getting rid of Leylandii hedge

[scrummymummy]

We have recently bought our first house and its surrounded on htree sides of the garden by a huge and well established leylandii hedge. it's draining all the goodness from the rest of the garden and completely blocks out any sunlight from the lawn. i'm desperate to get rid of the thing but cant afford to pay someone to do it.....how can we do it ourselves??????

[landscaper2]

Dont like the sound of 'huge'!! Have you had a quote yet? It may be cheaper than you thought. How tall are they - 10', 20', 30'? Try and find the money to pay a good contractor, he will cut them down, grind out the stumps, take it all away and leave you tidy, probably all in a day. Doing it youself will not come without cost. A well established hedge will contain an enormous amount of wood that will need to be disposed of, you will need a good chainsaw, maybe hire a stump grinder and of course there is the danger element to personel and property to consider.

[bimbo123456]

Be careful that you don't end up with "heave". The soil gets used to the amount of water coming out and when it stops the level rises. We had huge leylandii (30ft) in our garden and paid a contractor to do it. Worth every penny. We were left with some chippings which we dug into our clay soil. Hellebore particularly like it. Good luck scrummy

[landscaper2]

Good point Bimbo. If the trees are close to the house, they should be taken down in stages, spaning up to 3 years. A good tree feller would be able to advise.

[sp1214]

The hardest part of removing a tree is the stump. If you remove some of the lower branches this will enable you to cut the tree down near to ground level. Then put some tar onto the sawn trunk to kill the roots. If you have neighbours you will then find why the trees were planted there in the first place.
If you then want privacy I can recommend those 4 metre length brushwood fences bought from DIY stores which is a cheaper purchase than 6' wooden panels.

[sp1214]

ps. I assume you own all the leylandis

[BillyBB]

My 'hedge' was 15' high. I just cut them all down to 4' stumps and they did not grow back. Took me years to get rid of all the wood and I still haven't removed the stumps. The wood cuts easily with a hand saw but I wish I'd used a chainsaw to chop them into manageable pieces.