In article ,
Dave Hill writes:
|
| I have never known Leylandii regrow from the trunk, only from
| remaining green growth.

Yes. They are conifers, and they won't regrow from old wood.

| And if you get 5 to 10 years of use as a support then that's not bad
| as most posts used for the job would only last that long, and by then
| you have no problems with having to dig out the stumps.

Not my point. If they are genuinely massive, you have a 2 metre
tall pillar weighing perhaps 100 Kg. If that comes down on someone,
it could do serious damage.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

thanks everyone for the replies, I feel a bit better about all this now, however these trees are a lot taller than 11 feet. When I had quotes for reducing them all, and removal of waste it was 700 quid, they said it would be 7 tonnes! anyone know a reputable tree surgeon for the Botley, Oxford area?

On 1 Jan, 20:10, redg wrote:
®óñ© © ²°¹°-°²;768260 Wrote:



On Tue, 1 Jan 2008 01:32:04 -0800 (PST),
wrote and included this (or some of this):
-
On 1 Jan, 05:29, redg wrote:-
So you all reckon I should get it done, but no comments about the
undergound structural damage where the roots have reached. That's my-

That's why you need the professionals.

In general all the Leylandii I have taken down have had a root ball no
wider than the crown, but I live on heavy clay. The nature of root
growth is a complicated thing, depending on underground conditions.-

Last month I had most of the trees in my front garden removed.
(mostly inherited stuff when I moved in)
]
6 large old Leylandii, were about 11' high and all at least 8' wide
and too near neighbour's drive.

1 overgrown Mahonia

2 large beech trees, far too near to pavement and neighbour's drive.

Sundry wild seeded trees in amongst the above.

Got a little man in who felled the lot in 3 hours, chipped up
everything in a flatbed for recycling.

A bargain at £250 (and the neighbour chipped in a £100 to help!)

--
®óñ© © ²°¹°-°²
..

thanks everyone for the replies, I feel a bit better about all this
now, however these trees are a lot taller than 11 feet. When I had
quotes for reducing them all, and removal of waste it was 700 quid,
they said it would be 7 tonnes! anyone know a reputable tree surgeon
for the Botley, Oxford area?

--
redg

On 1 Jan, 20:10, redg wrote:
When I had
quotes for reducing them all, and removal of waste it was 700 quid,
they said it would be 7 tonnes!

Not unlikely. The local council around here charges around £45 per
tonne to dispose of trade garden waste, and then you will pay VAT on
top of that before the chap even starts to make any money.

You might consider asking a sawmill - in the good old days they used
to collect convertable timber free of charge. I don't know if
Leylandii can be used for timber, I don't see why not if Larch can.

The other thing to consider is the firewood pikey. They may take the
material off you, leaving you only to pay the specialist for taking
them down.

In message , Charlie
Pridham writes
If you are on clay worry, but otherwise if not showing signs of cracks
now and you have them down you should be fine. Even on clay the sooner
they are removed the less likely you are to get "heave" after.

Our neighbours have about 10 very tall ones along their side of our
nextdoor boundary. We've recently put in a single storey extension
which takes it very close to the fence. We decided to get a structural
engineer in to advise. We are on very heavy clay - so as well as
putting in *very* deep footings, we had to put special boards in to
absorb swelling and shrinkage - and a block and beam floor.

We are probably going to have to pay half the amount to get rid of the
Leylandii as the neighbours are unlikely to do it otherwise. However,
the engineer advised cutting the tops off one year to allow a gradual
change in the water saturation - then the following year take the rest.
Don't know if that has any relevance to the OP's situation.

The only benefit from the trees seems to be that a bunch of starlings
seem to be nesting there. They're not even any good for the woodburning
stove

--
regards andyw

Well , I've emailed what looks like a reputable company in Eynsham (nearby town, who will give a free evaluation of the situation and then advise on the way to proceed and costings.) to go and have a look. They may turn out to be very expensive but I had to start somewhere as I am not satisfied with the letting agents endeavours. So I will post the outcomes.

newsb wrote:

The only benefit from the trees seems to be that a bunch of starlings
seem to be nesting there. They're not even any good for the woodburning
stove

Not true (the burning bit), Leylandii are quite acceptable for burning
in a woodburning stove if they're well seasoned/dried, just like any
other wood.

Leylandii wood is about 'middle of the road' for burning, not as good
as the best (Ash and similar) but a lot better than the worst. We
have been burning steadily through our Leylandii for the past seven or
eight years with no problems.

Leylandii wood is actually quite hard and more like a hardwood than a
softwood in many ways, it's nothing like pine.

--
Chris Green

In article ,
writes:
| newsb wrote:
|
| The only benefit from the trees seems to be that a bunch of starlings
| seem to be nesting there. They're not even any good for the woodburning
| stove
|
| Not true (the burning bit), Leylandii are quite acceptable for burning
| in a woodburning stove if they're well seasoned/dried, just like any
| other wood.

Yes. Conifers are rarely suitable for burning in an open fire, as the
resin makes them 'spit', but that is not a problem in a stove.

| Leylandii wood is actually quite hard and more like a hardwood than a
| softwood in many ways, it's nothing like pine.

Pines vary. Some can be fairly hard.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

redg wrote:

thanks everyone for the replies, I feel a bit better about all this
now, however these trees are a lot taller than 11 feet. When I had
quotes for reducing them all, and removal of waste it was 700 quid,
they said it would be 7 tonnes! anyone know a reputable tree surgeon
for the Botley, Oxford area?

A near neighbour of mine has apparently been the victim of a
scam. Some itinerants called, and told him that he had to let
them trim several large trees because the chap next door had
complained, which was completely untrue.

To say the result was butchery would be an understatement. They
didn't remove any material, and charged him £400 for the job.

He has since clearly decided that his only option is to have the
trees completely removed, and the whole garden done. This team
appear to be working weekends only, and seem to have done the job
OK, but more by good luck than good management.

They had a reasonably large conifer to bring down, without room
to drop it in one. I saw no goggles, ear defenders or safety
clothing in evidence whilst using a chain saw. An extended
sectional ladder rested against the tree, but wasn't secured to
it. There was some form of personal safety loop, but is was only
clipped to the ladder, the top rung of which rested insecurely
against the trunk. The chain saw was deployed at about head
height, but having no goggles the operator had to look away from
the cut. Meanwhile the second man had to leave his position
footing the ladder to heave on the rope hoping to persuade the
section to fall the right way.

Chris
--
Chris J Dixon Nottingham UK


Have dancing shoes, will ceilidh.

Nick Maclaren wrote:

In article ,
writes:
| newsb wrote:
|
| The only benefit from the trees seems to be that a bunch of starlings
| seem to be nesting there. They're not even any good for the woodburning
| stove
|
| Not true (the burning bit), Leylandii are quite acceptable for burning
| in a woodburning stove if they're well seasoned/dried, just like any
| other wood.

Yes. Conifers are rarely suitable for burning in an open fire, as the
resin makes them 'spit', but that is not a problem in a stove.

No significant spitting from the Leylandii unless you get some twiggy
bits in with it. If you burn the leaves it's quite exciting!

| Leylandii wood is actually quite hard and more like a hardwood than a
| softwood in many ways, it's nothing like pine.

Pines vary. Some can be fairly hard.

Yes, OK, I was just comparing Leylandii with the odd bits of our Scots
pine (I think) that we've burnt.

--
Chris Green

On 2/1/08 17:08, in article ,
" wrote:

newsb wrote:

The only benefit from the trees seems to be that a bunch of starlings
seem to be nesting there. They're not even any good for the woodburning
stove

Not true (the burning bit), Leylandii are quite acceptable for burning
in a woodburning stove if they're well seasoned/dried, just like any
other wood.

Leylandii wood is about 'middle of the road' for burning, not as good
as the best (Ash and similar) but a lot better than the worst. We
have been burning steadily through our Leylandii for the past seven or
eight years with no problems.

Leylandii wood is actually quite hard and more like a hardwood than a
softwood in many ways, it's nothing like pine.

I certainly burned mine, with glee and malice aforethought. But the logs
did spit and spark quite a bit.
--
Sacha
http://www.hillhousenursery.co.uk
South Devon
(remove weeds from address)
'We do not inherit the earth from our ancestors, we borrow it from our
children.'

On 3/1/08 10:49, in article ,
"Martin" wrote:

On Thu, 03 Jan 2008 00:05:29 +0000, Sacha
wrote:
snip

I certainly burned mine, with glee and malice aforethought. But the logs
did spit and spark quite a bit.

Before cutting it down? You occasionally see them going in flames in situ in
films.

If I'd thought of it I'd probably have burned them on the spot. But no,
they were logged and kept for a year. I had one mad - genuinely - neighbour
across the lane from me who tried to get the Council to stop me cutting
them. They laughed out loud at her and remarked that most people were
begging their neighbours to take them down.

--
Sacha
http://www.hillhousenursery.co.uk
South Devon
(remove weeds from address)
'We do not inherit the earth from our ancestors, we borrow it from our
children.'

On Dec 31 2007, 7:12*pm, (Nick Maclaren) wrote:
In article ,Dave Hill writes:

|
| Why not have them cut down to 6 or 7ft stumps and then use these for
| growing something like climbing roses, clematis etc over.

If you kill them, in 5-10 years their roots will rot and they will
fall over. *If you don't, they will regrow and be as much trouble
in 5-10 years.


I got mine taken down by tree surgeons, and one of them kept for the
very purpose suggested by Dave. That was about 3 years ago - not a
sign of growth since... Not even from the bright red clematis and
danse du feu climbing rose I have on it... (well, some, but
disappointing, so I say to myself, patience, patience)...

Cat(h)

In article be79d3bd-2f34-4714-9a8e-
, says...
On Dec 31 2007, 7:12*pm, (Nick Maclaren) wrote:
In article ,Dave Hill writes:

|
| Why not have them cut down to 6 or 7ft stumps and then use these for
| growing something like climbing roses, clematis etc over.

If you kill them, in 5-10 years their roots will rot and they will
fall over. *If you don't, they will regrow and be as much trouble
in 5-10 years.


I got mine taken down by tree surgeons, and one of them kept for the
very purpose suggested by Dave. That was about 3 years ago - not a
sign of growth since... Not even from the bright red clematis and
danse du feu climbing rose I have on it... (well, some, but
disappointing, so I say to myself, patience, patience)...

Cat(h)



Thats the snag with them, they laeve the soil so depleted that for
several years its difficult to grow anything, in your case try a rescue
package of lots of muck and or compost just to get the soil working
again.
--
Charlie Pridham, Gardening in Cornwall
www.roselandhouse.co.uk
Holders of national collections of Clematis viticella cultivars and
Lapageria rosea

On Jan 3, 7:03*pm, Charlie Pridham
wrote:
In article be79d3bd-2f34-4714-9a8e-
, says...



On Dec 31 2007, 7:12*pm, (Nick Maclaren) wrote:
In article ,Dave Hill writes:

|
| Why not have them cut down to 6 or 7ft stumps and then use these for
| growing something like climbing roses, clematis etc over.

If you kill them, in 5-10 years their roots will rot and they will
fall over. *If you don't, they will regrow and be as much trouble
in 5-10 years.

I got mine taken down by tree surgeons, and one of them kept for the
very purpose suggested by Dave. *That was about 3 years ago - not a
sign of growth since... *Not even from the bright red clematis and
danse du feu climbing rose I have on it... (well, some, but
disappointing, so I say to myself, patience, patience)...

Cat(h)

Thats the snag with them, they laeve the soil so depleted that for
several years its difficult to grow anything, in your case try a rescue
package of lots of muck and or compost just to get the soil working
again.
--

That's what I figured, so I have been doing just that. Most recently
a couple of months ago, a layer of about 10cm of prize bull-sh*t
(literally) mixed with the peat and straw which makes up the bulls'
bedding at the stud farm near me - well rotted - nothing like it!
I have a really nice hedge of fuschia and pink flowering rubus
thriving there, too, now, to replace the blighters.

Cat(h)