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Trees
Plant Geek
Posts: 2
I've just moved to a new garden (well a new house but thats not the important bit). The whole plot is surrounded by tall conifers which give the garden seclusion but is also a little oppressive. I want to remove some and replace with some lovely fruit trees. The borders next to the trees are so dry. What do I need to think about before I go in with the chain saws.
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Bumping!
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
If you're a gardener and want to grow something interesting or edible the conifers will have to go.
The neighbours will probably be glad to see the back of them as well
In the sticks near Peterborough
Can you post a pic geek, it'll give us a better idea, and advice will flood in. Use the tree icon to post the pic.
get rid of them, they will become a problem and you will be unable to grow anything.
Our neigbours got rid of two boundary's worth of conifers, it is fab, so much light everywhere. has really changed our garden as well as theirs. Get rid and let the light in !
Well, the money and the privacy are probably the two key issues.
1. If you cut them down, how are you going to dispose of them? Do the stumps want grinding out? If so, by whom? How much will it cost. You can burn them, but might have to store them to season first. Can you get them to a recycling centre?
2. What will you replace them with - I know you want fruit trees, but they will take a while to grow to the extent where they afford any seclusion at all. A fence will be expensive - best to price up first. Also, if your area is exposed, it might blow down if not properly installed - can you do that? Will you employ someone?
3. Even when the fruit trees are quite big, they won't cover the lower area - there will just be trunks. Do you need to grow shrubs or a hedge in front to feel more secluded? Also, the fruit trees will probably be deciduous, so no leaves for half the year. Also, what is there to stop people or animals wandering into your garden freely? Will that bother you?
4. The remaining soil is dry because the roots of the evergreens are sucking everything out - nutrients too. You may need to treat the soil. I seem to remember that where evergreens grow, the soil can become more acid? But don't know if that is true or not, but you may need to alter the pH perhaps. I believe evergreen roots are deep and straight down - like the tree is straight up, whereas the deciduous habit is more like the tree above ground, spreads out and not so deep. Again, that is something I think I heard once a million years ago, but it might be true, so they may take some digging out. Check out whether the prevailing soil, aspect and exposure are conducive to fruit trees.
5. If you hate the conifers and find them doomy, then go for it. I would hate them and find them doomy, and I would not enjoy my garden with them there, so they would have to go. Whatever the cost.
Those are the things I would consider - good luck!!
If you do have neighbours please do talk to them first! My neighbours cut down a row of conifers on our boundary without consulting us at all. Your neighbours might be more than happy but I was devastated to lose all our privacy to huge overlooking windows in our small garden. I've had to put in trees of my own which 5 yrs later are only starting to give us some privacy back!
On the plus side there are much nicer screening options than conifers! We have a mixed deciduous and evergreen border but it has taken a lot of digging and manure to improve the soil after the conifers were removed.
I would say go for it. Definitely get the stumps properly ground out and the chippings taken away. Speak to your neighbours first out of courtesy but you will probably find they would be pleased to see them go too. It can make a huge difference to your garden. Have a look at my 'Sprig's Garden' thread to see what getting rid of 10 leylandii and 2 cypress trees did for our garden. I would also say it might not be as expensive as you think, ours wasn't.
Sprig, nobody could explain better than you the thought processes behind taking down trees to design a whole new style of garden. I remember once going with my husband to view a house which had a lovely garden, but it just wasn't my kind of garden - too many evergreen trees, too much shade. It needed someone who wanted that kind of garden, not me. A garden is just a tiny space on the earth's surface that someone has to tend, and that garden has to feel right for them, and offer them the opportunity to create their own little piece of heaven, and I would never presume to tell anyone what to do with their space. If the trees make you unhappy, they have to go.
Thanks everyone for your responses - exactly what I needed to think through the whole process properly.
We have started taking down some of the trees (4 are gone, 2 are stripped of branches and are ready to come down). It is making a huge difference to the light and feel of the garden. There are another 10 or so that I think I want removed, this will be a long slow process. I'm going to wait till all the trees are down before I think about planting new ones - every tree that comes down changes the space so much!