Out damn Leylandii

The first task in the new garden was to get the Leylandii hedge at the back end of the garden removed.

As mentioned in my previous post, I’m not fond of Leylandii and dislike the way they stop other plants from growing under them. They are a lot of work if you want to keep them from growing out of control, and they seem to suck the light, and life, out of the garden.

The Leylandii hedge is at the East end of of the garden. The previous owners planted them as the fence behind was a metal fence and the neighbours could see straight into our garden. However, since the previous owners planted them, the neighbours have put up an additional wooden fence – I think to hide the Leylandii – so that immediate issue was resolved.

I wanted to get the hedge removed quickly as I know it takes time for soil that Leylandii has been growing in, to start to heal. Leylandii is acidic and depletes the soil of the nutrients, making it poor soil for growing fruiting trees or vegetables in. As I’m planning on putting in semi-dwarfing fruit trees in during the coming autumn I need time to get working on improving the soil.

I was fortunate to come across a good tree surgeon, Jon Gibson, who could do the work, and quickly. And wow, was it quick!

Not only was it gone, but I gained about another metre in the length of my garden! And I now have a perfect place for putting in a large rainwater harvester to make the most of the water that falls on the large garage roof.

I’ve now got more space and sense of light in my garden:

I was almost completely pleased. However…

The below picture was taken just before 10am and you can see the shadow the neighbours Leylandii is casting over the garden.

I wasn’t too worried about this when we decided to buy the house, as we worked out that it would only cast shade for about 1 hour a day. However, despite this, I secretly harboured hopes that I might be able to convince the neighbour to at least reduce it’s height, if not remove it all together. 1 hour of sunlight is pretty important given recent weather trends…

So I was delighted when I saw someone speaking to Jon at the front where he was shredding my Leylandii. Maybe this was my neighbour asking about his tree. Would you believe it – it was! I found out a little later that the neighbour wanted the whole thing gone. Out damn Leylandii! And to answer my dreams, it happened two days later!

I feel like I’m a rather lucky Gwenhwyfar to get my way so quickly, and without even trying! I’m a completely and utterly pleased bunyip, I have to say.

Of course, the garden looks even barer now, but that is just whilst it is developing. Now that the Leylandii has gone and I see how much more space and light I have, I realise I have room to put my compost bins over at the back where they will get more sun. Originally they were going to have to go alongside the neighbours fence on the right, but being shaded would have meant a much slower composting process. The new position, once I’ve had the space cleared of rubbish and weeds, will be a much better place for the compost bins. They will get more sun and speed up the composting process, and will be out of the way behind the garage – though of course will be easily accessible by the path I’ll put in.

I do need to think about how best to deal with the space between the metal fence, which is the technical end of our boundary, and the new fence the neighbour has put up. It’s kind of ‘dead space’ since I cannot actually push my boundary back. Maybe a simple wildlife habitat, which would be beneficial to the wildlife and both our gardens? It would need to be easy to ‘dismantle’ if the neighbour suddenly decides to push their fence back to the proper boundary. Another idea to muse upon.

Now that the damn Leylandii has gone I can get started on the next phase. That will be getting the area cleared of rubbish and start sowing green manure to heal the soil, and to start drawing up a base map.