Killing a Lleylandii

Not having a chainsaw or very limited muscles, is there anything which can be poured around the base of this monster to kill it?

 

Hiya.

I'm not sure that killing a large tree is such a good idea? After some time there might well be a risk of it falling down?

 

Agree with Freddy but they aren't that difficult to kill. Ring barking or a few good doses of Roundup or similar weedkiller will do it. Even enough salt will have serious affects as no doubt you've seen how brown many Lleylandii are where they are close to roads and have been sprayed by gritters. Lleylandii are softwood and I have taken them down by hand before without a chainsaw without toooo much trouble. Still think removal is a better option, who wants to look at a Brown dead evergreen?

 

How tall is it? Could you take it down in sections? If you cut it at the base it can't regrow so the roots will - eventually die and rot off.

 

I would advise very strongly against killing off leylandii, unless you can get it chopped down and disposed of very quickly.

A dead leylandii is a massive fire risk.

If you've ever burned leylandii trimmings, you'll know that as you throw them on the bonfire, you may as well be chucking petrol on. It doesn't half rage. The only thing that makes a living Leylandii tree an acceptable risk is that like any living plant, it has a high water content, which makes it ever so slightly harder to light. Once it is dead and and starts to dry out, it may as well be petrol. You really don't want something as big and as flammable as a dead leylandii tree anywhere near your house.

 

Even when they are alive they can catch fire. My beloved had a bonfire too near 1 and let's put it this way, I am now minus an evergreen with any green!

 

There was a thread on here a good while ago (can't seem to find it now) by someone who'd had their Leylandii hedge ruined by arsonists. Someone had set fire to a wheelie bin. The fire had spread to the trees. From the description it sounded bad, but then a few posts into the thread the person posted a photo. It was utter devastation. It was a miracle the house didn't catch fire. The hedge had been well ablaze, and that had been alive. Had any of those trees been dead and drying out, the outcome would likely have been much more serious.

 

Thank you for the replies. Mike

 

There are various nasty ways to kill a leylandii that I've read up on (copper nails, petrol on roots, salt, paraquat) In the end I decided I didn't want to end it's life.

It's not in my nature.

...I still hate them though!

 

I agree with the first risk, and the need to chop it down.

The other thing to think about is "what about After Leylandii"? Nothing is goign to grow where the Leylandii was without cheering up the soil, and that's very hard to do if the stump and roots are still in place - they will take many years to rot down by themselves.

If you cut it down you might consider cutting it several feet above the ground, you then have a good piece of trunk to get some leverage on to help get it out of the ground - you can attach a ratchet-type winch too, although a JCB is a lot quicker and more effective if you have access to one, in particular if you have a long hedge to remove.

Some pictures of me removing my Leylandii hedge on my blog:
http://kgarden.wordpress.com/projects/replacing-the-front-hedge/

 

This one I think:
http://gardenerscorner.co.uk/forum/threads/fire-damage-project-ideas-please.32033/

but unfortunately the O/P has removed the photographs