I ordered some 5 ft high Leyland Cypress trees from a local nursery but when they were delivered to my property the leaders had been cut down to the branching. My landscape contractor planted them anyway but after 4 months they seem to be growing horizontally but not vertically. I wanted these trees for a quick, tall privacy screen to replace a 20 ft high laurel hedge that had died. I am wondering if these trees will ever grow tall or will they just remain bushy? I hadn't asked for the leaders to be cut and the nursery is avoiding my question about this. Am I out of luck or will I eventually get a tall privacy screen? Will the trees form useful leaders or will they just look irregular and stunted? Thank you.
The upright growth habit will likely resume in time as the trees put out new vertical growth from near the heading cuts. As regrowth appears, you can thin the shoots to select the strongest upright leaders. You can also shape back the lateral branches a little to suppress the horizontal growth and favor the upright growth. It may take a year or two for recovery, but Leyland cypress are usually vigorous upright growers.
I need a narrow tall growing tree like a tiny tower cypress for the front of Spanish house that faces North and gets little sun, what would best grow there? The tree must be narrow so we don't block the views
You are in zone 10b.
Leland Cypress may be your best choice.
https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/ornamental/trees/leyland-cypress/growing-leyland-cypress-trees.htm
I would suggest visiting some local garden centers; they would be stocking the best specimens for your region and often have test gardens where you can see mature plantings.
burrs/roots coming to the surface. I would like to remove all these saplings and dig a trench to stop them growing in the lawn. Could do with some professional help to assist with these issues. The leylandii do not belong to us but border the garden. Our lawn has got worse over the years with these saplings attaching to the roots - it’s like a mini forest. I want to put a border material down to stop the roots from growing in my grass, please help.
You will have to contact the local agricultural extension services in your country for this one! Digging a trench near a neighbors trees will likely damage them, resulting in legal trouble, which we can't really help with.
As you can see from the picture, I bought some small Leyland Cypress trees, with the intention of growing a small and thick (70cm high) hedge. I now wonder if I chose the best type of tree for this, as they look very scrawny at this size, and also because I don't want them to grow much taller. I see other small trees that are already very thick and nice at that size, and perhaps wish I had bought them instead. So my question is, will they thicken to form a small hedge and should I trim the top as they grow, or let it grow naturally and trim into the brown wood at the top the size I want it to stay at (knowing that it will not regrow)? Or would it be better to replace them with another type of tree that looks thicker when small and is evergreen? Thank you very much for your expertise, I am very new to gardening. Chris
They will probably overwhelm you in the first growing season. Leyland cypress typically grow 50 feet (15 meters) tall by 12 feet (4 meters) wide. They will outgrow those pots quickly. While they do accept severe pruning, and trimming annually for height, you would be better off to trade these in on a smaller evergreen.
https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/ornamental/trees/leyland-cypress/pruning-leyland-cypress.htm
https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/special/containers/evergreens-for-containers.htm
Just moved in to property with a large garden with long lengths of trimmed Leylandii hedges. They are dying because of infestation of moss growth on the top. Large clumps, size of a dinner plate can be lifted off. We have cleared as much as we can, but I wondered if there was a chemical i.e. sulphate of iron I could spray on to eradicate it. If so what mixture quantities? I can send photos if necessary, but would have to get advice on the ‘how to’ as my internet skills are very limited
Our experts suggest either pruning or treating the hedge with an organic or copper based fungicide. Here's a link to an article about unwanted moss on foliage:
https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/ornamental/foliage/moss/moss-on-plants.htm
Our Leyland cypress are about 5 years old now and we had a drought here in south alabama last year, and we did not water thinking that they a good root system and would makeit. Wrong! we lost about 4 trees! So we thought that we would mulch this year and see if that would help.We have cedar shavings available but are skiddish about using. Is pine straw a better choice?
Most mulches will be suitable for this application. If in doubt, you can use Cypress mulch, to know for sure that it is compatible.
Here is an article that will help you with the care of these trees:
https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/ornamental/trees/leyland-cypress/growing-leyland-cypress-trees.htm
This article will explain different types of mulches: https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/garden-how-to/mulch/best-mulch-for-garden.htm
Please see attached image of part of my hedge. It's Leylandii, very mature. It started doing this late last year. What's the best approach?
It sounds like blight. Here are common problems with Leylandii cypress:
https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/ornamental/trees/leyland-cypress/leyland-cypress-diseases.htm