Remove massive hedge or keep for privacy?

[Trytosmilefor2025]

We have a massive lyelendii type hedge growing at the end of the garden. While it's nice for privacy. It's taking up about a quarter of the garden (width wise, the second picture shows better how wide it is). I only realised recently how deep it was after we trimmed it and the nearby plants. Obviously it provides a very nice feel of privacy. Do you think it will adversely impact the garden/the property value in anyway if it's less private?

Yes if a garden is less private it will impact the value.

OTOH I am not convinced you need a hedge that thick to maintain privacy. And a bigger garden is also worth more.

I am also amazed how well cut it is given the size.

Depends on lots of factors like shade as well. I would assume increased space would neutralise any loss of privacy issues...

And most people prioritise privacy around the bit of garden closest to their house/where they sit out.

If you've managed to trim it without it all being brown that would suggest it's not leylandii?? If it's yew or similar then I'd be tempted to try and just keep trimming back gradually.

We moved into a house two years ago that was both over planted and overgrown. We've removed about 14 fir trees, some of which were 30' high. Don't regret it at all at the front but do wish we'd been able to keep the back a bit more private. Have started replanting though and hopefully it will look the way we want within a couple of years.

Oh wow, that's a beast. How high is it? Above a hight that a neighbour could complain? It might actually be lowering the property value and prospective buyers could be warned about it in the survey in terms of maintaining/ neighbour disputes etc.
You got most of the year to make a decision before you can legally remove it so there's time to get an arborist un to asses and quote and then weigh up the pros and cons.

I did this, zero regrets as the extra strip of garden is definitely better than having a massive hedge to maintain. My garden is a lot smaller than yours looks though.

Thank you all. I had about a meter trimmed off the top this year and that cost me £500! So yes, maintenance is an issue and it's definitely a laylendii as it's brown inside so we can't reduce the thickness any further! It's still about 4 meters high. The neighbours at the back actually came to thank me that I reduced the height. An elderly couple used to live in the house before us and that hedge just grew out of control! It's at the end of the garden that's not used much so privacy is fine nearer the house where we get mist of the sunshine.

Try doing it gradually- you could make a cave in there for DC to play, or cut one tree back on your side.

It won’t necessarily be easy to plant something in its place so I wouldn’t rush.

I was thinking the same. It would have been ideal for hide and seek! But DCs are teens and pre-teens so past that stage. I won't rush. But I am think potentially to remove it and have a home office built that end. That will probably be a better use of space!

Leylandii are just large weeds.

We have a massive leylandi . Ours is taller! ( belongs to the neighbours who also want the privacy ) . You can’t make a leylandi hedge narrower as only the outside is green ( you would cut into brown wood and no new greenery grows) .
Ours is actually two rows of trees.

If this is your forever home I would bite the bullet.
I would replace with a tall fence and laurel hedge above it. It grows really quickly . You would have a year or 2 without as much privacy but would reclaim the garden space . the end result would be good.

If this is a temporary situation, just make sure you maintain the hedge trimming both sides and top to keep it as healthy as possible and stop it getting wider.

I had my leylandii hedge removed about 4 years ago, having lived here for 20 - not sure when it was planted, before we were here.
Maint was a pain, but the wire chain link fence within it had started to degrade and the dog had escaped so it needed something doing to secure it.

It is SO much better without it. Without having to trim it every year, with the extra space.

When I was looking to move last year, I immediately ruled out any houses with leylandii or where neighbouring houses had leylandii. The suck up water, nothing grows near and they are never kept to a reasonable size so gardens end up with no light.

They grow so quick, our neighbours have them and it over shadows 3/4 of our garden, they say every year will chop them back, but don't.

You have a beautiful garden!

I would look ti replace but with another hedge. A fence would look stark I think and that would be off putting.

The sooner you get rid of it the sooner the lovely replacement you put in - maybe some nice varied native hedging - will establish and give you some much more attractive screening, ¼ of your garden and space for a beautiful home office.

As they say, “the best time to plant a tree is 20 years ago. The second best time is now”.

Do it this winter.

I had a garden company rip out an overgrown Leyland hedge which separated my front garden from my neighbour's. It was overgrown, out of shape and encroaching on the front of my house, making it look smaller. They are nightmare hedges, you can't cut more than the outermost green inch or two back because they're all brown and dead inside and I couldn't believe how much difference it made to the space and how my house looked.

I basically over-rode my neighbour's inertia by paying for it all! I'd never want to be at the mercy of a Leylandii wholly owned by a neighbour.

The same company put in a double row of beech saplings which were already quite high and loaded with buds. All I had to do was water well. It was well worth the money and by far the best value improvement I'd made when I sold that house a year later - the beech hedge went from strength to strength. I would never buy a house again with Leylandii in, or especially boundarying, the garden.

That's very interesting. So it seems the vote is to have these down. I will do this this autumn/winter. There is no fence between us and the neighbors that end (the hedge is creating that separation), so that will need to be added too. It won't be a cheap job! 🤦🏻‍♀️

Look at it this way: if you’re planning on staying there for a few more years or more, the cost of trimming the ‘monster’ hedge will be comparable to having a fence installed - plus you get a big bit of your garden back.

Yes, that's very true. Ideally it needs trimming twice a year, which will all add up!

Is there any wildlife living in the tree?

None that I can see. Potentially nesting birds in the spring, but as mentioned, the foliage especially inside is really not dense so I doubt it offers much protection.

You could remove and replace with something I suppose, but another option is to leave one in and crown lift it - turn it into a lollipop. My mum suggested this on a huge horrible old thing we have in out garden and it transformed it without loss of privacy.