remove it completely, OP.

Yep, when the birds have finished nesting, turn it into more of a pompom. It will still need trimming every five yrs though

Cut it down and replace. Nothing grows underneath it, it's not great for pollenators, and if you don't keep on top of the upkeep the bottom just goes brown and woody. There are so many other nice things you could put there instead. I'd look at either dwarf fruit trees or pleached beech or lime.

I've cut down rows of leylandii in two houses I've lived in, and in both, it was life changing.

They are so dense they don't just obscure your windows, they block all the light. My hallway is amazing now I've gotten rid of mine (literally night and day)

Hate them with a passion. There were loads along the edge of my garden and out the front.

Took a saw the ones out the front, took bloody ages. Then bought a chainsaw and attacked the back garden ones.

They are ugly and nothing to a garden,

Get rid! There are far prettier and better trees you can replace it with.

When we moved to our house we had a lovely clipped leylandii hedge around a vegetable garden. Ten years later we had a half dead, black forest of 20 foot high trees. The amount of dead ground underneath them was huge.

They have gone now.

Is it not possible to trim a leylandii hedge and keep it to 5 or 6 feet? I'm sure that was the original intention with many of the rows of leylandii trees that you see around.

Apologies, I had no notifications that there had been replies.
It does seem a shame to cut it down almost, but equally we are keen to maybe put in fruit trees or something different, we can’t do anything until August anyway with the nesting season.
Only drawback really is the cats will be devastated as they love hiding in it!

@Coffee62 I’m afraid it’s horrible. It must go. We have beech hedges and they are much kinder to wildlife. Leylandii are only liked by pigeons! Beech is much better at supporting garden birds.

Also do you really think people in the bedrooms of your neighbouring houses are looking at you in your garden? Most neighbours don’t do this. They are enjoying their gardens! If you want trees, get fruit trees or suitable small garden trees with limited height. Leylandii should be banned!

Not indefinitely no.

They aren't meant for domestic small gardens - get it taken out now while it's still reasonably possible to do that.

Then replant with trees that the birds and cats will also love. They can't be kept small - we;ve got a leylandii hedge in the garden behind us and they chopped it down but it's still very wide - it looks rubbish as they don't regenerate in the middle. it's the wrong thing in the wrong place. The sparrows love it though!

Think I'd be tempted to make it into more hedge like - take that top triangle bit out and flatten the sides. If you take the whole lot out I think you will feel very exposed!

Is it leylandinthat don't take well to being cut back - in that if you go to far in you end up with old wood and no greenery.

I was going to say about the sparrows! They love our leylandis. We have two absolutely massive leylandis that have been left to grow (our 'fault') but act as a great screen for road noise and if course the sparrows! Plus we have to e space for them. If we need to get rid of them they would be tricky.

There's a reason I learned "leylandii law" when I was in law school...it's pretty much solely responsible for Part 8 of the Anti-Social Behaviour Act 2003!

I'd cut it down completely and replace with something more appropriate - it's the source of so many issues for not many positives.

Yes get rid and replace it with something there actually looks nice and won’t dominate or block all the light.

The leylandii version of "the best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago, the second best time is now" is most definitely "the best time to cut down a leylandii is not to plant it at all; the second best time is now". Get rid. Plant the cats some catmint to make up for it.

I'm surprised your neighbours haven't been hammering your door down already, that's 😳

Just trim it. You could even take the top triangle off and the lower branches and keep the privacy. People are weird about for trees. I don’t like the smell when you trim them but they are excellent green screens.

They're horrible, we've cut them down in 2 houses and it opens things up beautifully. Our neighbour has one that they've just cut a chunk out of to let some light in, it's huge and hideous.

I'd cut it down without a second thought.

Also it's not a native species to the UK - it's a sterile hybrid of two North American species and so it doesn't do anything for our native biodiversity and animals except provide shelter which any other shrub or tree can do just as well. There are a tonne of other things you could plant that not only can provide shelter and privacy but also food for native species of birds, pollinators, etc.

The usual hedging natives are things like hawthorn, hornbeam, blackthorn, field maple, dog rose, and hazel as they'd tick off food (berries), flowers and nesting sites. Or if you wanted an evergreen you could plant holly, or put trellis up and plant native climbers like honeysuckle and ivy. Beech would be lovely as well.