id say your trees will fill the spot given time and some . how about trying trellis on top of your fence and growing climbers over it . the perfect thing for the very young to play on is grass so maybe hanging baskets or pots you can move when needed and just have annuals as there pretty and not permenant . you may regret the trees in the long run as they will grow and grow and take up lots of your light and garden and know you cant really move them . you could grow some veg and herbs too that are useful and are of use . kiddies like seeing a benefit from what they put in but maybe not just yet .

I agree with Noseypotter,Claire,as nice as they may seem now,they will also take up lots of moisture at the roots,and nutriments..that's if you were thinking of making borders for plants,at the front of them? A lawn would be ideal for your little boy,,and football will probably be on his agenda at some point,or other games..:o) I think Pots,with Annuals or bedding plants for different seasons would be a good idea.,for instant colour..We gravelled our back lawn,which is great for us,but nowhere for our Grandson to play..He did however love planting a pot of his own this year :o)

Oh dear, I am going to depress you which is a shame.

I agree, leylandii are not a good choice for a small garden as they grow very fast but don't stop - they want to reach 12 metres high with a spread of at least 3 metres in width.. So planted close to a fence (how close are they?)they could easily push it out of line and as they will grow about two feet in height every year you will have to keep trimming them - which will be difficult if you grow them high enough for privacy.. Most local authorities have regulations about the allowable height for leylandii hedges becasue they cause many disputes between neighbours, and this is usually somewhere between six and eight feet.

Having said that if you try to move them after they've been in three years there is very little chance they would survive. I really hate to tell you all this when you have made such a good start on making a garden and we are all dying to help you to succeed I'm sure, but its better to know now what you are in for. Do check with your council anyway about any height restrictions. What size is your garden please?

Having lived with two conifer hedges in the past i can tell you that the chance of growing attractive flowers under them is nil as they dry the ground out and use all the goodness. It is very irresponsible of nurseries to sell these trees without checking that the purchasers know what they are in for.

Noseypotters suggestion of adding trellis to the top of the fence and growing climbers up it would be a much better option for your other fence and I woud really advise you not to continue your leylandii along the back fence.

However to cheer you up why not buy a couple of tubs or large pots of some sort for now as Bloomer says, and plant some spring bulbs in them? Its not quite too late if you do it now - tulips especially are usually planted in November. Your little boy will love them. You can put other flowers in for the summer and we wil help you choose if you like. There's nothing to prevent you making a small flower bed nearer the house right away though, if it gets enough sunshine and if you are prepared to teach your little boy to avoid walking on it.

Thank you so much Nosypotter and Bloomer for your replies. So you both think that the trees should not and can't be moved? There is about a foot if that between each tree? The 5 first trees that were planted have grown tall but havent grown in width much at all.I will definitely keep the garden grassed as Blommer he loves a ball to already so I'm sure there will be lots of football out there. Nosy potter thank you I will look in to getting some trellis and growing climbers any advise on what I could plant now as climbers if I can being winter? would be great :)Ps my garden is very dry and was dry before the trees were planted ooo no will my garden now get dryer and dryet:(? Many thanks Claire

yes, your garden will get drier and drier as the dreaded leylandii get larger, probably to the point, depending on the size of the area, where nothing else will grow. How large is the garden (length and width) and do you know which way it faces (south, north)?

I am in favour of privacy in a garden - whether you need a privacy barrier 50 feet high and 6 feet deep from front to back which needs pruning back at great expense every two years is another matter.There are many other ways to create privacy with much more attractive planting in your garden and which don't involve heavy pruning costs - the only drawback is that most other things don't grow as fast as Leylandii - but then they don't get over 50 feet either.

whose idea was that again sg lol . I do believe in some cases you now need planning permission for said trees . I wouls seriously consider killing them especialy a foot apart . there was one at the front of my house about 50 feet tall and about 20 feet across at the base .

Hi steragram thank you for your reply ooo noo now I'm thinking what have I created!:( but better to know what these trees will be for the garden good and bad and for me to try and maintan them . They are planted very close to the fence really close. I have just measured them they are just under a foot away?.My garden is length 24 Ft from patio to fence where trees are. 27 half Ft is the width.I'm really not sure if what how my garden faces it has Sun in it pretty much all day then as afternoon sets in moves to the right of my garden then goes down the side wall of my house. Sorry I'm very much a newbie to all this.I know you have said not to move the 5 trees that have been planted for 3 years. What about the other 2 that I planted last year could I take them out ? Would they survive if someone else wanted them? Because if I can do that and they will live I would like to now as think I maybe up to my eyebaleyeballs in Leylandii soon arggghhhhh. Thank you all for your advise help and knowledge.many thanks Claire.

Personally I'd get rid of the whole lot of the trees - accepting that they are unlikely to be able to be replanted and think of a better solution to your privacy problem. If your garden is only 24 foot in length then 6 foot depth of fast growing conifer is the last thing you need. How about a 6 foot high fence with trellis on the top?

At that size of garden, you really don't need any leylandii at all - take 'em all out, while you still can. It sounds as if its more or less south facing, which would explain why its fairly dry - perhaps the soil is also light and free draining.

Any chance of a photograph or two of the garden, say from your patio or the back door? What you need is some recommendations as to what to plant to give you some privacy that will still allow room for other things, like a lawn. Are you trying to block the view into your garden from neighbour's upstairs windows as well as ground floor ones?

great minds mg lol .

Leylandii plus small garden is a no brainers NP :)

Please get rid of the Leylandii as soon as you can, while they're still relatively small. You don't say how tall they are but I'm guessing that they haven't yet reached the nuisance stage but they will do and then you can say goodbye to any friendly neighbours you may have. Hire a chainsaw for a weekend and turn the leylandii into firewood (offer it on Freecycle if you don't need firewood yourself)

Well there you have it Missb. What a good thing you thought of asking for advice, though its a shame you had to spend hard earned money on them only to get rid.
You are lucky that your garden is sunny, it will give you lots of scope for some attractive flowers. When you are ready for some more help (hopefully more cheerful and constructive) could you add a photo of the garden ? Doesn't matter if you cant.

Hi all thank you so much for all your advice experience and honesty . I have just managed to upload some pictures of my garden.I completely forgot to mention after all my concern regarding the Leylandii that I have 2 small trees to the right side of my garden I did not plant them. And I am really not sure how they got there. Could a seed of some thing that has landed in my garden. I do remember them being a lot smaller more weed like and then they just grew and as I was working before with no time or intrest in the garden it really was like wow when did they grow to trees. Thankyou again everyone:) Claire

Of all trees in all the world, nothing could be worse than the dreaded laylandii. They are on a par with politics and religion argument wise -cause fights with neighbours - take all moisture and goodness from the soil, grow to unmanageable heights, cost a fortune to remove or cut back if you don't bother to keep in check -what more could you ask for?

well ofcourse your right mg but I was talking about the add trellis part lol

There are two trees which seed themselves easily - one is Elder and the other is Sycamore. Having looked at the pics, its hard to tell without being closer, and the leaf arrangement would make it easier to decide what they are, but I suspect they're sycamore. Which is extremely unfortunate, and does mean you should get them removed asap and then keep watch for further saplings arising and pull them out before they take hold. Ultimate height for a sycamore is 100 feet, and they should never be planted less than 50 feet away from a house or structure because of their root spread threatening the foundations.

A tree or two is a good idea - but smaller ones, more suitable for gardens, such as Acer brilliantissimum (a variety of Sycamore), though in a garden of that size, they would need to be at the furthest end from the house.

Yes, taking those trees out would be wise as thy are obviously going to get very much bigger. When you have a blank slate you might like to consider what you want from your garden - you need to go a bit further than "pretty flowers". Do you want one lawn in the middle, do you want some flower beds, do you want it to be labour saving, winter colour, evergreens, are you having a clothes line etc. You need to know how much you can afford to spend on it too as plants can be expensive - people here will probably be able to help a little but you can only send small plants through the post and you'll want something noticeable to encourage you for starters. Notice if there are any corners that get hardly any sun too as that affects what will be happy.
Try looking in your local library for books about small gardens to spark off some ideas, and make a point of noticing other peoples gardens too - this is a good source of ideas.

honestly speaking id keep life easy for yourself till your child is older and more interested . kill the trees and put up some trellis and keep the lawn all the time listning to what sg sais . youl have time to plan what you actually want from your garden in the long run and not have to worry about anything but the lawn mower your hous and your child . you can learn a lot on here and the rest of the net in a few years and do some great planning and bypass all the mistakes we have all made . keep a scrap book and put your ideas down and research things . a stitch in time and all that .

And don't forget a couple of containers of bulbs and summer bedding to keep you cheerful while you think!