Building a shed under a row of leylandii trees or getting rid of the leylandii completely and erecting some other form of screening

[Adsibob]

My garden is about 9m wide. At the very end of the garden is a row of 6 or 7 leylandii trees. I don't particularly like them and shortly after we moved in we lopped off the top third of the trees so instead of 10m tall they are now about 6.5m tall. We would get rid of them completely, but they provide good screening between our garden and our neighbour's garden, so we've left them. 

 

I am now considering how to build a shed/storage box/wood store. The dimensions of this would be 7m wide (so set in by 1m from either of my side boundaries) and 1.2m deep and about 2m high with a sloping roof sloping towards the leylandii. I was going to site it about 1m from the row of leylandii. But the ground there is a little raised and uneven, presumably because the leylandii roots are pushing the ground up. I'm hoping that by lopping off the tops 2 years ago, the roots will not grow any further than they have already. These are mature trees and although they would have carried on growing had we not lopped them, lopping them has stunted their growth - at least I hope it has. If that is right, can I build the shed in the area I'm suggesting by laying a 15cm deep concrete foundation 1m away from the trees, or is this not deep enough? Presumably going deeper I will hit roots. 

 

Alternatively, are these trees and their roots so problematic that I should just get rid of them completely and think of another way to get the desired screening? The only plant I can think of that might possibly grow to the 6.5m height that I want and also do so fairly quickly is bamboo. I haven't yet worked out which variety is best for London clay soil, but Dendrocalamus giganteus (also known as Dragon Bamboo,or Giant Bamboo) might work. It can grow 20cm per day in mild climates (although presumably not all year round!) and is much more attractive than the horrible leylandii. 

 

Any thoughts?

 

 

[Russell griffiths]

If you build it close to the trees build the roof well and robust as the lads trimming the conifers will want to stand on the roof to trim the front face, you will be looking to get this done every 3-5 years as they will grow wider and wider, it is really a false economy to leave it longer as you will just pay more to get them trimmed if the access is crap. 

 

Bamboo is very invasive, make sure you look up which ones have more controllable roots. 

 

I would stick with the conifers. And learn to trim them yourself by standing on the shed. Get someone in to bring them down to 2 m above shed height. 

[Adsibob]

2 minutes ago, Russell griffiths said:

If you build it close to the trees build the roof well and robust as the lads trimming the conifers will want to stand on the roof to trim the front face, you will be looking to get this done every 3-5 years as they will grow wider and wider, it is really a false economy to leave it longer as you will just pay more to get them trimmed if the access is crap. 

 

Bamboo is very invasive, make sure you look up which ones have more controllable roots. 

 

I would stick with the conifers. And learn to trim them yourself by standing on the shed. Get someone in to bring them down to 2 m above shed height. 

Yeah, maybe you are right @Russell griffiths but what sort of foundations would you lay for the shed and how close to the leyandiis would you go with the foundations?

[Russell griffiths]

150mm thick slab with reinforcement, if you trim them every year to 18 months this will keep the roots fairly inactive. 

If it does move it will move as on piece, so you can get one of the new style sloping sheds, there all the rage don’t you know. 

[oldkettle]

Are your neighbours on a higher ground? As you are putting in a shed it will block most of the view anyway. 

 

I have just cut our 8m Lawson's cypress down to 3.5 as we are preparing to build an outbuilding as well and to be honest I am really thinking of removing them completely now, before March (as otherwise access will be very limited). Our neighbours are on a much higher level but still they would see our garden from the first floor windows only. I would much rather plant Portuguese laurel there later if we ever need a taller screen again. A tree which is all black inside is disgusting. 

[Adsibob]

5 minutes ago, oldkettle said:

Are your neighbours on a higher ground? As you are putting in a shed it will block most of the view anyway. 

 

I have just cut our 8m Lawson's cypress down to 3.5 as we are preparing to build an outbuilding as well and to be honest I am really thinking of removing them completely now, before March (as otherwise access will be very limited). Our neighbours are on a much higher level but still they would see our garden from the first floor windows only. I would much rather plant Portuguese laurel there later if we ever need a taller screen again. A tree which is all black inside is disgusting. 

No, both we and our neighbours are on the same level. We have an old shed at the back of the garden at the moment which we are getting rid of. It is 2.5m high (so higher than the shed we would build) and provides no screening at all. I need something that will grow to about 5 - 6m in height, maximum 7m.

Carpinus Betulus Fastigiata sounds like an option, though will take time to fully mature. Though i could spend a bit more to get a semi mature one. But that might cost a fortune actually, as I will need about 4.

[oldkettle]

37 minutes ago, Adsibob said:

No, both we and our neighbours are on the same level. We have an old shed at the back of the garden at the moment which we are getting rid of. It is 2.5m high (so higher than the shed we would build) and provides no screening at all. I need something that will grow to about 5 - 6m in height, maximum 7m.

Carpinus Betulus Fastigiata sounds like an option, though will take time to fully mature. Though i could spend a bit more to get a semi mature one. But that might cost a fortune actually, as I will need about 4.

I am slightly confused, sorry. How come a 2m solid structure provides no screening? Or do you mean between first floor windows? Attached a picture of how it looks from my side at the moment - seems 4m ridge we planned should be more than enough. 

 

Carpinus Betulus Fastigiata looks like a proper tree. Are your neighbours not concerned about something so big close to a boundary? I must admit I was surprised ours never requested a cut as the hedge blocks all light in their garden after about 4pm. 

[Adsibob]

51 minutes ago, oldkettle said:

I am slightly confused, sorry. How come a 2m solid structure provides no screening? Or do you mean between first floor windows? Attached a picture of how it looks from my side at the moment - seems 4m ridge we planned should be more than enough. 

 

Carpinus Betulus Fastigiata looks like a proper tree. Are your neighbours not concerned about something so big close to a boundary? I must admit I was surprised ours never requested a cut as the hedge blocks all light in their garden after about 4pm. 

I am more concerned about the first and second floor windows. Obviously second floor is so high up that not sure I will be able to do anything about this, so main concern is first floor.

 Re putting trees on the boundary instead of the leylandii, the neighbours won’t object - when we were going to cut the leylandii down they objected!

[oldkettle]

14 hours ago, Adsibob said:

I am more concerned about the first and second floor windows. Obviously second floor is so high up that not sure I will be able to do anything about this, so main concern is first floor.

 Re putting trees on the boundary instead of the leylandii, the neighbours won’t object - when we were going to cut the leylandii down they objected!

 

Oh wow, second floor! You have a different kind of a problem here. 

 

Even though we are pretty well separated from neighbours on both sides they still can see into our garden from first floor windows (and if we ever rebuild we will have the same pleasure), so I am not really bothered to be honest. Maybe because they are nice people. 

[newhome]

It may not matter too much with a shed but my brother’s next door neighbour planted a row of leylandii trees along the boundary between the 2 houses. The hedge was about 6 foot from my brother’s house (London so houses fairly close together). The roots caused subsidence to his kitchen and he had to have it underpinned and the kitchen replaced (via insurance). The neighbour refused to remove the hedge and sometime later the same thing happened again. The insurance company paid out a second time but the neighbour was told that they (the insurance company) would take further action if it happened again, so they removed the hedge. It very much depends on the soil type I imagine. 
 

[Ferdinand]

It sounds a sod of a thing to deal with.

 

The problem is that Leylandii are horrible.

 

But if you take them out the ground will be barren.

 

I'd have a think if a 3m apex roof shed would help after taking out, or perhaps have a look at Hornbeam or Evergreen Oak, both of which can make big including-winter hedges.

 

Or consider making the private-activity part of your garden the closer bit and have a barrier part way up, and accept that the bottom bit (make it veggies or something) will be overlooked.

 

Is it possible their 2nd floor windows are to rooms which are not used much?