At that size it has not gone anywhere where it will cause damage. Just
dig it up as soon as possible. It has to go.

Fist cut it down to about four feet and use the remaining part of the
stem to rock it as you dig. You will have it up in a few minutes.

Regards,
Emrys Davies.



"AK" wrote in message
...

"Lobster" wrote in message
...
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.

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?

I heard that leylandi roots are very shallow anyway - that's why they
blow
over easily