The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Community => Coffee Lounge => Topic started by: escapedtothecountry on April 19, 2013, 05:48:52 pm
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We have 97 Leylandi trees surrounding 2 sides of our two acres. 2 questions. If we want to take them down to 5 feet high or so do we need permission? Given they are huge what price to get them take down, all the rubbish shredded and wood left in 3 foot long longs? Have had a quote so interested in all your thoughts.
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I'd be interested too as I have a row of 40 foot high Leylands both sides of my property.
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I can't see that you need permission to lower them given that councils are having to make orders to force people to do it. And it's highly unlikely they would count as forestry being a single/double hedge line of non native garden hedging. I would chop away (no idea of cost tho I suspect quite a bit given the sizes )
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how tall is huge escaped to the country? is there room to work on them or are they close to buildings?
are they on your property?
if you cut big tree's to 5ft they will look awful and probably never recover...
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Not too bothered if they don't recover to be honest. I swear the tallest are 30metres tall. And scarily those are the ones next to the road that look like no huge chunks have blown off..... Yet!
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Leylandii don't burn well in your fire - very black. They do look awful once you've chopped them down as they don't regenerate in a nice way. Get three quotes from various tree surgeons and take your pick - tell them that's what you are doing so they know they have to compete. Were it me, I would get them all chopped down, after a year pull out the stumps (takes that long for the roots to die and loosen) then refresh the soil and replant with native hedging. I'm not sure if Leylandii leave toxins in the soil which would prevent new trees growing in their place, but you don't see anything growing under them, so worth finding out. Ghastly things :tree:
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they leave the soil very acidic it would need to be limed appropriately before replanting
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How windy will it be if you take them down.
I know they're horrible but must have been put there for a reason.
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Only leylandi surrounded plot for miles around. Prevailing wind blows across our property the other way. Once cut down I accept they may not be totally pretty - but neither is the half paddock that not much can grown due to being in shade a lot of the time.
Back to my original question though which was do I need permission - consensus so far so no and price? Anyone had a similar job done?
Attached photo to show how high.
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Chop em off..bloody things will soon grow back.. My old house had them instead of fences.. 60 of them..trimmed them to 4 foot but soon grew back.. Had someone cum with a chainsaw and van..£200 job done
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ok i cant see any reason you would need permission, leylandii aren't classed as tree's but as hedging.
as to cost for a proper job by someone with insurance and the ability to chip all the crap efficiently you got to be talking several thousand but not sure as would depends on what tree surgeons in your area charge and that varies wildly depending on how much competition there is etc.
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also as an aside chipped up leylandii is rubbish on the garden as it will acidify any soil, it is only really fit for paths etc and even then its not great.
i have taken down individual and small groups of trees like these and logged them and shredded the branches they're no fun to work with the sap burns skin and gunks up chainsaw chains...
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The only thing I would add is birds - a lot of birds nest in leyllandii, it's one of the few redeeming features, so I wouldn't be chopping them at this time of year (might be breaking the law as birds are now nesting), I would want it done once all the birds have flown.
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Have used old conifer clippings before for weed suppressing mulch with some success.
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In Scotland you have to have permission to remove anything more than 5 trees. But you can pollard, and copper nails can be useful. :innocent:
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Yes, we had Leylandii cut back last year. We did need permission from our local tree officer but because we are in a conservation area so we need tree permission for all trees over a certain size. If you're not in a conservation area, you don't need permission (there's no way they'll have a TPO on them).
We had about 60 to 70 trees cut back by 3m to 5m (the tallest were about 8m and we've taken them down to about 3m). If yours are 30m (which is absolutely enormous - and must be going on for record breaking - are you sure? ETA - just seen your photo, hard to judge but I'd guess closer to 15m than 30m - bearing in mind a two storey house is probably about 8m), taking them down to 5 ft would be a certain death sentence. I imagine they have very little green growth in their bottom 5ft. Also, as somebody says, they are probably there are a wind break and 5ft is not going to stop any wind. If you hate them that much, just take them out. If you can concede a use as a windbreak, 3m would stand a chance of survival and might come back to look decent after a few years of good pruning. Ours still look a bit shabby because they hadn't been pruned for years but I think they will green up more and more, at least on the sunny side.
Ours were burnt on an enormous bonfire that lasted for over two weeks. It required tyres to start it, left ash all over the neighbours windows (wind changed direction shortly after lighting) and was probably not great for the environment but saved paying the guys to take it away. I did use some of the ash around the garden and on the veg beds and yet to see the results but we're on chalk downland so added acidity is no bad thing.
Your cheaper option would be just to have them taken out and then have the stumps ground. It'll still be hard to replant but a row of stumps looks awful. Our way involved men with climbing gear and chainsaws dealing with each and every tree individually so it took three guys a week and cost us over £2k.
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In Scotland you have to have permission to remove anything more than 5 trees. But you can pollard, and copper nails can be useful. :innocent:
Does this include hedges, since leyllandii are hedge species rather than trees and have clearly been planted as a hedge here rather than an area of woodland?
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Sorry I don't know, try an arboriculturalist :excited:
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What fun we had moving and sawing up a tree whose top fell off in the wind. Ughhh - exhausted!
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In Scotland you have to have permission to remove anything more than 5 trees. But you can pollard, and copper nails can be useful. :innocent:
Does this include hedges, since leyllandii are hedge species rather than trees and have clearly been planted as a hedge here rather than an area of woodland?
i thought scotlands allowance without a license was 5 cubic metres, measuring the trunks at chest height.
be careful when burning leylandi branches, they take off pretty wildly.
we have a row up our driveway, i cut all the lower branches off last year, tooks weeks but lets the sun shine through to the grass now, whereas before it was shade and no grass. the roots are breaking up the tarmac though.
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The Forestry Commission has a 5 cubic metres rule which is for each quarter so effectively it is about 5 trees, Fruit trees, garden trees, orchard trees, open community space trees are not included, nor are saplings under 1.3 meters, or trees to be felled to make way for development unless they have TPOs on them
Licences are not usually granted for clearing trees to make the land suitable for agricultural use..
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Leylandii is quite rot resistant - if the trees are that big there may be a timber value. Once properly dried it burns well in a stove but I'd mix it with other hardwoods as it goes quickly.
As mentioned, it's pretty flammable - tends to be full of dead materials which goes up like it's soaked in petrol :D
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Have to say they burn Fabulously if you have a really good log burner (burns fast and furious in our clearview where you can control the draw, a bit more of a taring worry in our cheap and cheerful pritty boiler stove) and they are dry - the resin in them gets started quick and they burn fast and hot (dont try and damp as if they dont burn hot they will tar your flue) - we logged a neighbours leylandi last year and it has saved us this winter - was on the dregs of seasoned wood when the snow hit! So dont chuck it out - save it for emergencies. Agree that you dont need permission for hedges, but would potentially fall foul of wildlife act re nesting.
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We had about 12 removed a few years back. It cost £300 but they were door knockers who were "working in the area" and dumped a load of the stuff round the back so we had the council after us for fly-tipping. That cost us another £30 for the council to clear it. If you remove all the branches, the trees die as they don't put out new branches. I aksed for 6 foot stumps to be left as I planned on growing climbers such as honeysuckle up them and nailed on some nesting boxes. The bark is gradually peeling off now.
The garden has been so much lighter since they've been gone. We did have quite a few birds nesting in them but they were wood pigeons so good riddance.
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Mine are riddled with pigeons of a few different varieties since teh chap who built the house was a fancier and left some behind when he moved! Big fat woodies are a damn pest when they decimate my beges, but the creamy grey doves are pretty.
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I had several here amongst other conifers used as windbreaks in all directions from the house, my neighbours inherited a "hedge" of them 15m tall too. Mine would be planted 1972-3 when the house was built - in winter 2010 one huge branch came down parallel to my house and 3m from the back door. I had the rest of it taken down and a local man with a chainsaw did the deed for £50 with me doing all the hauling out and him just wielding the chainsaw. After a year the logs burned fine on my open fire, bit sparky but fine with a fireguard.
Following winter I had similar problems with an even bigger leylandi beside my barn and the oil tank. Cost me £200 to get that taken down because of proximity to buildings/tank and its size ie hours worked. I got another 2 lighter weight leylandii taken down for £100 the same year as by then one of my neighbours' trees had lost a branch over the fence into my ponies' field and one of them died a horrible way after eating it - took 5 days for it to be removed as neighbours had been away and I couldn't manage it alone. Neighbours were mortified and took down the rest of theirs too, so we're now all leylandii free here and always will be. Roots still in the ground but nothing coming up, still using up the last of the logs and last 2 weekends the neighbour came with his own chainsaw and took down 1.5 other overgrown conifers that had been wind damaged - 2nd is still a standing trunk to be removed when he next has time. I gave him all the wood of the first tree and he will get half of the second bigger one too, as I can't pay his chain/oil/time costs. Again I did the hauling and rope pulling for the higher sections, and am left with stacks of branches to strip down - I bonfire the loose and smaller pieces and use anything over 1" diameter as kindling. He has a WBS so no spark worries.
I'd get them out and gone asap personally. Nasty poisonous to stock, kill the ground and burn nicely ;) Windbreak yes but wind-damaged and falling on house, fences, behind back door, thanks but no. I want to replace with another windbreak but am thinking either poplar further down the field or a willow hedge, something that may break off but not be as heavy when falling..
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There are some enormous ones at the place we are buying. They have definitely got to go. We have been looking what to do with the timber apart for just burning or chipping for paths. According to one site they are good for fencing and other building purposes. the resin in them makes them resistant to rot.
Helen
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Our quote to have them all down.... All the horrible stuff chopped and the rest stacked in 3 foot long logs.,, £4500
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Our quote to have them all down.... All the horrible stuff chopped and the rest stacked in 3 foot long logs.,, £4500
thats serious money. phew.
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jeez - where do you live - I'll come!!!! ;D ;D ;D (saddly I'm not qualified/insured for tree climbing and large trees - else I would!!!) Id deffo be getting a few more quotes!!!!!! Good luck, Fi xx
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Probably works out about £50 a tree. Given part of one that fell down gummed up one chainsaw chain, and took me 8 hours the move cut chip etch I can see the man hours that may be required.
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Sounds comparable to a quote I had to remove three beech and an ash - £1000
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i had a quote to remove hundreds of small trees over 4 acres, all about 15ft high. with branches chipped and trunks moved to a handy spot, and no root grinding so stumps would stll be left and they wanted £500 per day for 4 days. i thought that was really expensive but its bloody hard work if you do it yourself without the heavy plant.
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i think your quote isn't unreasonable for 97 trees for individual large trees (I only do trees away from buildings) i charge £250 plus chipper hire which is about £50 obviously there is economy of scale for doing lots of trees and working in a team.
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It sounds a similar pro rata cost to ours. I'ts just a huge sum all in one go but when you realise how long it takes and how much work is involved, it makes sense on an man hour basis - especially if they're going to log it for you too.
H
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To be honest I think the quote is fair.... And a lot less than I expected. Having spent all day Saturday sorting out a fallen piece of one tree I'm all too aware how much work is involved. Lets just say I wouldn't want to do it. A big job for anyone.
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If you can use all the branches up and don't get them chipped that would save some cost. Have you though about using them for hugelkultur beds?