cupressocyparis

[lawndoctor]

Hello everyone,
This is my first post here, I have learned so much from everyone at lawnsite. Thanks Paul for mentioning this site.
Ok, I have a customer who wants a large hedge. They love the leyland cypress trees. So my question is how far apart should they be planted to form a nice screen but not crowd themselves. I want a thick screen but I want them to be healthy as well.

 

[treeclimber165]

Leyland Cypress can make a decent screen. I'd say about 5'-8' apart depending on how solid of a block they want.
Plan for the future when planting and consider the full size of the trees. The worst mistake made when designing a landscape is putting too much material too close together. It looks better when you collect the check, but becomes crowded as the material matures.

 

[lawndoctor]

Thanks Treeclimber165,
They want a tight screen. It divides a business from a residence. Can the Leyland Cypress be cut back to keep it in bounds without hurting the tree. Also can it be topped to keep it a certain height? It will be ok if not but I thought it might make it look neater and a more kept appearance.

 

[treeclimber165]

You can keep it tipped fairly often, but if you try to take too much off at once (more than 10-15%) of the GREEN the limbs may die back. Once it started filling in, I'd probably hit it with the hedge trimmers LIGHTLY whenever I had any other trimming to do on the property. By 'lightly', I mean nipping off errant growth at 2-3" BEFORE it gets too far out of hand.
Almost 2 decades ago when I had my lawn business, I found that keeping stuff nipped every 2-3 weeks was a LOT less work than waiting until major trimming needed to be done. Not only is the customer happier, but you don't have to rake hardly anything and it only takes minutes. Plus it is easier for the material to handle small cuts. Plants will fill in a lot better.

Good luck with it!

 

[treetrunk]

I agree with treeclimber 165 on this one, in england we have to deal with a lot of unruly leylandii hedges and trees that have outgrown their small urban gardens, and a lot of the work is the dreaded top job, as clients would rather reduce them than replace them. They are the only tree that really gets topped as common practice over here, and doing it so often can drive you to get the trees. Its much better pactice to devise a good trimming regime when young to keep the trees healthy and looking good as a hedge. I dont know about over your way but over here leylandii`s can grow over 4 foot a year. It doesn`t take long for them to grow out of control.

 

[John Paul Sanborn]

With the larger evergreens one can stager the plantings instead of putting them it a straigt line, this will give them a chance to grow out but still provide a screen when young.

We have this problem with junipers. People want them smaller but they wont bud on woody tissue.