“Quite honestly, "beautiful" is not a description that I would use in relation to Leylandii trees, even the ones that have golden tips to their branches. They are surely some of the least attractive conifers. The only reason that anyone plants them is that they are remarkably fast-growing and tough, therefore they are quick to form hedges, screens and windbreaks.

It has been known for decades that Leylandii quickly outgrow most domestic gardens, especially if they aren't kept heavily pruned every year after they reach about five feet tall.

Leylandii are not the only conifers to cause trouble in domestic gardens. For instance, I have been told by a council tree officer that some tree nurseries are selling young conifers of other large species to unsuspecting members of the public as "hedging conifers". Ornamental conifers sold by some garden centres also often don't give the full height that the specimen will reach in 40 or 50 years, only the height after a few years.

It's not only conifers that can be a problem. For instance, acers can grow to 2 metres or 35 metres, depending on the species and variety selected. It's a case of buyer beware. The ones that are purple and have small leaves tend to be the smallest.”

“Thank you Kay, I will certainly look out for the Acer you have described.

I now have a front garden full of cut branches -- which makes it impossible to use my washing line, and a damaged right hand from all the pruning --more arthritic than it was before.

The local garden nursery male, who incinentally wandered down the lane by my home looking to take the tree branches away ( for payment),
quickly ended the conversation when I asked if he was selling Leylandii for use in domestic gardens.

I appreciate your time in looking into this problem Kay, perhaps between the two of us and others' bringing this to the attention of keen gardeners and lovers of trees we can hope for a more responsible attitude from garden nurseries nationwide.”

“Thank you Kay, I will certainly look out for the Acer you have described.

I now have a front garden full of cut branches -- which makes it impossible to use my washing line, and a damaged right hand from all the pruning --more arthritic than it was before.

The local garden nursery male, who incinentally wandered down the lane by my home looking to take the tree branches away ( for payment),
quickly ended the conversation when I asked if he was selling Leylandii for use in domestic gardens.

I appreciate your time in looking into this problem Kay, perhaps between the two of us and others' bringing this to the attention of keen gardeners and lovers of trees we can hope for a more responsible attitude from garden nurseries nationwide.”

“Mslavender, I am a voluntary tree warden. We seek to increase the number of trees planted, but only the right trees in the right places.

Yew makes a lovely traditional evergreen hedge, but is expensive to purchase and establish, and all parts are poisonous if eaten. Beech and hornbeam are native deciduous trees that can be grown as hedges and kept small by annual clipping; they both retain their copper-brown leaves throughout the winter, providing a year-round screen.

For ornamental specimen trees in small gardens, I'd personally recommend:
* Acer palmatum purpureum (very small, delicate, slow-growing Japanese maple with wine-coloured leaves),
* Cercis siliquastrum (Judas tree, small tree with masses of cerise flowers in April),
* Magnolia stellata (Star magnolia, very small, slow-growing tree with white flowers in late March)
* Prunus subhirtella autumnalis (winter-flowering cherry tree, small tree with intermittent pale pink flowers between November and March),
* Laburnum anagyroides (garden varieties of common laburnum remain small as well as producing long racemes of bright yellow flowers in May). (N.B. all parts are poisonous if eaten, as are many other garden plants).”

“Kay has said everything that needs to be said. Leylandii are 'grow in haste, repent at leisure' trees. The more this message is propagated, instead of Leland Cypresses, the better.

Kay, if you put this information, and other tree related stuff, on your blog, you might be surprised how much interest it attracts.”

“Kay,
many thanks,I have made a note of the species you recommend, I had thought of Laburnum as a canopy, one tree that is growing strongly in my garden has a small dark green leaf and a tiny pink flower,( no thorns), and with dark green branches these are very strong and are snaking their way between the branches of the Leylandii in an effort to dominate it, I shall train this to form a canopy, the birds love this.”

“Kay,
many thanks,I have made a note of the species you recommend, I had thought of Laburnum as a canopy, one tree that is growing strongly in my garden has a small dark green leaf and a tiny pink flower,( no thorns), and with dark green branches these are very strong and are snaking their way between the branches of the Leylandii in an effort to dominate it, I shall train this to form a canopy, the birds love this.”

“If you do get rid of the Leylandii hedge (and I recommend that you do), then please have it removed between September and February, so as not to disturb nesting birds. If you want to keep an evergreen hedge, then a suitable replacement would be Viburnum tinus, which is vigorous but very easy to maintain and never gets too huge. It has whitish-pink flowers in winter as well.”