Cutting down leylandii hedges

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Cutting down leylandii hedges
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VM

Joined: 23 Nov 2007
Posts: 1748
Location: Lincolnshire

Posted: Wed Jan 16, 13 11:14 am Post subject: Cutting down leylandii hedges

Don't know if this is the right place for this, but...

The lovely garden we have acquired with our move to Lincs has lots of leylandii hedging around it, within it. It has been well maintained by the previous owners, but we nevertheless want to get rid of most or, eventually, all of it because of it cutting out light and being a pain to maintain.

My questions are: (1) Do birds nest in it and therefore do we need to cut down pretty much now or leave it until after nesting season?

(2) Can we use the trunks for firewood?

(3) Any suggestions for what to do with the leaves/smaller branches - other than just put them in garden waste bin for council to take away? We used to use conifer trimmings as a mulch for blueberries on our old allotment, but don't know if we are going to plant blueberries here (not sure about soil - see other post).

thanks for any replies
Veronica

Bodrighy

Joined: 15 Aug 2008
Posts: 2157
Location: Near Devizes

Posted: Wed Jan 16, 13 11:26 am Post subject:
Despite the speed the stuff grows at leylandii is quite a hard wood. I have turned some and found it to be quite a nice wood to work as well. I would imagine that it would be OK for firewood though it would need drying out for 12 months if you have room to log it up. Looks like this worked Pete

Nature'sgrafter

Joined: 22 Feb 2012
Posts: 527
Location: Sanday , Orkney

Posted: Wed Jan 16, 13 11:47 am Post subject:
Pete is right the trunks make excellent fire wood the smaller branches (anything less than an inch)burn even freshly cut very quickly in a garden incinerator it just takes lots of paper to get it started and then regular feeding until it's gone. Also yes Birds do use them to nest in so your right to think about the timing of cutting them down.

Midland Spinner

Joined: 13 Jan 2009
Posts: 2931
Location: Under a green roof

Posted: Wed Jan 16, 13 11:48 am Post subject:
Birds do nest in it. Mostly pigeons in my experience, but also smaller birds. Cut down before the nesting season and you should be fine, and as Pete says, if you season it well it makes firewood.

Lorrainelovesplants

Joined: 13 Oct 2006
Posts: 6521
Location: Dordogne

Posted: Wed Jan 16, 13 12:02 pm Post subject:
We have pidgeons, crows and magpies nesting in ours (they are very tall - John says 35ft). We have cut and used as firewood - it took 18 months seasoning. The crappy bits we used as kindling. It takes ages to break down if composting(I dont think the little bugs like it).

VM

Joined: 23 Nov 2007
Posts: 1748
Location: Lincolnshire

Posted: Wed Jan 16, 13 7:22 pm Post subject:
Thanks for all that, folks - very useful. That's a pretty bit of wood, Pete - I'd never have thought that leylandii could produce something so nice! Better get the saw out soon before those birds start nesting - oh, perhaps better wait til the snow has gone!

TTouch Homestead

Joined: 13 Oct 2011
Posts: 703
Location: Cardigan, West Wales

Posted: Wed Jan 16, 13 7:43 pm Post subject:
We are toasty warm thanks to the large leylandii hedge we took down on moving in. It burns lovely. We chipped the smaller stuff or used it whole on top of the really bad mud areas to stop us sinking...

marigold

Joined: 02 Sep 2005
Posts: 12458
Location: West Sussex

Posted: Wed Jan 16, 13 7:52 pm Post subject:
My brother left the leafy bits of his ex-leylandiis in a heap at the bottom of his garden while he got on with other things. Ten years later he had a pile of rather nice soil conditioner.

vegplot

Joined: 19 Apr 2007
Posts: 21301
Location: Bethesda, Gwynedd

Posted: Wed Jan 16, 13 7:54 pm Post subject:

marigold wrote:

My brother left the leafy bits of his ex-leylandiis in a heap at the bottom of his garden while he got on with other things. Ten years later he had a pile of rather nice soil conditioner.

Those small jobs can take ages, but 10 years!

Tavascarow

Joined: 06 Aug 2006
Posts: 8407
Location: South Cornwall

Posted: Wed Jan 16, 13 7:55 pm Post subject:
The twiggy stuff can be shredded & used as a mulch around ericaceous shrubs if it's left in a pile to heat for a few weeks.

marigold

Joined: 02 Sep 2005
Posts: 12458
Location: West Sussex

Posted: Wed Jan 16, 13 7:57 pm Post subject:

vegplot wrote:

marigold wrote:

My brother left the leafy bits of his ex-leylandiis in a heap at the bottom of his garden while he got on with other things. Ten years later he had a pile of rather nice soil conditioner.

Those small jobs can take ages, but 10 years!

He build a rather splendid cider shed in front of them and out of sight, out of mind...

vegplot

Joined: 19 Apr 2007
Posts: 21301
Location: Bethesda, Gwynedd

Posted: Wed Jan 16, 13 8:26 pm Post subject:

marigold wrote:

vegplot wrote:

marigold wrote:

My brother left the leafy bits of his ex-leylandiis in a heap at the bottom of his garden while he got on with other things. Ten years later he had a pile of rather nice soil conditioner.

Those small jobs can take ages, but 10 years!

He build a rather splendid cider shed in front of them and out of sight, out of mind...

out of his head

john of wessex

Joined: 18 Jun 2007
Posts: 2130

Posted: Wed Jan 16, 13 9:24 pm Post subject:
W trees we've just finished burning two leylandii-oid trees we cut down in the spring. Burnt a treat. You need to handle it with gloves as the resin gets everywhere. As advised on Downsizer we didnt throttle out wood burner to stop problems with the chimney. Good King Wenceslas had the right idea - got the page to carry the logs!

Nicky cigreen

Joined: 25 Jun 2007
Posts: 9878
Location: Devon, uk

Posted: Wed Jan 16, 13 9:31 pm Post subject:
we burn leylandii in the woodburner - just mix it up with other wood the leafy branches are really good on the bonfire - they go up with a woof!

Hairyloon

Joined: 20 Nov 2008
Posts: 15425
Location: Today I are mostly being in Yorkshire.

Posted: Wed Jan 16, 13 10:55 pm Post subject:

colour it green wrote:

the leafy branches are really good on the bonfire - they go up with a woof!

Even fresh, provided your fire is hot enough and you don't put too much on at once.

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