Urglers,

Picture, if you will, my front garden. A 3 ft high wall running east-west
with a pavement on its south side and on my side, the dreaded laylandi firs.

On each side of the small gate in the centre of the wall are four laylandi
10 or so feet apart having trunks about a foot from the wall and 9 inches
diametre at ground level. Other laylandi were later planted midway between
the original trees and are 3 to 4 inches across at ground level..

When we came to this house a couple of years ago my son and a friend cut the
ba - - - -rds down by about 50% to 8 feet. By a week ago they had sent up
masses of new growth and the fronds were reaching for the sky! I decided
cut them front and back and trim them to the 8 foot level on the
pavement side and later, as an experiment, to a 6 - 7 foot level on the
inside and east of the gate so far. THREE small trailer loads - one of the
small Erde things - of stuff to cart to the council dump! I'm getting too
old for that sort of thing so I've decided the trees will have to go or at
least stop growing!.

You've probably already guessed what the problem will be - stumps and roots
under the wall and pavement.

Regarding the soil, the top soil is reasonable in places but about 10 inches
down is a 2-3 inch layer of compacted and powdery tile/brick debris over
clay. In places not far from the wall there is a similar layer of what
looks like soot but it's really hard now. The house was built in the 1930's
and some time before that there was a brickyard here.

I've had a few ideas about what to do but now it's your turn.

What can we do to give a decent appearance and let in light to the awful
lawn
which needs drastic action too?

Over to you and let this be a warning to anybody thinking of planting
laylandi!

Regards

Ron

"Ron" wrote in message
...
Urglers,

Picture, if you will, my front garden. A 3 ft high wall running east-west
with a pavement on its south side and on my side, the dreaded laylandi
firs.

On each side of the small gate in the centre of the wall are four laylandi
10 or so feet apart having trunks about a foot from the wall and 9 inches
diametre at ground level. Other laylandi were later planted midway
between
the original trees and are 3 to 4 inches across at ground level..

When we came to this house a couple of years ago my son and a friend cut
the
ba - - - -rds down by about 50% to 8 feet. By a week ago they had sent up
masses of new growth and the fronds were reaching for the sky! I decided
cut them front and back and trim them to the 8 foot level on the
pavement side and later, as an experiment, to a 6 - 7 foot level on the
inside and east of the gate so far. THREE small trailer loads - one of
the
small Erde things - of stuff to cart to the council dump! I'm getting
too
old for that sort of thing so I've decided the trees will have to go or at
least stop growing!.

You've probably already guessed what the problem will be - stumps and
roots
under the wall and pavement.

Regarding the soil, the top soil is reasonable in places but about 10
inches
down is a 2-3 inch layer of compacted and powdery tile/brick debris over
clay. In places not far from the wall there is a similar layer of what
looks like soot but it's really hard now. The house was built in the
1930's
and some time before that there was a brickyard here.

I've had a few ideas about what to do but now it's your turn.

What can we do to give a decent appearance and let in light to the awful
lawn
which needs drastic action too?

Over to you and let this be a warning to anybody thinking of planting
laylandi!

Regards

Ron


Ron,
Is the wall in good order or have the trees damaged it yet? At this
proximity to the wall they may have started to knock courses out of line.
In which case you may consider reworking the wall and use the opportunity
to remove a lot of tree. It is also possible to dig about the base of each
tree and sever the roots as they rarely put down vertical roots.
All the best
Neil

"Ron" wrote in message
...
Urglers,

Picture, if you will, my front garden. A 3 ft high wall running east-west
with a pavement on its south side and on my side, the dreaded laylandi
firs.

On each side of the small gate in the centre of the wall are four laylandi
10 or so feet apart having trunks about a foot from the wall and 9 inches
diametre at ground level. Other laylandi were later planted midway
between
the original trees and are 3 to 4 inches across at ground level..

When we came to this house a couple of years ago my son and a friend cut
the
ba - - - -rds down by about 50% to 8 feet. By a week ago they had sent up
masses of new growth and the fronds were reaching for the sky! I decided
cut them front and back and trim them to the 8 foot level on the
pavement side and later, as an experiment, to a 6 - 7 foot level on the
inside and east of the gate so far. THREE small trailer loads - one of
the
small Erde things - of stuff to cart to the council dump! I'm getting
too
old for that sort of thing so I've decided the trees will have to go or at
least stop growing!.

You've probably already guessed what the problem will be - stumps and
roots
under the wall and pavement.

Regarding the soil, the top soil is reasonable in places but about 10
inches
down is a 2-3 inch layer of compacted and powdery tile/brick debris over
clay. In places not far from the wall there is a similar layer of what
looks like soot but it's really hard now. The house was built in the
1930's
and some time before that there was a brickyard here.

I've had a few ideas about what to do but now it's your turn.

What can we do to give a decent appearance and let in light to the awful
lawn
which needs drastic action too?

Over to you and let this be a warning to anybody thinking of planting
laylandi!

Regards

Ron


Ron,
Is the wall in good order or have the trees damaged it yet? At this
proximity to the wall they may have started to knock courses out of line.
In which case you may consider reworking the wall and use the opportunity
to remove a lot of tree. It is also possible to dig about the base of each
tree and sever the roots as they rarely put down vertical roots.
All the best
Neil