Killing leylandii cypresses
 

I have had the most life affirming experience of getting a tree surgeon
to cut down a line of leylandii cypresses on the boundary between my
garden and my neighbour's - to the intense satisfaction of all
concerned. I have now planted the "hedge" with a variety of flowering
shrubs, including fuschias, flowering rubus and a couple of roses.
The leylandii stumps have been cut to ground level, except one of which
only the upright trunk remains, which I am using as a climbing pole for
a climber or two.
Do I need to treat the stumps - including the trunk - to kill them and
avoid re-growth? Also, the root network of those nasty creatures is
making it relatively difficult to dig and plant anything there. I
there any type of product that, painted on the cut section of the
remaining stumps, would kill the roots (a little like round up does for
more conventional weeds?).
Thanks for any assistance!

Cat(h)
The world swirls...

In article . com,
"Cat(h)" writes:
| I have had the most life affirming experience of getting a tree surgeon
| to cut down a line of leylandii cypresses on the boundary between my
| garden and my neighbour's - to the intense satisfaction of all
| concerned. I have now planted the "hedge" with a variety of flowering
| shrubs, including fuschias, flowering rubus and a couple of roses.

That sounds good!

| Do I need to treat the stumps - including the trunk - to kill them and
| avoid re-growth?

No. They are conifers and only a couple of species of those will
regrow, and leylandii is not one.

| Also, the root network of those nasty creatures is
| making it relatively difficult to dig and plant anything there. I
| there any type of product that, painted on the cut section of the
| remaining stumps, would kill the roots (a little like round up does for
| more conventional weeds?).

Realistically, no. They are effectively already dead, but the actual
removal will be done by fungi over the next few years. There are
products that are said to speed that up, but doing nothing is quite
effective.

You can dig holes by using a heavy spade, grub-axe, trowel and
hatchet, but there is no quick answer short of heavy machinery.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

Nick Maclaren wrote:
In article . com,
"Cat(h)" writes:
| I have had the most life affirming experience of getting a tree surgeon
| to cut down a line of leylandii cypresses on the boundary between my
| garden and my neighbour's - to the intense satisfaction of all
| concerned. I have now planted the "hedge" with a variety of flowering
| shrubs, including fuschias, flowering rubus and a couple of roses.

That sounds good!

I hope it will look as good as it sounds in a few years' time. I also
hope that the W of Ireland fuschia cuttings, grown very successfully in
pots for the last year in situ, will do well in the open ground, in a
slightly harsher climate than they are used to (E Midlands of Ireland).


| Do I need to treat the stumps - including the trunk - to kill them and
| avoid re-growth?

No. They are conifers and only a couple of species of those will
regrow, and leylandii is not one.

Now, this is good news!!


| Also, the root network of those nasty creatures is
| making it relatively difficult to dig and plant anything there. I
| there any type of product that, painted on the cut section of the
| remaining stumps, would kill the roots (a little like round up does for
| more conventional weeds?).

Realistically, no. They are effectively already dead, but the actual
removal will be done by fungi over the next few years. There are
products that are said to speed that up, but doing nothing is quite
effective.

More excellent news.


You can dig holes by using a heavy spade, grub-axe, trowel and
hatchet, but there is no quick answer short of heavy machinery.


I have managed to find sufficient pockets of loose soil to fit all my
well rooted cuttings, so the problem has not been too great so far, and
no JCB has been required :-) I might have some greater difficulty
planting my climbers, though...

Thank you very much for your informed advice.

Cat(h)
The world swirls...

"Cat(h)" wrote in message
ups.com...

Nick Maclaren wrote:
In article . com,
"Cat(h)" writes:
| I have had the most life affirming experience of getting a tree
surgeon
| to cut down a line of leylandii cypresses on the boundary between my
| garden and my neighbour's - to the intense satisfaction of all
| concerned. I have now planted the "hedge" with a variety of
flowering
| shrubs, including fuschias, flowering rubus and a couple of roses.

That sounds good!

I hope it will look as good as it sounds in a few years' time. I also
hope that the W of Ireland fuschia cuttings, grown very successfully in
pots for the last year in situ, will do well in the open ground, in a
slightly harsher climate than they are used to (E Midlands of Ireland).


| Do I need to treat the stumps - including the trunk - to kill them
and
| avoid re-growth?

No. They are conifers and only a couple of species of those will
regrow, and leylandii is not one.

Now, this is good news!!


| Also, the root network of those nasty creatures is
| making it relatively difficult to dig and plant anything there. I
| there any type of product that, painted on the cut section of the
| remaining stumps, would kill the roots (a little like round up does
for
| more conventional weeds?).

Realistically, no. They are effectively already dead, but the actual
removal will be done by fungi over the next few years. There are
products that are said to speed that up, but doing nothing is quite
effective.

More excellent news.


You can dig holes by using a heavy spade, grub-axe, trowel and
hatchet, but there is no quick answer short of heavy machinery.


I have managed to find sufficient pockets of loose soil to fit all my
well rooted cuttings, so the problem has not been too great so far, and
no JCB has been required :-) I might have some greater difficulty
planting my climbers, though...

Thank you very much for your informed advice.

Cat(h)
The world swirls...



Since Leylandii strip the ground of nutrients i would not have left the
roots in ..........when i removed some i painstakingly cleared out the soil
around every root and got them out .......then i was able to pile in tons of
compost and the new plantings soon got going

Theres no substitute for doing a proper job

The message
from "nambucca" contains these words:

Since Leylandii strip the ground of nutrients i would not have left the
roots in ..........when i removed some i painstakingly cleared out the soil
around every root and got them out .......then i was able to pile in tons of
compost and the new plantings soon got going

Theres no substitute for doing a proper job

Well, any 'tree surgeon' worth his salt would have offered (for a rather
larger fee, of course) to take the roots out as well - which is much
easier *BEFORE* they have been cut off at the base.

However, what's done is done. Compost or well-rotted manure can be
spread as a mulch and the worms will soon take it down into the topsoil.

--
Rusty
Emus to: horrid dot squeak snailything zetnet point co full-stop uk
http://www.users.zetnet.co.uk/hi-fi/

Jaques d'Alltrades wrote:

The message
from "nambucca" contains these words:

Since Leylandii strip the ground of nutrients i would not have left the
roots in ..........when i removed some i painstakingly cleared out the soil
around every root and got them out .......then i was able to pile in tons of
compost and the new plantings soon got going

Theres no substitute for doing a proper job

Well, any 'tree surgeon' worth his salt would have offered (for a rather
larger fee, of course) to take the roots out as well - which is much
easier *BEFORE* they have been cut off at the base.

Although some people swear by stump grinders which I presume can take
out tree stumps left in this condition.

However, what's done is done. Compost or well-rotted manure can be
spread as a mulch and the worms will soon take it down into the topsoil.

I'd be inclined to drill a few big holes in it and load them with
ammonium sulphamate (tradename Rootout). It will make sure it doesn't
come back and encourage the fungi to get going by providing some extra
nitrogen. Once the rots have weakened it a bit you can dig them out.

Regards,
Martin Brown

Jaques d'Alltrades wrote:
The message
from "nambucca" contains these words:

Since Leylandii strip the ground of nutrients i would not have left the
roots in ..........when i removed some i painstakingly cleared out the soil
around every root and got them out .......then i was able to pile in tons of
compost and the new plantings soon got going

Theres no substitute for doing a proper job

Well, any 'tree surgeon' worth his salt would have offered (for a rather
larger fee, of course) to take the roots out as well - which is much
easier *BEFORE* they have been cut off at the base.

The tree surgeon would have done so, had he not been warned by me not
to disturb the neighbour's garden: you see, the leylandii are on the
boundary, and while we have lovely neighbours, we weren't about to turn
into the neighbours from hell by destroying their beautifully planted
border on the immediate other side of the boundary. Surely, if cutting
the trees down kills them, the roots are no longer pumping nutrients.
They might even provide some back into the soil by rotting quietly?


However, what's done is done. Compost or well-rotted manure can be
spread as a mulch and the worms will soon take it down into the topsoil.


That's the intention.

Cat(h)
The world swirls...

In article .com,
"Cat(h)" writes:
|
| Well, any 'tree surgeon' worth his salt would have offered (for a rather
| larger fee, of course) to take the roots out as well - which is much
| easier *BEFORE* they have been cut off at the base.
|
| The tree surgeon would have done so, had he not been warned by me not
| to disturb the neighbour's garden: you see, the leylandii are on the
| boundary, and while we have lovely neighbours, we weren't about to turn
| into the neighbours from hell by destroying their beautifully planted
| border on the immediate other side of the boundary. Surely, if cutting
| the trees down kills them, the roots are no longer pumping nutrients.
| They might even provide some back into the soil by rotting quietly?

Precisely so. On both points.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

On 18/8/05 11:39, in article
, "Cat(h)"
wrote:


Jaques d'Alltrades wrote:
The message
from "nambucca" contains these words:

Since Leylandii strip the ground of nutrients i would not have left the
roots in ..........when i removed some i painstakingly cleared out the soil
around every root and got them out .......then i was able to pile in tons of
compost and the new plantings soon got going

Theres no substitute for doing a proper job

Well, any 'tree surgeon' worth his salt would have offered (for a rather
larger fee, of course) to take the roots out as well - which is much
easier *BEFORE* they have been cut off at the base.

The tree surgeon would have done so, had he not been warned by me not
to disturb the neighbour's garden: you see, the leylandii are on the
boundary, and while we have lovely neighbours, we weren't about to turn
into the neighbours from hell by destroying their beautifully planted
border on the immediate other side of the boundary. Surely, if cutting
the trees down kills them, the roots are no longer pumping nutrients.
They might even provide some back into the soil by rotting quietly?

As they rot down they will take some nitrogen from the soil which will have
to be replaced by you. Eventually, the reverse will be the case but how
long 'eventually' is could be quite a long time! You could have someone in
to grind the stumps down but that doesn't sound a good idea if you've
already re-planted the area. I'd be inclined to just keep an eye out for
any apparent lack of nitrogen in your plants and feed accordingly. And as
one who had the great satisfaction of taking down several of those monsters,
I congratulate you AND I enter into your joyous reaction!
--
Sacha
www.hillhousenursery.co.uk
South Devon
(remove the weeds to email me)

The message .com
from "Cat(h)" contains these words:

The tree surgeon would have done so, had he not been warned by me not
to disturb the neighbour's garden: you see, the leylandii are on the
boundary, and while we have lovely neighbours, we weren't about to turn
into the neighbours from hell by destroying their beautifully planted
border on the immediate other side of the boundary.

I wasn't suggesting the tree surgeon(s) weren't worth their salt, just
that they ought to have suggested it. Since they did, fill marks to
them.

Surely, if cutting
the trees down kills them, the roots are no longer pumping nutrients.
They might even provide some back into the soil by rotting quietly?

Well, some, but not a lot. Tou may acquire some interesting (and
delicious) mushrooms, though.


However, what's done is done. Compost or well-rotted manure can be
spread as a mulch and the worms will soon take it down into the topsoil.


That's the intention.

Excellent. If you can bear the sight of it, you can pile cardboard,
grass mowings, manure, kitchen scraps (but not meat, it attracts the
rats), straw, paper etc to knee-height, water it well (with added urine)
then cover it with black plastic, peg the plastic down and leave it
until spring.

In the meantime, your friends the worms will get to work, and you'll
find a fine tilth of well-structured soil when you uncover it.

--
Rusty
Emus to: horrid dot squeak snailything zetnet point co full-stop uk
http://www.users.zetnet.co.uk/hi-fi/

Jaques d'Alltrades wrote:

However, what's done is done. Compost or well-rotted manure can be
spread as a mulch and the worms will soon take it down into the topsoil.


That's the intention.

Excellent. If you can bear the sight of it, you can pile cardboard,
grass mowings, manure, kitchen scraps (but not meat, it attracts the
rats), straw, paper etc to knee-height, water it well (with added urine)
then cover it with black plastic, peg the plastic down and leave it
until spring.

In the meantime, your friends the worms will get to work, and you'll
find a fine tilth of well-structured soil when you uncover it.

It'll take a long time in my experience to rot Leylandii, it's more
resitant than most to rotting (which is an advantage if you use the
timber outside). We have cut down quite a number of large (up to 18"
diameter and 50ft high) Leylandii and also had some Aspen trees felled
for us. The aspens rot away in a year or so, none of the Leylandii
show any sign of rotting yet.

--
Chris Green

The message
from contains these words:
Jaques d'Alltrades wrote:

However, what's done is done. Compost or well-rotted manure can be
spread as a mulch and the worms will soon take it down into the
topsoil.


That's the intention.

Excellent. If you can bear the sight of it, you can pile cardboard,
grass mowings, manure, kitchen scraps (but not meat, it attracts the
rats), straw, paper etc to knee-height, water it well (with added urine)
then cover it with black plastic, peg the plastic down and leave it
until spring.

In the meantime, your friends the worms will get to work, and you'll
find a fine tilth of well-structured soil when you uncover it.

It'll take a long time in my experience to rot Leylandii, it's more
resitant than most to rotting (which is an advantage if you use the
timber outside).

That wasn't the intention - it was just to save trying to dig compost in
through the network of roots.

--
Rusty
Emus to: horrid dot squeak snailything zetnet point co full-stop uk
http://www.users.zetnet.co.uk/hi-fi/

On 18 Aug 2005 03:39:41 -0700, "Cat(h)" wrote:
border on the immediate other side of the boundary. Surely, if cutting
the trees down kills them, the roots are no longer pumping nutrients.
They might even provide some back into the soil by rotting quietly?

I was going to add " rotting quietly,,,, but very slowly" !
But I see others have suggested that already.

I don't know where they stand in the conifer world in relation to
Larch ( I'm thinking resin content) so I don't want to worry you
unduly, but about 28 years ago we took down some dead and dying larch
and the stumps are still there ! In fact so are some of the logs and
trunks that were left where they fell ! Others that were stacked still
keep us warm in the winters :)

To add to the suggestions already given about mulching, I wonder if
you could make a 'raised bed' type system to enclose them and keep
mulch/compost over them ? Keep it deep and moist and that should speed
things up.
You could maybe even grow beans in the bed to share with your
neighbour :-))

Jaques d'Alltrades wrote:
The message .com
from "Cat(h)" contains these words:

The tree surgeon would have done so, had he not been warned by me not
to disturb the neighbour's garden: you see, the leylandii are on the
boundary, and while we have lovely neighbours, we weren't about to turn
into the neighbours from hell by destroying their beautifully planted
border on the immediate other side of the boundary.

I wasn't suggesting the tree surgeon(s) weren't worth their salt, just
that they ought to have suggested it. Since they did, fill marks to
them.

Surely, if cutting
the trees down kills them, the roots are no longer pumping nutrients.
They might even provide some back into the soil by rotting quietly?

Well, some, but not a lot. Tou may acquire some interesting (and
delicious) mushrooms, though.

More good news about the consequences of killing Leylandii! There's
definitely *no* downsides!



However, what's done is done. Compost or well-rotted manure can be
spread as a mulch and the worms will soon take it down into the topsoil.


That's the intention.

Excellent. If you can bear the sight of it, you can pile cardboard,
grass mowings, manure, kitchen scraps (but not meat, it attracts the
rats), straw, paper etc to knee-height, water it well (with added urine)
then cover it with black plastic, peg the plastic down and leave it
until spring.

Sounds like an interesting in-situ compost heap... Unfortunately, I
have already replanted most of the area - you should have seen how
impatient I was for the tree man to get out of the way, getting very
conscious that my potted fuschias needed an opportunity before winter
to get established!
I will mulch around the plants this winter, though.


In the meantime, your friends the worms will get to work, and you'll
find a fine tilth of well-structured soil when you uncover it.

I take note for another area. It sounds like a good tip.

Thanking you and all for your advice!

Cat(h)
The world swirls...

--
Rusty
Emus to: horrid dot squeak snailything zetnet point co full-stop uk
http://www.users.zetnet.co.uk/hi-fi/

WaltA wrote:
On 18 Aug 2005 03:39:41 -0700, "Cat(h)" wrote:
border on the immediate other side of the boundary. Surely, if cutting
the trees down kills them, the roots are no longer pumping nutrients.
They might even provide some back into the soil by rotting quietly?

I was going to add " rotting quietly,,,, but very slowly" !
But I see others have suggested that already.

I don't know where they stand in the conifer world in relation to
Larch ( I'm thinking resin content) so I don't want to worry you
unduly, but about 28 years ago we took down some dead and dying larch
and the stumps are still there ! In fact so are some of the logs and
trunks that were left where they fell ! Others that were stacked still
keep us warm in the winters :)

To add to the suggestions already given about mulching, I wonder if
you could make a 'raised bed' type system to enclose them and keep
mulch/compost over them ? Keep it deep and moist and that should speed
things up.

Actually, the soil isn't that bad there, believe it or not. The main
sin from the dreaded leylandii, was just how dry they were keeping it.
And now, how tricky it is to plant between their roots. I have mostly
managed to get the plants I wanted planted where I wanted them. I may
need a little more force to plant two climbers, though I think I should
wait till next spring, as it is getting a little late.. or is it?

Meanwhile, I plan to mulch the whole bed in late winter/early spring
with some well rotted manure from a local farm.

You could maybe even grow beans in the bed to share with your
neighbour :-))

The neigbour's veg patch puts mine to serious shame... they'd probably
smirk at my feeble attempt :-) Plus, I have bother keeping up with my
own crop... whatever possessed me to plant veg I am the only one to
like? Thank goodness for the freezer :-)

Cat(h)
The world swirls...