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...