About 25 years ago I planted two tiny leylandi cypresses. I thought if they grew as fast as I’d heard they do, I would soon have some privacy in a very exposed corner of the property.
The leylandis delivered, but then they kept delivering and delivering.
In the photo below, you can see the tree cutter we hired. The two leylandis are on the left side of the picture. When I planted them they only came up to his waist.
The sticksy tree to the left of the leylandis is a black walnut. Over the years it has been crowded out and has been leaning ever farther away from these cypresses, crying for light and water.
Our cedar hedge is fairly healthy until you get to the ones near the leylandis. It seems the shade and lack of water has not done them any good either. All the water got sucked up by the bigger trees.
The leylandis are toast now. I felt bad, but the walnut tree and the hedge are not sorry to see them go.
We can see our neighbours’ house again, but fortunately for us, they are great neighbours, so it won’t be a problem.
wordsfromanneli 
April 10, 2019 at 1:15 pm
Probably feels less cluttered now. There is another tree there that hasn’t bloomed yet, I see. You have lots of green there. We still have brown. Yesterday, I was wearing sandals in 70-degree whether (21c). Today it’s raining ice pellets. Drastic ups and downs. Tomorrow it’s to be warm again, and then the weekend cold once again. 😛
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April 10, 2019 at 2:07 pm
That spindly thing that hasn’t leafed out yet is the black walnut I mentioned in the post. I’ve learned that nut trees are always the last to get leaves in the spring and the last to lose them in the fall. If you meant the tree on the far left of the photo, that is in our neighbour’s yard. It’s their weeping willow which has just finished displaying the most beautiful pussy willows this spring.
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April 10, 2019 at 2:09 pm
I meant the one in your yard. Is something growing in your garden already? I can’t wait to eat the veggies from ours again. They taste so much better than store bought.
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April 10, 2019 at 2:16 pm
The one in my yard is the walnut. It will look a lot better in a few weeks. My garden … I had to look. Those green things in the raised bed are volunteer poppies which I moved since I took this photo the other day. They want to grow everywhere and they’re early, so they are now at the edge of the fence. The only thing I have growing is garlic and a bit of small parsley and tiny chives. And I do have a very small pear tree inside the garden fence. The rest of our fruit trees are on the other side of the house.
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April 10, 2019 at 2:20 pm
I want to grow garlic, but my husband tells me it will smell up the neighborhood. We’ve never grown it before. Is this true?
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April 10, 2019 at 2:30 pm
No, absolutely not true. It’s easy to grow. I was late planting mine last year and put it in in the spring instead of the fall like you’re supposed to. I still got reasonably good sized garlic. But the best time to plant it is in the fall, probably October (if you don’t have snow yet!) Maybe September for Chicago, not sure. You just stick the individual toes into the ground a few inches deep and then in early spring it pops out with green leaves. It doesn’t smell any more than a green onion would smell in the garden. And it’s good to grow it between your rose bushes too, to keep the aphids away.
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April 10, 2019 at 2:37 pm
Thanks, Anneli. I’m not the green thumb. My husband just started gardening two springs ago, so he doesn’t know much either. He has not started from seed with anything. He might be able to buy them with already budding green leaves? Not sure.
P.S. Snow can come in late October here. Not likely before my birthday on the 17th.
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April 10, 2019 at 1:48 pm
Now that Black Walnut tree can fill out and rise to its full potential. Should be a beauty. The nuts themselves are preciously yummy! However, did you know they exude a toxin in the soil that makes certain other plants unable to grow within 50 feet of them? I noticed a fantastic area that looks like a veggie garden??? I’m told if most veggies are grown in raised beds, the Black Walnut toxin won’t be an issue….
Obviously the Leylandis weren’t affected by the toxin.
😉
Such a lovely view and thanks for the peek into your backyard space – really nice.
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April 10, 2019 at 2:04 pm
Thanks, Laura. This walnut tree is different from the regular walnut trees. The black walnut has different leaves but it still gets walnuts. I hear they are edible, but when I’ve tried cracking them, I’ve found out that they have a very thick and heavy shell. The nuts are good but slightly bitter. It’s mainly ornamental, at least in my yard. In the backyard I have a regular walnut tree that gets edible walnuts and is also a pretty tree. But for looks alone, I think this poor thing in the photo is a prettier tree (once it recovers from being crowded over by the leylandis.)
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April 10, 2019 at 2:42 pm
Interestingly enough, just last week we had to have a HUGE leyland cypress removed from our lot. Like yours, it was planted for privacy, but 20 years later it was huge and encroaching on the side of our house and the gutter. Great view!
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April 10, 2019 at 4:19 pm
I think if you researched leylandis you’d find that they are even the cause of lawsuit because of their rapid growth and encroachment. It sure is brighter without them.
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April 10, 2019 at 6:57 pm
Wow! They got HUGE!! We have a neighbor who let their aspens take over. We barely get a mountain view!
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April 10, 2019 at 7:13 pm
Aw! That’s not fair and certainly not something good neighbours would do. There’s always Killex (for the aspens, I mean, not the people).
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April 10, 2019 at 8:18 pm
Wow, those grew to be giants!
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April 10, 2019 at 11:15 pm
Yes, they sure take off. That’s why people plant them and that’s the same reason they cut them down.
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April 10, 2019 at 9:49 pm
Those are huge cypress trees – yikes!Beautiful yard though. 🙂
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April 10, 2019 at 11:16 pm
Thanks, Lynette. Now to try to get grass to grow there instead.
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April 11, 2019 at 6:04 am
It’s a shame to lose the trees but if they left no room for the others to thrive your options were very limited.
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April 11, 2019 at 8:53 am
Yes, I was sorry to see them go, but I had no idea they would get that big or be such bullies.
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April 11, 2019 at 6:20 am
Beautiful trees. What’s going into the garden this year?
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April 11, 2019 at 8:50 am
Lettuce, potatoes, squash, chard, and a few other little things. Fun times to look forward to.
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April 11, 2019 at 8:20 am
Our cypresses {I don’t know if they are Leylandi] and our oaks seem to well next to each other.
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April 11, 2019 at 8:51 am
I think as long as they each have enough room they’re fine, but the leylandis here were crowding out the walnut and the hedge. They’re beautiful trees, but not without potential problems.
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April 11, 2019 at 9:34 am
Ours are not crowding out anything – luckily. I’m less sure, though, what they’re doing to our (limited) groundwater supply, especially since we have our own well.
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April 11, 2019 at 9:38 am
We have a very deep well, so that’s not a problem, but I’m sure they suck away water from nearby plants.
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April 11, 2019 at 11:36 am
Like I said: so far oaks and cypresses seem to live nicely side by side. I only hope that with our well [115 ft., and in the beginning, which is 40 years ago, 35 gals/min] we won’t find out the hard way about how much water the cypresses draw.
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April 11, 2019 at 4:29 pm
I’m not an expert on this but my gut feeling is that your well will be fine. I’m sure the roots can’t reach that far down and as for the surrounding ground water, the trees may slurp up some but I don’t think they’ll hurt your well. That’s my humble opinion.
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April 11, 2019 at 6:26 pm
Looks so much brighter now! The bonus is, you have a whole lot of firewood for next season! Great photos.
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April 11, 2019 at 8:22 pm
It sure lightened the yard up. You’re right about more firewood, although right now, the Captain is cursing the sticky sap on the outside. Very pitchy stuff.
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April 12, 2019 at 12:58 am
Good that they are gone, now your yard looks much brighter and you get more sun.
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April 12, 2019 at 10:23 am
The walnut will be the happiest, I think.
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April 12, 2019 at 3:27 am
A good move for all your trees.
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April 12, 2019 at 10:23 am
I think so too. Thanks, Jennie.
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April 12, 2019 at 5:06 pm
Happy weekend, Anneli. 🙂
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April 13, 2019 at 7:22 am
Thanks, Jennie. Same to you.
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April 13, 2019 at 7:33 am
🙂
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April 12, 2019 at 1:22 pm
As much as I hate to see a tree taken down, in your case, I think it was the right thing to do. In nature, light and air and space are so important; if a being (be it creature or plant) takes that away from another being (be it creature or plant) it must go. Hail to the conquering trees and their mistress! 🙂
(As an aside, thank you so much for your comment on my latest post. I was biting my nails that maybe it was just a bit “too much.” You made me feel relieved…and happy.) xo
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April 12, 2019 at 1:27 pm
No-o-o-o! Not too much at all. I thought it was brilliant.
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April 12, 2019 at 1:39 pm
We have had to remove a few trees that grew too aggressively. One got in the way of pipes. Others throw so much shade (like yours), nothing will grow. When you’ve lived somewhere 35 years, that’s what happens.
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April 12, 2019 at 2:50 pm
Exactly right. We’ve been here for 27 years and everything has grown prolifically. After trying to grow things in a desert, now all we do is fight the jungle.
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April 12, 2019 at 10:28 pm
How many years it took for them to grow so big?
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April 13, 2019 at 7:22 am
I think I planted them about 20 to 25 years ago.
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