Sloping garden with Lelandia.
Mockingbird
Posts: 5
Here goes....novice gardener here ..
We recently moved and have a row of 7 no.s - 30ft high half dead Leylandia trees at the foot of our sloped garden on the eastern boundary hence it blocks the morning sun. We want to remove them and replace them with a new hedge. The Leylandia runs along the rear boundary to just over halfway across and it stops where a small round paved area exists to the left (which is so close to the fence there isn't room to carry the hedge all the way across). The lawn slopes down about 1 meter towards the fence in the photo.
How do we give this main view
a fresh new look?
Is a new Laurel hedge the best idea to replace the trees to hide the neighbors play equipment? Our soil is neutral to slightly acidic. Rhododendrons, Red Robin, heather and fuschia seem to grow well in our neighbourhood.
What is the best way to remove these trees? Should we leave them as stumps and plant around them? Any advice appreciated.
Posts
laurel is as much of a thug as leylandii and of little use to wildlife. I'd plant a mixed native hedge or a row of different shrubs
In the sticks near Peterborough
Good point. I like that idea. It will look more natural. What about behind the paved slab? There is about 1 meter between it and the fence. Thanks!
Always pleased to hear someone destroying these awful things, just be careful of bird nests if you are taking them down now. They don't grow back so you can just chop them down to ground level and they will slowly disappear. If they are reasonably narrow you can cut them down to about six feet or so and use that to rock a lot of the base out of the ground.
how about a beech hedge?
It would take a couple of years to get to height but they keep their leaves in winter (until any big storm then they blow off) so give a bit of coverage in the autumn and early winter, plus its a native, good for wildlife (nesting in particular) and not a thug.
as for the slab, gazebo with climbers on it? to cover up more of the neighbours?
Beech hedge is another good option Treehugger80. The other problem with the garden is the slope. What can I do with it other than put a border of shrubs around it? I thought about terracing it with timber sleepers. The area at the bottom of the slope under the Leylandia is bare and dry. Thanks for the advice.
Hi mockingbird I would do just as Steve says and then see exactly what of your neighbours needs to be hidden and what you can plant where
Thank you all for the advice. I finally have a garden with a bit of space and I am like a kid in a candy store. It's difficult to know where to start. If I suggest what I want to have in this garden perhaps all you experts out there could tell me if it will not work and what I could do instead? Here goes...The shape of the rear garden is a rectangle with one side at an angle so symmetry is not really coming to mind. I could replace the aforementioned row of Leylandia with mixed native hedging on the east boundary. On the north boundary next to a timber fence and the land slopes down about a meter make a border and put in flowering shrubs that grow up to 1.5-2 m high. I want a blaze of colour here and not sure what will grow but think azaleas mixed with something. Then a crab apple tree in the lawn to attract more birds because they like it here anyway. The west boundary is our house so that is the patio and I want lots of plants there. The south boundary gets a lot of shade from the timber fence so shade loving shrubs and flowers should go there. It seems that my scheme is to plant around the edges of the garden and that's not very creative. I cannot think what to do with the sloped lawn and steps leading down to a small round paved area that looks a bit sad. I will post a sketch tomorrow to get some feedback on planting it out.