I have a large garden bordered on one side by a tall (2-story) prunus laurocerasus hedge. It used to hide my neighbor's barn, but now he's gone and put up a taller barn with a shiny metal roof that sticks up over the hedge. It's directly opposite a seating area on the other side of my garden, and in the morning there's a fierce glare from the roof which is really distracting.

I was planning to put some sort of focal point in that spot anyway -- right now it's just a big expanse of lawn next to the hedge. It seems to me that I need a big fast-growing deciduous tree to block the glare, distract from the roof, and break up the blank space. And then I can make a new seating area in the shade below.

I've thought of hornbeam, red maple, chestnut, or walnut. I was wondering whether I should be concerned about allelopathy of the laurel hedge? For what it's worth, there are perfectly healthy cherry and ash trees growing next to one end of the hedge.

Anybody have any thoughts?

Yes, I was concerned that the laurel hedge was allelopathic; I'd read conflicting reports on this. But certainly, I do see a lot of healthy trees growing next to laurel hedges, so perhaps I don't need to worry.

Whatever I plant, it's going to look pretty puny for a few years next to that monster hedge. (Which I wouldn't get rid of for the world, what with the barn and all.)