need advice large conifers

christiansmummy

i have 3 large confier trees aprx 30ft tall my neightbours keeps giving us grief about getting them cut. i loive the trees part of the reason we picked the house. how much do you think it would cost to have them pruned and taken down to 15ft? thankyou

sirbrainy

It's not a very big job, maybe 2 hrs plus disposal but you're paying for expertise & tools.

Maybe £150-200? You could probably get some one man band to do it for half that if you phone around.

peter_the_piper

Problem with conifers is that they only send out new growth from green wood (with a few exceptions not including leylands). Topping them is possible but if you prune the sides you will end with bare areas which won't regrow. Top and prune and you might just as well cut to the floor. Leylandii are a great hedge as you cut them back regularly and leave a lot of green wood for new growth, leave them too long and they get to be non recoverable.

christiansmummy

i dont know what to do

Mojisola

christiansmummy wrote: »

i have 3 large confier trees aprx 30ft tall my neightbours keeps giving us grief about getting them cut. i loive the trees part of the reason we picked the house. how much do you think it would cost to have them pruned and taken down to 15ft? thankyou

If you get on with the neighbours, ask if you can go round to their garden and see the effect your trees are having on their property.

You can then decide whether you think they're just moaning about nothing or have a genuine issue.

Your trees will never look the same again if they are cut back a lot. I really dislike the look of pruned-back conifers. If you think the neighbours have a point perhaps you could achieve harmony by taking one tree out and planting something smaller.

sirbrainy

Are they right on the plot division or some way inside your garden?

We've got a neighbour that always has a bit of a moan about some hazel trees thare are pretty big but entirely within our borders.

We just ignore him! They are nice to look at plus give us privacy & screen his house.

shegar

christiansmummy wrote: »

i dont know what to do

In our other house where we use to live the neighbour there had a row of conifers, I do love trees and they are good for privacy being evergreen , but when they get 20 foot plus they do also get wide with it and thus block out loads of light..........

Both of us still wanted the trees so he got someone in to cut them to half their size,at first they looked a bit drastic, but the next year they greened up nicely, he left them at about 12 foot tall which was okay all round..............best to go have a neighbourly chat and come to a compromise, its definately not worth getting into a legal wrangle over, I expect 2 men in a day would cut them back, expect to pay around £300. or more for their services..........

krisskross

I loathe the ones that our neighbour has right next to the dividing wall of our gardens.They must be 30ft+.

The mess is unbelievable, I sweep up everyday but as soon as the wind blows it is back to square one. Pigeons nest in the wretched things so our path is permanently covered in bird crap. Part of our garden gets no sunshine and a lot less natural light.

They have grown so much in the 5 years we have lived here that we now need to have the bathroom light on even in the daytime as the trees block out the light. Last year he did do a bit of do it yourself pruning of the branches he could reach. Didn't make a scrap of difference.

I harbour wicked thoughts about copper nails and Jeyes fluid.

shegar

krisskross wrote: »

I loathe the ones that our neighbour has right next to the dividing wall of our gardens.They must be 30ft+.

The mess is unbelievable, I sweep up everyday but as soon as the wind blows it is back to square one. Pigeons nest in the wretched things so our path is permanently covered in bird crap. Part of our garden gets no sunshine and a lot less natural light.

They have grown so much in the 5 years we have lived here that we now need to have the bathroom light on even in the daytime as the trees block out the light. Last year he did do a bit of do it yourself pruning of the branches he could reach. Didn't make a scrap of difference.

I harbour wicked thoughts about copper nails and Jeyes fluid.

They cant be leylandi trees if you say they make a mess, theres nothing drop off these trees they are evergreen.......I agree with the pidgeons s... though...

peter_the_piper

Leylandii do drop needles. As the stems grow a lot of needles are left behind and these eventually die and so drop off. A big tree can make a fair amount of mess.

lostinrates

christiansmummy wrote: »

i dont know what to do

well, don't do anything drastic then. How about starting with lopping the top off toa height you are sure you can live with and think about losing more in the future once you have come to terms with it. It will show your neighbours you are prepared to compromise and perhaps delay any bad feeling.

It is NOT worth falling out over them, and if they shade your neighbours for a significant portion of the day it must be horrid for them, and gardening at the foot of them is a nightmare but I sympathise as privacy is pretty important to me too.

I think a greenfingered neighbour friendly screening thread would be invaluable...looking at pleaching, and plant choice, and prolongueing interest and evergreen versus deciduous options and fence choice etc. Anyone knowledgable enough and game enough to start one?