SAve, BEautify and Love Your Trees: Tree CAre Tips

Leylandii hedges can be useful if you want to create a privacy screen to shield your property from neighbouring gardens or from a busy street.  However, Leylandii are fast-growing and can become extremely tall very quickly.  A tall, dense hedge can create so much shade that nothing will grow nearby.  If you want to get rid of a very large unwanted Leylandii hedge, you should contact your local tree services contractor for help.  However, a small hedge can be tackled by taking the DIY route.  Here's how to do it.

Legalities

The first thing you should do is contact your local council to make sure that it is okay to remove the hedge, just in case there is a tree preservation order in place.  Although this is unlikely to be the case, it's as well to confirm it so that you know you're staying on the right side of the law.

Removing the hedge

Before beginning your project to remove the hedge, you'll need to assemble the following pieces of equipment:

• a pair of sharp secateurs
• a handsaw
• a mattock
• gloves
• eye protection

Start off by pruning away all the small branches from each tree.  Leylandii doesn't make very good composting or mulching material, as the sap is very acidic so it's best to burn the debris.

Use your handsaw to cut off the top part of each tree trunk, leaving about a metre sticking up from the ground.  It's important not to cut the trunks right down to ground level; you'll need to use the remaining trunk as a lever to get the roots out.

Note here that you shouldn't bother trying to poison the tree by drilling holes in the stump and pouring herbicide into it.  The only really effective way of removing the stumps is to dig them out.

If the stumps are quite small, you can dig them out.  Start by using a mattock to break-up the soil around the roots to loosen them.  Leylandii roots tend to spread outwards in search of water, rather than going downwards into the ground and this makes them relatively easy to remove.  Try not to sever the roots, leaving them attached to the stump.  Using the stump as a lever, work it backwards and forwards to loosen the stump and roots.  Push the end of the mattock underneath the stump and use it to prise the stump out of the ground, bringing the roots with it.

Dig over the earth to locate and remove any remaining fragments of root that are left behind.  If you want to grow plants in the vacated spot, add good-quality organic compost to the soil and dig it over thoroughly.

In conclusion

A very large, mature Leylandii hedge is best tackled by a professional tree services company.  However, you can remove a small hedge yourself by following the guidelines above.