Are these trees dead?

v638sg7k1a92bx

I think the roots got damaged when the boundary wall was being rebuild last year. I thought that because of the snow and the hot summer that they would reestablish themselves this year but it's not looking good.

CJhaughey

They look pretty dead to me, Horrible looking things anyway.
At least this will give you a chance to replant with some more attractive trees!

GrumpyMe

Looks like it - however just to be sure cut them off at about three inches from ground level.

Congratulations at least four less abominations! (I'm slightly biased, sorry)

Lawson cypress will quickly provide a barrier between houses but they are not really suitable.

You now get to plant something more suitable.

Ha Ha CJ got there before me!

Odelay

Yep, they’re dead.
You’re very luck, they died just in time before they grew out of control.

J Cheevor Loophole

RIP.

v638sg7k1a92bx

CJhaughey wrote: »

They look pretty dead to me, Horrible looking things anyway.
At least this will give you a chance to replant with some more attractive trees!

GrumpyMe wrote: »

Looks like it - however just to be sure cut them off at about three inches from ground level.

Congratulations at least four less abominations! (I'm slightly biased, sorry)

Lawson cypress will quickly provide a barrier between houses but they are not really suitable.

You now get to plant something more suitable.

Ha Ha CJ got there before me!

lol. Why do they get so much hate? I actually liked them, dark green, provided a good screen for privacy, trimmed them back once per year.

Any suggestions on what to replace them with, it's a busy main end of row main road so I will want to plant something fully grown, I can't wait years.

v638sg7k1a92bx

Odelay wrote: »

Yep, they’re dead.
You’re very luck, they died just in time before they grew out of control.

What was the name of these trees btw?

Will the roots be hard to get out of the ground?

Bradley Elegant Candlestick

Bradley Elegant Candlestick wrote: »

What was the name of these trees btw?

Will the roots be hard to get out of the ground?

leylandii - they just keep growing and are relative dead zones for nature

Lumen

Leave the roots in the ground.

GrumpyMe

Bradley Elegant Candlestick wrote: »

lol. Why do they get so much hate?...

Well... my neighbours have them, so I do as well. :rolleyes:
I've to keep them in check on my side, because he doesn't!
I come out in a rash from whatever chemical they release.
They consume all the moisture out of the earth for "miles" around.
They do create a dead zone.
They don't even burn well!



They are a fine windbreak out in the wilds where they can grow naturally to a height of 15m but they are not suitable for peaceful urban life unless work is put into keeping them in check.


To replace the screen you had - bamboo (it has it's haters too!). Quick to grow and tall too. They creep but can be contained in situ with membrane.


Lots of other choices but none that are a quick replacement.

looksee

I am not sure how you are going to grow a decent hedge with leylandii roots in the ground - and even if they are removed the soil is not going to be much.

Idle musing...I wonder if you could consider trimming off the bulk of the twiggy stuff and leave skeleton trees that you grow an assortment of vigorous evergreen clematis up? I have my doubts tbh. And eventually the trees will rot and fall over, but at least by then you could plant some new stuff. Its probably not a very bright idea but sometimes you have to share these daft ideas.

Teepinaw

Bradley Elegant Candlestick wrote: »

I think the roots got damaged when the boundary wall was being rebuild last year. I thought that because of the snow and the hot summer that they would reestablish themselves this year but it's not looking good.

Ugh, get them out. They'd take the wall with them if left grow.

Don't leave the roots, hack away at them.

Best place for leylandii is as a wind breaker if you had a house on a cliff off Donegal.

They are very acidic, will take the paint off cars parked near them and no worms can live in the soil around them. The don't attract any native wildlife whatsoever.

Replace with something beautiful, flowering and Irish/indigenous if possible.

Lumen

looksee wrote: »

I am not sure how you are going to grow a decent hedge with leylandii roots in the ground - and even if they are removed the soil is not going to be much.

Hmmm. I'm currently trying to grow an Eleagnus ebbingei hedge under a row of growing Lleylandii, because I don't want ten years of staring into my neighbour's windows. Plan is to chop the Lleylandii when the hedge is at a good 4-5ft.

They've had two winters and the last awful summer where I foolishly respected the hosepipe ban, and haven't done much yet. Certainly much less growth than the Viburnum I have out in the open. I've deliberately not watered or fertilised them as I don't think it's a good idea with new plants, better to let them adapt to their environment. But this year I might try some balanced fertiliser and drip irrigation.

I did pick the Eleagnus for their eventual height and suitablilty for underplanting (which I read to mean they do OK when competing for water and nutrients), but in hindsight some laurel might have done better.

I guess the OP could always build up the soil to make a raised bed, but I don't really like the extremely narrow bed between the wall and the paving, looks to be only about a foot wide and may be rain sheltered by the wall. Most things are are going to struggle there regardless of the Lleylandii roots.

edit: pics: https://imgur.com/a/pokSo27

v638sg7k1a92bx

Teepinaw wrote: »

Replace with something beautiful, flowering and Irish/indigenous if possible.

Like what?

Odelay

Bradley Elegant Candlestick wrote: »

Like what?

Holly?

bobbyss

Bradley Elegant Candlestick wrote:

Like what?

No expert here, just an amateur. I had leylandi but chopped them down. Too big. Ugly. Spent weeks and weeks with hatchet, axe and crowbar getting the roots out. But enjoyable too. Took out all my frustrations on them.

Porteguese laurel ? They're hedging and I believe can stand about-20 degrees.
Goldcrest? A bit boring though.
We got a Canadian spruce. Slow growing but nice.
Not grislenia. Spelling is probably wrong. This is the absolute bog standard hedging you see around the place. Yet many were destroyed in the big freeze.
A mixture plants would work well perhaps?

Lumen

I don't really see the point in planting a thick hedge in front of a wall, unless you really need privacy over 2m.

Better to plant individual attractive shrubs that bring colour, flowers and interesting leaf colours at different times of year.

v638sg7k1a92bx

Lumen wrote: »

I don't really see the point in planting a thick hedge in front of a wall, unless you really need privacy over 2m.

Better to plant individual attractive shrubs that bring colour, flowers and interesting leaf colours at different times of year.

Really need the privacy. Main road end of terrace with a car park and businesses next door.

v638sg7k1a92bx

Odelay wrote: »

Holly?

Stop with the Holly please.

J Cheevor Loophole

Lumen wrote: »

Leave the roots in the ground.

I would leave the roots in the ground. Even if you were hacking live Cypress's to the ground, they wouldn't regenerate from old wood anyway. A lot of work for nothing. With the soil poor and probably acidic, have you considered buying mature silver Birch trees. You could coppice them in later years to your own requirements. A bark mulch at the beginning to get them established. Native and wildlife friendly. Even bare rooted Birches would survive there.

v638sg7k1a92bx

J Cheevor Loophole wrote: »

I would leave the roots in the ground. Even if you were hacking live Cypress's to the ground, they wouldn't regenerate from old wood anyway. A lot of work for nothing. With the soil poor and probably acidic, have you considered buying mature silver Birch trees. You could coppice them in later years to your own requirements. A bark mulch at the beginning to get them established. Native and wildlife friendly. Even bare rooted Birches would survive there.

But would a birch tree provide as much screening cover?

When you say bark mulch at the beginning, do you mean bark mulch in the soil where they are growing?

J Cheevor Loophole

Birches are deciduous, so it's a filtered screening from Nov to April, and you get to coppice to your desired height. But they're fairly quick growers, even in poor soil, so there's a trade off. It's not ideal for sure, but evergreens ( if they take in that soil ) would be a gamble and take longer to provide the screen you want.
Bark mulch is a good start to any tree planting whatever you decide ( moisture retention / weed suppression ) the mulch eventually breaking down organically.

v638sg7k1a92bx

Could I plant some laurels in between and wait for them to grow while theses trees are dying?

magicbastarder

i don't think they're dying; they're dead.
re planting between them; the soil could be exhausted, or possibly overrun with roots. not an ideal medium to plant into, i'd guess.

standardg60

It's not an ideal situation but there looks like there's enough space between them to get some new plants in as long as you can dig a hole deep enough. Add plenty of fertilizer as the soil will be fairly impoverished, but at least the leylandii are no longer taking up nutrients and water.

v638sg7k1a92bx

standardg60 wrote: »

It's not an ideal situation but there looks like there's enough space between them to get some new plants in as long as you can dig a hole deep enough. Add plenty of fertilizer as the soil will be fairly impoverished, but at least the leylandii are no longer taking up nutrients and water.

Do you mean liquid fertilizer?

standardg60

No a granular fertilizer that you can dig into the soil, it would be far stronger than a liquid one.

v638sg7k1a92bx

standardg60 wrote: »

No a granular fertilizer that you can dig into the soil, it would be far stronger than a liquid one.

Like chicken pellets?

Realistically how much would you need?

lawred2

CJhaughey wrote: »

They look pretty dead to me, Horrible looking things anyway.
At least this will give you a chance to replant with some more attractive trees!

Agreed they are awful things

recedite

Bradley Elegant Candlestick wrote: »

Really need the privacy. Main road end of terrace with a car park and businesses next door.

In that case I'll go against the flow here, and say plant the same again.
They'll be back up to the height in about 4 or 5 years, and just make sure to keep them topped after that.

_Brian

I wonder would western red cedar be a better option.
Good growth rates, good screening.

But what sets them aside from leylandi is that you can cut them back to old wood and they regrow. That makes managing them much easier.

recedite

_Brian wrote: »

I wonder would western red cedar be a better option.
Good growth rates, good screening.

But what sets them aside from leylandi is that you can cut them back to old wood and they regrow. That makes managing them much easier.

What are they like for remaining reasonably green and bushy at the lower level? Say they were being maintained at a constant height of 3 metres or so.

I've noticed that Leylandi are better than Lawson's for this.