[casper]

I have not long moved house, the garden is a nice size, although needs lots of work, one problem is that it has three Leylandii tress approximately 30ft high, The nearest one about 10ft away from the back of the house, I have to admit I like them as they add a bit of character to the garden, the garden seems to have been designed like a little woodland, My husband does not like them, are the roots as bad as my husband thinks, I read they are near to the surface, would pruninig slow the growth of roots, should I be worried about foundations and close to my house?? 

[Kleftiwallah]

It is believed that those trees stop anything glowing near them by soaking up all water and the leeaves being very acidic.  Get the beggers out!   

Cheers,   Tony.

[casper]

Haha have you been talking to my hubby, yes just went out to give them a haircut they make such a mess, one stands directly over my nice pond too, so guess they would begin to poison pond water, oooh let the fun begin cutting them down, 

[cadalot]

If you are on Clay it's a no brainer - As a Structural Engineer I have seen what these things can do to a property in as little as four - six years when too close to a property.

A few years old and not up with the latest research but still a good guide attached.

[casper]

Oh this is scary. going to get them down, the sooner the better, no signs of damage to my property yet. I will replace a bit further away with a couple of fruit trees

[fatcat1955]

I was always led to believe that conifers were ball rooted rather than tap rooted, therfore not posing a threat. They also are not big drinkers.

[cadalot]

It depends on their water demand and their mature height, how close to the structure and how shrinkable the sub soil is

If a new building is going near trees in Clay then the water demand and mature height is looked at and the proximity to the property, circles are drawn from charts once the shrinkability of the clay is known that denote minimum suggested depth of foundations to comply with NHBC part 4.

If one plants trees near to a building this is normally done because the person likes the tress and they normally give little regard to what strata they are on, and what potentually it could do to their property!

[casper]

Ah thank you, all sounds technical, I cut a hollie tree back that shadoweed the window and realised how much light I had been losing, so I wonder how much more i will get when the conifers are gone, the old owners loved Ivy too, I cannot belive how thick some of the trunks are I have dug out, just dread getting shut of 3 large conifers 

[Stree]

If Leylandii is in the same county, its too close. One of the biggest weeds there is.

[GrannieAnnie]

Horrible things.  When we moved here the previous owners had planted about 100 of the things.  Brian promised to keep them to about 8ft high, but most are HUGE!  we did get some cut down by professionals as they were near to overhead cables, and Brian has cut down about a third of them to a reasonable height, but many he can't reach.

We also had one out the front that tipped over.  We are on fenland so the soil is very soft, but they are shallow rooted trees I believe.  Defo wouldn't want them that close to the house!

[allotmentann]

I have a row of Leylandii at the back of my garden (I hate them, they were there when I moved in - I took out the newly planted row that ran the whole length of the garden!). I leave them for now as they give privacy. I get them trimmed once a year. My soil is a sandy loam, but I have had no problem at all with anything growing near them, I have some beautiful acers and shrubs which will replace the Leylandii when they are finally big enough. If you are considering chopping down a large tree near your house do take advice as you could get 'heave' - the opposite of subsidence, but which can be equally damaging to the structure of the house.

[casper]

I had these in my last house and payed every year to have them trimmed. becomes expensive, fortunately the extension is quite new and this is the closest to the trees, so i suppose they are that bit further away from the main house, i think been a new structure 5 years old the damage is less likely, made a start today, three 30ft leylandii, two people and one had saw, and four journeys to the local tip in my Citreon Berlingo, sure the neighbours had a giggle, anyway borrowing a chain saw from a friend Tuesday, the hubby having a go, except I am in work and he is like Norman Wisdom, any thoughts whether I should check him at lunch time???

[Sparkyrog]

Chainsaws should not be used by people who don't know what they are doing fullstop !!!!!!

[casper]

yes I am a bit worried, think I will call that tree surgeon 

[casper]

Well our friemd came equiped with chain saw, all three trees now cut down, 10 journeys to the local council recycling in my Berlingo multi space, never cost a penny, still got to get the stumps out, but got lots of pine logs for chimnea