in article , Ednews at
wrote on 14/4/03 1:20 pm:

Hello,

Apologies if this sort of thing has been posted before. I've looked at the
FAQ and can't see it.

I've been lurking for a while picking up tips, but this is more of a general
question about a situation.

My wife and I are thinking about putting in an offer on a great house, but
I'm a bit nervous of the huge garden at the back - 100 ft long west facing,
backing on to countryside etc. We've been looking for a large garden, and
on paper I think I'm up to this one, except that it has a large number (50+)
of mature leylandii along the north and south borders of the garden (on our
side of the fence) which means that the southern side of the garden doesn't
ever seem to get _any_ light.

So my questions are -

(1) For a new gardener is it foolhardy to think "Those trees are no problem
- we'll just dug 'em up!"?;

(2) How does one do that?!;

(3) is it expensive?; and

Don't dig them up! First, live there for a while OR visit on a very windy
day and see if the trees are in fact doing a really essential job as a
shelter belt. While I loathe leylandii, I will certainly concede that in
certain situations such as a garden backing onto open countryside, they
might be a necessity.
If they aren't essential, either chop them right down, replacing them with
the hedge of your own choice, or defoliate them and use the trunks to sling
chain across at two levels and grow clematis and roses up and along.

(4) overall should we be put off by the garden?

Absolutely not. You can take it under your wing a bit at a time and if you
have to e.g. leave some grass only rough mown from time to time, you'll get
lots of wild flowers (known to some as weeds ;- ) and you can plant
naturalised daffs among it. Take one bed or border at a time and urg will,
I'm sure help you as much as it possibly can. Go for it!
--
Sacha
www.hillhousenursery.co.uk