Our conifer trees - how to manage them so they don't cause neighbours a problem

[deathbollywood]

We planted conifers along our side boundary as we are overlooked by a house built along the side but not next to ours- at the back. This means the trees run along side the house. We trim them regularly and maintain them at about 7 metres for privacy. I am still worried the roots might cause a problem to the neighbouring house as the trees get bigger, even if we maintain at current height. Any thoughts on how we can reduce/manage the risk? haven't been able to work out what type of soil we have.

7 metres is pretty huge already! There is nothing to be done. Conifers are awful for the soil.

I would imagine you’d be liable for any damage to the neighbour’s house OP.

Chop them down and plant something more suitable?

(Influenced by one half of my garden being Leylandii on multiple owners’ land)

Do you mean 7 metres not 7ft?

Seven metres tall on the boundary?
That's nearly as high as a house!

7 metres is an outrageous height. Agree with a PP, chop them down, kill the roots and plant something more suitable. You don’t need such ‘solid’ planting for privacy—trees and other plants that let diffused light through will stop other ppl looking into your space.

@NoSquirrels

Do you mean 7 metres not 7ft?

@deathbollywood can you come back and clarify whether these trees are 7 feet or 7 metres (23 feet) tall, because this would change the answers you get on this thread.

Sorry, maybe not that tall, around 5 metres. We don't want to get rid of them if possible as it will take ages for something else to take root and grow to the height we want. I will get them cut back by around a metre. My worry is the roots, they will just continue to grow regardless of cutting trees back from what have read.

Exactly what sort of conifers are they, and how far away is the neighbouring house from your trees?

leylandi. about 3 metres from the neighbours house.

Roots grow in proportion to the height of the hedge. If a Leylandii hedge is kept to a reasonable height 2-3m (6-10ft) then the root system will be much less substantial (and much less likely to cause damage) than if the trees are left to grow to 10m (30ft). Roots often extend for a radius wider than the hedge height.

www.leylandii.com/faqs/

Is it the first time you’ve cut them? Ideally you’d have been cutting them to keep them at a lower overall height which would also have limited their root spread.

Honestly, if I was your neighbours I’d be really cross you planted them, and not something more friendly. We moved into this property with its established leylandii so I knew it was there already, but if someone had deliberately planted them now, and let them get to 5 metres I’d be really annoyed. They’re just not good trees for all sorts of reasons. But what’s done is done.

The best you can do is get a proper tree surgeon to give you useful advice on your particular situation. And be prepared to keep paying every year to maintain them and prevent problems.

Conifers are shallow rooting so unlikely to damage foundations. They have little place in a garden.

Thank you nosqurriels. That's helpful. We trim them regularly to keep them under control.

Not suitable trees at all.

Get rid and plant something attractive and reasonably sized.

7m?! Even at 5m that’s still about 2m too high: get them cut!

We took out a vast leylandii, as it had been pruned by previous owners and got wider and wider , was taking up about a third of our garden. The roots were not a problem, we just wanted our garden back. Our neighbours were devastated and furious with us! We replaced with Portuguese laurel, Hawthorne and Red Robin as these grow fast and appeased the angry neighbour a bit. Hawthorne took a while to get going but the laurels and red Robins have been brilliant, easy to prune and shape, and evergreen. Definitely better than a 30 foot conifer.

@deathbollywood

leylandi. about 3 metres from the neighbours house.

They are way too close and will cause damage. MIL had subsidence in her house caused by her ndn's leylandii hedge.

It's not just the height either, they spread really wide, and suck every scrap of goodness out of the soil. Really seriously horrid trees. What on earth possessed you to plant them in the first place?

5 metres is still huge and anti-social.

A keen gardener friend tore out some old trees when he moved. It gave him very much more land. The leylandii were sucking the nourishment from the soil over a wide area.
As well as reducing the height could you remove alternate ones or 2 of 3. as a start. Get some different ones planted.
If neighbours plant another line in retaliation would it give you shadows or affect your cultivation.

I think ,from this below that the OP means feet ,not metres .

deathbollywood can you come back and clarify whether these trees are 7 feet or 7 metres (23 feet) tall, because this would change the answers you get on this thread.

Sep-21 09:59:51
Sorry, maybe not that tall, around 5 metres.

Five metres is over 16 feet and taller than upstairs window height on a normal house though. Way too big to have that close to a house wall. Once they are established, their growth rate is over a metre a year, with the ultimate height of over 30 metres or 100 feet tall, and 8 metres wide at the base (26ft).

OP, you asked how to manage them so as not to cause the neighbours a problem - well there's only one answer really, isn't there?

Afaik Leylandii does not back bud, so when you chop the top off they just get wider and wider, you can never reduce the with without looking at bare branches. Seriously just get rid now and plant something else. Even cherry laurel, awful as it is, is fast growing and better than leylandii.

We got rid of a Leylandii hedge that ‘cane’ with our house. They were about 7 m high and planted right on the boundary. They were 5 m wide, 2.5 m into the neighbours’ garden. I honestly don’t think they should be allowed in residential areas.

Came with the house not cane

OP - do you mean feet, or do you mean metres?

If you’ve been pruning them regularly you can’t possibly mean 5 metres? That’s proper tree surgeon height.

If you have a 7ft Leylandii hedge then that’s not so bad - I’d still be irritated you chose to plant it and not something nicer but keeping it well trimmed at 5-6 feet is fine.

Do you cut it on both sides i.e. offer to maintain the neighbour’s side? I’d forgive my neighbours if they did this! Twice yearly trimming is an absolute ball ache.

3 metes is very near, both our neighbours have leylandii but they are about 60 ft away from the houses. One side has a hedge about 5-7m high but gets chopped every so often. I wouldn't want them near the house. Other neighbours have huge golden ones about 30-40 ft but not near the houses. Hedge could easily be 5-7 m even if trimmed as ndn's is