"Endulini" wrote in message
om...
Hi,

I'm purchasing a house with 5 or 6 reasonable sized (I'd guess around 20
feet tall) leylandi trees at the back and not being a big fan I am quite
keen to get rid of them. How problematic is this likely to be and what
sort of ballpark damage to the the wallet is this likely to cause (I'm in
the East Midlands if it helps)? Any tips or advice for getting them out?

Whilst I really don't like the look of them nor like the excessive shading
they give to the garden I do appreciate the extra privacy they give. Any
suggestions as to what I could replace them with that would grow
reasonably tall without a massive spread? I thought maybe some bamboo or
is that totally potty?


How much privacy do you want?
A six foot fence provides quite a lot of privacy without too much shade.
And you don't have to wait for it to grow, or make sure the leaves don't
fall off in winter.
If 20' is far too tall then presumably abot 10' is the hight you want?
If so, a 6' fence will give you most of what you want plus some time for a
screen of trees and/or shrubs to establish.

Only consider a chain saw if you are comfortable with using one and prepared
to take sensible safety precautions.
Given the number sold through the sheds they must have a reasonable safety
record or NL would have legislated them out of existence by now.
However, as stated elsewhere, they are potentially very dangerous if you are
not careful.
However, so is an axe.

We took out a conifer when we moved into our current house because of the
excessive shading - it was, however, more like 50' high and at the south end
of the garden so most of the back garden was in shade most of the year.
We lost a lot of privacy, but the extra light more than made up for this.
We cut down the tree ourself using hand saws and a chain saw.
However, I have been a chain saw user for a long time so am comfortable with
this.

You will probably find (unless the trees have been regularly cut back at the
top) that the top 50% of the tree consists of small branches which can be
easily cut off with a pruning saw.
This would involve getting 4-6 feet off the ground on a ladder or strong
steps.
With all the usual safety precautions.
This is quite within the scope of DIY.
This then leaves you with 8-10' of potentially ugly stump.

If you are energetic you can dig round the roots with a mattock (available
e.g. from Screwfix), cut through the roots and lever the stump out using the
bit sticking up as the lever.
They are usually shallow rooted so this is laborious but not particlarly
difficult.

That just leaves you the task of reducing the stumps from 8' to 4' before
digging them out.
Pay someone, buy a bow saw and build some muscles (and blisters), you might
be able to hire a two person saw, or hire a chain saw.

Oh, and just to throw a spanner in the works I understand it is illegal to
cut down trees whilst there are birds of any kind nesting in them.
A licence can be obtained to disturb certain species which are regarded as
pests.
Otherwise, wait until late September onwards.

If you want someone to come and do it for you then I would guess you are
looking around £700 upwards, especially if you want the roots taking out.
Why not ask a local tree outfit to go round and prepare an estimate?

HTH

Dave R

--
No plan survives contact with the enemy.

Helmuth von Moltke the Elder