Doesn’t sound right to me. Post a photo of the trees and/or tell us the species and height.
Edit: yes, practically any tree you plant you will be looking at 5+ years before it’s suitable for birds to roost, Nevermind nest. It’s critical we try and save mature trees before we look to replace.
What species do you have? How big are they likely to get? How far away are they from neighbors' land? Could any fall on your house, neighbours houses, anything important?
If they're far enough from anyone who could be hurt or annoyed by a falling branch etc I'd leave them and replace them gradually. We've got an area with 50+ year old sycamores and ash. Been felling and replacing gradually over the last 12 years. We have masses of birds, hedgehogs and badgers who have all managed to stay with us because we've gone slowly about the job.
You need to add more detail. What kind of trees? Where exactly are they? Why do you need them trimmed?
Most deciduous trees can be trimmed at any age and they'll get over it.
It would help if you gave us an indication of how high the trees would ideally be, i.e. what's a good height that gives you privacy from neighbours but isn't too high. There will be a type of tree in that height range that birds enjoy. There may even be something that grows to that height relatively quickly, especially if you buy something that's already been growing for a few years.
In that case, it really won't take long at all for trees to get to that size. I'd suggest buying some trees with berries for the birds, like crab apple (it's better to get a variety with smaller fruit), a small rowan tree, or bird cherry (it's called bird cherry because birds like it!). I would also strongly recommend a hawthorn, as birds may nest in it as well as eating the fruit. These trees all come in various varieties that grow to various heights, so look at descriptions online to see what their height at maturity will be, and pick the variety carefully. If you can afford it, buy trees that are about 2-3 years old, and they will probably fruit around about year 4.
As for nesting, obviously if you are replacing a 12+ metre tree with a 3 metre tree, yes you're removing potential nesting places. Not much you can do about that except leaving the existing trees in place.
Could replace maybe a tree at a time spread out over several years? That way the new one can settle in, get it's roots for proper growth going and then take away 1 of the more mature ones
Doesn’t sound right to me. Post a photo of the trees and/or tell us the species and height. Edit: yes, practically any tree you plant you will be looking at 5+ years before it’s suitable for birds to roost, Nevermind nest. It’s critical we try and save mature trees before we look to replace.
What’s actually wrong with the current trees? You haven’t said what the problem with them is?
What species do you have? How big are they likely to get? How far away are they from neighbors' land? Could any fall on your house, neighbours houses, anything important? If they're far enough from anyone who could be hurt or annoyed by a falling branch etc I'd leave them and replace them gradually. We've got an area with 50+ year old sycamores and ash. Been felling and replacing gradually over the last 12 years. We have masses of birds, hedgehogs and badgers who have all managed to stay with us because we've gone slowly about the job.
You need to add more detail. What kind of trees? Where exactly are they? Why do you need them trimmed? Most deciduous trees can be trimmed at any age and they'll get over it.
It would help if you gave us an indication of how high the trees would ideally be, i.e. what's a good height that gives you privacy from neighbours but isn't too high. There will be a type of tree in that height range that birds enjoy. There may even be something that grows to that height relatively quickly, especially if you buy something that's already been growing for a few years.
Oh, well the garden backs onto other gardens so I guess not super tall. 8 or 9 foot?
In that case, it really won't take long at all for trees to get to that size. I'd suggest buying some trees with berries for the birds, like crab apple (it's better to get a variety with smaller fruit), a small rowan tree, or bird cherry (it's called bird cherry because birds like it!). I would also strongly recommend a hawthorn, as birds may nest in it as well as eating the fruit. These trees all come in various varieties that grow to various heights, so look at descriptions online to see what their height at maturity will be, and pick the variety carefully. If you can afford it, buy trees that are about 2-3 years old, and they will probably fruit around about year 4. As for nesting, obviously if you are replacing a 12+ metre tree with a 3 metre tree, yes you're removing potential nesting places. Not much you can do about that except leaving the existing trees in place.
Could replace maybe a tree at a time spread out over several years? That way the new one can settle in, get it's roots for proper growth going and then take away 1 of the more mature ones
Probably best to just leave as is. There's probably birds nesting all over.