You have to ask yourself one basic question - do you want a screen that high? If you do, nothing you plant now will give you anything like that height for at least 10+ years.
If you were to take them out, and put up trellis, you would then come under the six foot max rule for boundary fencing so the same height as the fence that is there. You may be able to make it 8 foot if it is away from the boundary. if you were to build trellis inside your garden, it would take quite a few years with judicial planting to give you any screening.
If you were to remove the leylandii it would take a long time for any replacement trees/hedging to even make the fence Height. And yes you can get trees on stilts - pleached trees- but they cost mega bucks.
I still think it's worth getting a tree surgeon in to tidy it up and then reconsider after that. Maybe then if you clear out all the debris from under the trees, enrich the soil and plant it up, you may find they are not such an eyesore. A little bit of tlc goes a long way.
'Optimism is the faith that leads to achievement' - Helen Keller
Posts
How sunny is the spot BB?
Sorry I should really have asked which way it faces, North, South etc.
You have to ask yourself one basic question - do you want a screen that high? If you do, nothing you plant now will give you anything like that height for at least 10+ years.
If you were to take them out, and put up trellis, you would then come under the six foot max rule for boundary fencing so the same height as the fence that is there. You may be able to make it 8 foot if it is away from the boundary. if you were to build trellis inside your garden, it would take quite a few years with judicial planting to give you any screening.
If you were to remove the leylandii it would take a long time for any replacement trees/hedging to even make the fence Height. And yes you can get trees on stilts - pleached trees- but they cost mega bucks.
I still think it's worth getting a tree surgeon in to tidy it up and then reconsider after that. Maybe then if you clear out all the debris from under the trees, enrich the soil and plant it up, you may find they are not such an eyesore. A little bit of tlc goes a long way.