tree trimming

[mandimoo]

i have a very tall and rather wide leylandi (or similar evergreen tree) in my garden. i feel sorry for my neighour as it cuts alot of light from their garden. could i get the top 1/3 lopped off and the rest shaped so it didnt look odd? how much would it cost?

[mandimoo]

thats supposed to say third, not 13!

[Postdog]

Yes - I had that problem too. However the tree died in the end (not a great loss really because after it was lopped it looked weird).

I'd advise you to contact a tree surgeon whou would be best placed to advise on what can be done.

[stevie-p]

Nice to know someone considers the neighbours,yep you can cut them down,but shaping them can be difficult.

[RATTER15]

Generally they are just reduced in height, you cant do much to shape them really, they look good if you have a row of them but just one looks a bit odd being flat topped.

[heathfield]

If it's leylandi, it's recommended that they be topped by no more than a third of their height, or you risk killing it altogether. As Ratter says, it's unlikely you'd be able to do any shaping. If you trim back the branches you'd be cutting back to old wood that can't normally produce new shoots.