In uk.d-i-y Lobster wrote:
Just bought a house with one of those huge leylandii-type triffid things
(just one) planted outside the front door. Surveyor mentioned it as a
'caution', and no damage to the house is evident, but I defintely want rid
of it. The beast's trunk is about 4-5" diameter at the base; it reaches up
to the guttering (1st floor, so about 17' tall?) and is only about 18" from
the front wall of the house.

4-5", that's tiny! We have Leylandii with 12" or more diameter trunks
down either side of our drive (we are cutting them down slowly).


I believe that simply chopping it down could cause more harm than good, ie
if there are roots under the property which then rot away leaving voids...
can anyone advise what I should do? Chop it down in stages? If so, by how
much? and over what period?

If it really is only the size you say then the roots won't be all that
big or long, just cut it down. It also takes a *long* time for
Leylandii to rot so I don't think you'll get voids at all (anyway it
would only rot down to an earth like consistency wouldn't it?).

--
Chris Green