Any gardeners out there who could offer advice?

Lelandii are in CA also, they grow fast but once mature they can have problems like cankers which causes them to weep and eventually kill just when they're going great.

My experience (and I was a Hort major and talk with nurserymen) is that fast growing plants have problems. They don't last long. Big trees need to have big root systems to support them. Go ask a good "old" nurseryman with experience, take pictures or have him out for a consultation. Working with a mix of plants I think is better than expecting one plant to fill your needs.

I worked at a nursery a few years back and it was amazing people came in to describe their problem and expect me to know how to solve it without an inkling of the size, space or view involved. Don't put big plants at the edge of properties, but most don't pay attention to size of plants in the garden books. BIG mistake. Get a professional if you're no gardener. They know your area and plants that work best.

Plants aren't like instant solutions, that always pissed me off when they'd say " I want it NOW", well yes but plants have to grow and that takes time. Once they insisted on one plant it was always the worst decision in my opinion. But then I was only a lowly nurseryman/gardener with 20 years experience.

Silver Birch trees are lovely for summer shade, and are quite quick to grow. I personally find them attractive in the winter a well. They also make good firewood when you thin them out.

They are very robust, and survive above the fir tree line in Norway.

Just two pence worth, but if I had a garden it would be my choice for trees other than the slow growing apple, pear, or cherry.

ATB from George

Leylandii - just don't.

What about a mix of dogwoods? Colour all year round and tough as old boots.

Good advise in the post from mudwolf.

Leylandii should be banned as a UK garden tree (a) non-endemic species (b) antisocial (c) ugly

Problem is there is no quick solution
If it grows quick & covers your problem in 5 years it will need cutting back or felled completely in another 10 years
Or if you do want "quick" it will cost you, it means you buy something mature & that will need a professional with a crane to install & will cost something in the NAIT 5 i or even XS range.

Think about a miniature silver birch or one of the many rowan family (sorbus) or a mix of them. These will set you back 20 to 30 drinking vouchers each & will begin to look like doing the job in about 5 years, growing to 5 to 10 metres in 20 years - careful with the silver birch species as some can grow 30m in 20 years. Mix it (them) with small conifers, evergreen shrubs with a view to removing them in a few years, plus ground cover & spring bulbs.

The old tree will have removed all the nutrients, so with this in mind, each tree or shrub will need a large hole back filled with a proprietary compost suitable for tree planting, this needs to be followed by an all over dig with some farmyard type manure & followed by a thick application of leaf mould (or at the very least least 5cm of bark chips) with a slow release natural fertilizer such as bone meal.

Thanks for the advice guys. Definite food for thought there.

Mudwolf sadly I'm in a "I want it now" mood. I'm so pissed off both at losing my beautiful big conifer and at the gaping hole at the bottom of my garden I've barely been able to go into the back garden this week.

George, we've got a silver birch in the front garden and it grows at an amazing rate. I hadn't really though of that but that's a definite possibility now.

Steve, do you mind if I ask why?

Nap-ster, dogwood I'm not familiar with. Then again, I'm such an ignoramus as far as gardening goes I could be surrounded by it and have just never noticed.

Mike, thanks. That's really useful advice. I knew planting was an issue in itself. Would it even be appropriate to plant at this time of year, so soon after the old tree has been cut? I don't find Leylandii ugly so that's not an issue for me. If by antisocial you mean it's going to screen us from the outside world, that's exactly what I want. We have no neighbours adjacent to where I'm going to plant so there's no danger of encroaching on another garden.


We live in a fairly rural area. There are a few gardening centres close by and they tend to be staffed by enthusiasts so I'll probably have a drive round at the weekend looking for advice.

Requirements are fast growing, low maintenance, provide a dense screen from the outside world, and robust. Basically I want a big screen wall there as quickly as possible. Simple really

Dogwood (Cornus) is often referred to as the "supermarket car park" plant as that is what they usually plant for the landscaping. Don't let that put you off.
The attraction comes all year round. The stems are bright colours throughout the winter and they leaf early in Spring with small white flowers and dark berries.
I live north of you and they grow up here no problem.
One tip is that you go to a plant nursery and ask for bare root plants, not the potted up ones you get in garden centres, you'll save a fortune.

You could always put in some Bamboo. There are some with 4" diameter culms that would look stunning.

I agree with Mike-B 100% here, Leylandii should absolutely be banned from the UK. Many cases show where they are used to inflict downright nastiness on neighbours.
We finally managed to get rid of 4 in a neighbours garden that were in excess of 40' high and stopped at least 40% of light entering our property.
Problem is we have another not 10 yards from our living room in excess of 50' high and we get to see zero from that side of the world.
Oddly, lawyers seem to love them...

You would be much better taking advice from a local nursery that knows the soil type etc, but if a tree has caused problems before, what makes you think another wont?
It's only a matter of time.
Cherry tree are popular and produce big 'heads' & can look great, but they also have huge root systems and any nearby property can be put into danger with roots going through footings.
We have a person in our road that decided to plant a type of Eucalyptus - that has grown out of all proportion in 3 years. They now wish thay had something much smaller but dont want to pay to have it cut down!

yeah a decent landscape with appropriate plants is much better than planting a mistake and have it overwhelm you, watch plant sizes.

Gosh I love dogwood, we had 2 clusters of the native one in Philadelphia as a kid, They were beautiful. I know that red stemmed dogwood, I'd put in a mix of evergreens and deciduous also but consider large shrubs rather than trees. Shrubs tend to have leaves to the ground whereas trees get tall and loose their lower undergrowth.

How about a large scale Rhododendron? You have the climate for them and they keep leaves all year long, but they need space.

I still think having a good nurseryman or woman would be best. And you must amend the soils, always put on compost and mulches to recreate the forest leaf layers, plants respond to that slow decomposition. Low number balanced organic fertilizers are better than the high number ones.

Good luck. A prudent investment is cheaper in the long run rather than a quick fix which causes problems later on.

I'm guessing your not a hard-core gardener and that the prospect of constant maintenance cutting back a leylandii will eventually lose its novelty. And after this point, the thing will spread and grow so much you'll lose a load of your garden and light to it. And they're ugly.

Get something more sensible but a mature specimen - it might cost more up-front but in the longer term it will balance out as you won't be paying to keep it constantly in check.

Silver birch all beautiful and there are many varieties and sizes but all lose their leaves in the Autumn. For this reason i have planted 2 Eucalyptus trees at the back of my garden to provide privacy in the Winter months, they grow quickly also. Leaves when new are sword shape and an attractive blue colour turning green when they age. In Front of them i will plant birch myself.

Laylandii are a pest!

ATB
KK

TomK re .... Would it even be appropriate to plant at this time of year

Yes & no
Yes, but only if pot grown, but they will still need regular watering after planting, at least 2 gallons per week, until September & the autumn rains
No, the ideal planting time is September whatever the the way the tree is grown & delivered

Steve,
No I'm not a hard core gardener but I work fairly regularly in it. I've already got a fair amount of vigorous stuff there and I cut quite severely in April and September. I'm no stranger to hard work in the garden I assure you. I don't particularly enjoy it but it's good hard graft and an excuse for a long bath followed by a few drams.

There's only going to be thirty feet or so, just enough to hide the gap left by the conifer and I'm looking for maximum height of eight or perhaps nine feet. No forty feet monsters thank you. It's at the bottom of the garden, as far away from the house as I could get, and there are no adjoining gardens therefore no neighbours to worry about. And no I don't find it ugly so that's not an issue. It turns out there's plenty of well kept mature leylandii in my neighbourhood and it appears to cause no problems. From what I've now read it strikes me that the problems come from misuse or neglect, not the plant itself.

If it's only going to be about 10 foot high, think large shrub not a tree. Some shrubs grow into small tree size. To reduce maintenance make a mound of mulch to block out weeds and grasses. Grass has a noticed effect of slowing plant growth if it's right up to trees.

I agree with mudwolf. You need a hedge more than a line of trees.

There are always two options when planting;

1. Plant exactly what you would like to grow, buy big for instant effect and hope for the best.

2. Choose plants that will actually like the conditions present, buy small, include some aftercare and nature will look after the rest.

If I were you I'd go for No.2; it always pays in the long run. Base what you buy on which species are currently present. Buying small is recommended because the balance between the roots and stem means the plant has a much better chance of taking off. In particular there will be small fibrous roots that can meet the nutritional needs of the plant.

There are many excellent texts on the subject including one you can read online;

Hedging a practical handbook

Hope that helps.

Planting small plants is best, period. The plants get their roots well established then they bolt and will pass up a big plant in no time. I gave that advice to a guy in the redwoods who was planting a berm near the road, He wasted $500 on 15 gallon plants and the cheaper 5 gallons grew faster and passed up the big ones by second year.

I also always recommend native plants or at least a hardy variety as they usually have what wild life looks for in food/protection. The show plants don't have that strength, you have to baby them and a bad year can kill them. Also studies show that a mix of deciduous and evergreens makes for better wind screens.

Thanks once again for the advice folks. Much food for thought. Too much if I'm being honest. Now I'm over the initial shock of losing the tree I'll take some time and mull over the options. This wasn't just a tree. As well as providing seclusion, protection from the wind, security, and home for loads of birds, etc, it was where our Little Tykes log cabin sat for many years, where my sons had their gang headquarters and played Tarzan. It was more than a tree and I know that sounds pathetic.