How to thin a Leylandii tree

Sea point

Hi all,

I have a single young Leylandii tree in the garden of a house we recently bought. I have heard that these trees can become very tall and dense. I am good with this tree growing tall in its current location.

I'm not so keen on this tree being dense. I wondered if I cut away branches at intervals all the way back to the main trunk would this tree then let light through the body of the tree as it grows and matures ?

Does anyone have experience of doing this ? It will be easy to cut branches back now since it is a small tree. I plan to let this tree grow tall and I'm hoping there won't be grow back that becomes inaccessible with height.

Any thoughts ?

magicbastarder

kill it with fire.

more seriously, if it's still young and small, might be worth digging it out and replacing it with something more manageable.

magicbastarder

for most people this means pruning their hedge religiously each year, missing a years pruning will result in excessive labour at dangerous height the following year.

http://www.gardenplansireland.com/articles/article21.html

Sea point

As I say I actually would like the height in this location. So I'm not looking for a smaller tree. I guess I am just really wondering if theren are effective ways of reducing the density of this tree ?

Iranoutofideas

As someone who owns far too many of these monsters I would strongly urge you to get rid of the tree now and instead replace it with a native tree that will actually contribute positively to your garden in many aspects.

To put it simply - Leylandii are ugly, ridiculously fast growing and next to impossible to control should you for whatever reason skip pruning (you can't predict the future - bad back, money problems etc). They also offer wildlife next to nothing. And did I say they are ugly, yep they are ugly.

How about something like an Ash tree. I pulled one out of a ditch about 20 years ago when it was about 3-4 feet tall. Now it is a beautiful tree in my back garden that is near to 35 feet. The foliage is gorgeous dduring the summer and the birds love it.

I've cut some of its lower branches over the years so that the view behind it is not obscured. It is still thriving. More importantly it doesn't block loads of light like the impenetrable Leylandii.

Looks a bit like this



Meanwhile a big Leylandii will end up like this if it gets out of control.

Oldtree

It will overcome you. Plant somthing else in its place there is loads to choose from. I love Ash, but sadly it cannot be moved around the country due to Ash Dieback restrictions at the moment.

Oldtree

magicbastarder wrote: »

kill it with fire.

and take pictures for us please

Sea point

Given that everyone is advocating replacing this tree while it is still young and easy to replace that leaves men wondering what to replace it with !

I need a fast growing evergreen tree in this location. Any ideas for trees that could be planted to replace this Leylandii ? The previous owner clearly planted it to screen out a very tall development on a neighbouring site.

All suggestions welcome ! Many thanks

Markcheese

Could you not just top it - won't that stop it's growth - ( my parents planted a dwarf conifer that was supposed to get to 5 foot max in the front garden - it's 25 years later and the tree is only 15/20 foot high and very wide-

Tombo2001

The problem with leylandii apart from its appearance, is that you cant trim it back very much. Once established, if you cut beyond 'the green' it doesn't grow back.

I.e. it needs attention regularly.

I bought a house recently, it had been vacant for four years. In that time the leylandii grew several feet, both in height and diameter. This couldn't be pruned back in any reasonable way. They must have been nearly ten feet in width. Anyway, they're all gone now.

One additional point on leylandii is that they don't support birdlife. If you like the tweety sound in the garden, leylandii is not your tree.

Norfolk Enchants_

Sea point wrote: »

Hi all,

I have a single young Leylandii tree in the garden of a house we recently bought. I have heard that these trees can become very tall and dense. I am good with this tree growing tall in its current location.

I'm not so keen on this tree being dense. I wondered if I cut away branches at intervals all the way back to the main trunk would this tree then let light through the body of the tree as it grows and matures ?

Does anyone have experience of doing this ? It will be easy to cut branches back now since it is a small tree. I plan to let this tree grow tall and I'm hoping there won't be grow back that becomes inaccessible with height.

Any thoughts ?

While leyandii make excellent hedges when pruned/trimmed regularly, they make poor individual specimens, so for that reason now is the time to remove it and plant with a more suitable tree, if you like conifers then you can't go wrong with a scots pine, they make excellent specimen trees and have a certain jurassic appeal.

Iranoutofideas

How about a Yew tree?

magicbastarder

probably won't grow fast enough for the OP.
Sea point - is your house urban or rural?

Markcheese

I'd be wary of yew if there's kids about -
How about a couple of holly bushes- especially the variegated ones - definitely chainsaw for the leylandia -

wildlifeboy

what are those mini trees you get in baskets that look like leylandi? I have a couple that are taller than me now. if they are going to end up like leylandi I will chop them down this season.

celticbhoy27

goldcrest. nowhere near the growth rate of leylandi. easily enough managed

sconhome

OP if you want screening you will be surprised at what a blend of native trees will do to opaque a view in winter and still allow light in during the summer.

Depending on soace you could possibly get away with a mix of birch, rowan or even lime. Think of street trees with a dense canopy of finer branches in winter. Definitely lose the leylandii. Other fast crowing conifers will end up with the same result of overbearing shade. If evergreen cover is necessary you could use pencil juniper to form a tidy barrier but depends on location and exposure.

Also worth considering that a feature tree which is evergreen my draw the eye thus highlighting the problem view rather than distracting from it.