Hedging Plants – Leyland Cypress

Name – botanic name: Cupressocyparis leylandii.

Description and uses – Very fast growing dense evergreen conifer. It makes a splendid specimen tree, columnar with a narrow, dense, conic top, but this is the one hedge species that causes more problems than any other because it can grow four feet a year to a maximum height which is still uncertain but can exceed 130 feet! Leyland Cypress is a hybrid of two species from distinct genera of plants that would never have met naturally. Once artificially interbred, they produced this new vigorous hybrid. Leyland Cypress is light-demanding but is tolerant of high levels of pollution and salt spray.

Maintenance and problems – Once the desired height is reached, in the following spring shorten the leading shoots back six below the required height. The new growth will make up the difference and the top will begin to fill in. The top and sides will need to be trimmed up to three times a year in the growing season, keeping the hedge to an inverted wedge shape - or flat-topped A - with the widest point at the base. Otherwise the base of the plants can become bare. With its rapid growth a Leyland cypress hedge can soon become overgrown if not maintained at the required height. Healthy plants will usually respond well to a reduction of up to one-third of the height. This is best carried out in April as the new growth is about to begin. Taking too much off of the top can result in a bare, flat-topped hedge, or the death of older or less vigorous plants. If a reduction in the width is required care needs to be taken not to cut back into older leafless growths, as new growth will not appear from bare wood.

Hedging cypress photograph by Ingorr, used under a creative commons attribution licence

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