Posted: 29/03/2012 at 21:48
We moved to our house last year but unfortunately the garden was home to 12 leylandii trees. The trees had been planted around 10-15 years ago and were enormous. Like yours, ours blocked out the sun and left us with a completely shaded area of garden where nothing would grow. We noticed that the enormous tree roots were actually pushing up the lawn, patio and concrete blocks at the bottom of fencing panels and had crept into next doors garden and had dislodged part of their patio too, so it was essential that they were removed. We were especially desperate to get rid of the ones planted close to the house to prevent future problems. It cost alot of money to have them cut down (nearly £800) and then more money to have the stumps ground out as they were too large to dig out by hand. I would suggest to your neighbour that if left in place, the tree roots could cause damage to both of your gardens and maybe even your houses. We were told that you shouldn't plant trees within 8 metres of a building, so if your trees are close to your houses, you have a genuine cause for consern. Hopefully they will see sense and agree to the trees being removed, and hopefully might even go halves on the cost!!!
