Depends what "look" you want and how fast you want it. If you just grow
something in front of the Leylandii and then chop them down afterwards then
you will lose a sizeable chunk of your garden to the depth of the Leylandii.
If you like a formal look and want it fast then chop down and grub up the
current leylandii and then plant some new ones only this time trim them when
they get to the appropriate height. As a temporary measure you could put up
some willow fencing or similar. Leylandii does not have to be the beast
that it sometimes seems. Wisley have a leylandii hedge which is neat and
tidy and trimmed a couple of times a year. You can go and see it and speak
to the gardeners there to see how they look after it. It is too late to do
this with the current trees if they are too tall as they will not grow new
shoots if you cut back to bare wood.


Hope this helps.



"tim" wrote in message
...
Hi, Since moving into a new house, I have been trying to decide what to
do
about a very tall row of leylandi trees.

The problem being is that they hide a nasty mess. So I cant just chop
them
down.
Would any body be able to suggest some fast growing tall shade loving
shrubs
and trees to plant along in front of them. Hoping that eventualy they
willbe
tall enough to take on the role of the leylands. Then I can chop the
leyland trees down.

Any suggestion would be gratefuly recieved thankyou.