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Are Leylandii really so bad?
My neighbour has six 30'+ Leylandii on the boundary with my garden, next to my fence.
They are much too close to the house and darken my narrow garden, however, they seem very popular with all the birds and Dunnocks, Robins and Wood Pigeons nest in them.
My neighbour has agreed to the trees being reduced or removed - he doesn't mind which.
If i remove them i only have room for a fairly narow 'hedge' of perhaps pyracantha and Ivy against the fence to replace them. If i reduce them to 5/6' I could still plant the ivy + pyracantha and let the conifers grow back to about 7'.
Remove or Reduce..?
Reduce definitely, that way you can control the height in future maybe, otherwise the others will grow out of control and so ungainly.
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It needs careful consideration. Reducing the height can leave them looking unsightly and out of proportion because you can't cut back the side growth ; it won't regrow. You may get new upward growth from the trunk but not at the sides if you cut back to old wood..
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On my side they are behind my fence and planted very close to it so although they are green and healthy above, below the fence line they have virtually no growth at all - just lots of dead branches and twigs and knarled, multi-stems with loads of nooks and crannies filled with spider webs. They appear to be very old and seem to have been cut down twice in the past - judging by the number of stems.
On my neighbours side they look very healthy and green, including well below fence height - so if cut down there would still be green hedge on his side.
I was thinking about reducing the tops level with the fence, which would initially leave the tops very bare but then letting them grow up again another foot or two. I would probably give the side just a light trim on my neighbours side but i doubt this will ever be done again (or has ever been done before!)
Everyone i've spoken to, including the guy tasked with cutting them, thinks i'm crazy to even consder keeping them, but they do seem far more wildlife friendly than they are given credit for.
I'm with Galatas on this topic. You can reduce the height but cutting back side growth might leave you with brown unsightly branches which will not be so popular with your garden birds and also spoil the appearance of your garden.
If your neighbour is willing to remove the Leylandii, this might be a good idea. Would this give both of you space to plan a mutual mixed species wildlife hedge?
"The road of excess leads to the palace of wisdom" - Wlliam Blake
I think we cross posted - see above re condition of trees!
I like the idea of replacing them with a mixed and mutual wildlife hedge; not sure what my neighbours reaction to this would be - he appears to have no interest in his garden at all - it's quite possible he would agree to me doing whatever i liked. However, as the trees are old i'm assuming the ground will be full of root and difficult to plant into if i were to try to put a hedge in the same area. I had planned to put in a bit of a raised bed if i encountered this problem on my side when planting the pyracanthas and Ivies.
The garden is 110' long and on the side opposite the conifers i have room for a mixed 'loose' hedge and further down on the conifer side, room for a dense mixed wildlife hedge.
I think you're between a rock and hard place. I've yet to see a neglected Leylandii hedge successfully rejuvenated. At 30 feet tall I'm guessing they must be about 10 inches in diameter at the base. Removing the stumps and root will be no easy task.
The bases are very large; bigger than 10''. I suspect thay are much older than their 30 foot might suggest - they have many multistems from previous reductions.
All costs of removal/reduction/replacement will fall to me - my neighbour has no interest at all.
I have seen some where all the branches were removed, and the trunks then used for climbing plants like honeysuckle etc and to attach nest boxes. However, I don't think they were as old as yours and there was room for the new planting a little way from the root ball.
I'd take them out - especially if you're paying for it. Having done it once, your neighbour would probably expect you to carry on maintaining the things. Alternatively, you may find in 6 months the neighbour moves and whoever moves in gets obstinate about trimming them at 7ft and you end up back to square one or in fence wars.
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I did think of stripping them completely to kill them and leaving tall stumps to grow ivy and honeysuckle over but as they are very green (on my neighbours side) almost down to the ground it would be possible to reduce and still leave them as a green hedge. On my side they are bare from the top of the fence down ( there is only a few inches between the trees and my fence) but i wont see this because it's behind the fence. I would be left with a lot of cut stems at the top of the fence, which i will be able to see as they are several feet lower than the house, and i don't know how well they will grow up again - if at all.
I don't mind trimming them myself to keep them at 7' but i am worried about the possibility of an awkward new neighbour who might refuse to allow it to be done in the future.
Just concerned i'll lose all the birds if i remove them - they do seem to make popular nesting sites and a lot of birds fly into the garden straight into the conifers before venturing down to the tables.
Then again, i don't know whether the birds will be so keen anyway if the trees are only 7'.
I'm hopeless at making decisions!