spacing leyland cypress

How far apart do leyland cypress need to be spaced out?

I have installed Leyland Cypress 5' apart and 10' apart on many different properties. I prefer 8-10' because you can still retain the beauty of its form.

One thing to remember with Leyland Cypress ... the foliage grows at a much faster rate then its root system. Because of this many Leyland Cypress are brought down by high wind. I have always recommended trimming them hard for the first 3-4 years to allow the root system to get well established before the foliage takes off. If pruned properly it can have an elegant bend in the wind. This growth situation might occur more in the northern climates, but I would call to some local growers (not retailers) or neighbors that have a more established hedge.

There are many varieties of Thuja plicata that hold a similar form and foliage texture (better root system), but I really have not found a comparable large evergreen to replace the beauty of the Leyland Cypress.

Another thing you can do is stake your trees. We planted two out in the wide open part of our yard and high winds from Katrina blew them over. We stood them back up, tamped soil around the roots and drove tall stakes (T-posts) into the ground and tied them to the posts. We left the posts and the trees have grown around them so the posts can't be seen anymore.

Okay so now my next question would be how often and what time of year is recommended for trimming back?

Leyland Cypress are best propagated in February and March. Also, I have pruned in the summer, based on client's request, which is not very good for the plants. In my research, and personal experience, I have found that in zones 5-7 that March / early April and October are the best times to prune, but this is based on temperature and not just a date.

All evergreens take in large amount of nutrients / fluid as they are pushing new growth. This occurs based on temperature so you will want to talk to local growers to find out when this typically occurs in your area. If pruned while the evergreen is preparing itself for the new growth you might see the tip start to bleed. This lose of nutrients can be harmful to the evergreen if you were to prune the whole evergreen at once. It may not kill the evergreen, but create a very stressed out evergreen and invite disease.

I have also learned from a veteran pruner that when you want to prune an evergreen really hard (like Yew and Rhododendron) then you should wait until it is starting to push new growth so you do not lose the evergreen. Its risky, but it really does work (not for all evergreens).

As far as how often - prune as needed. When they are small you only need to prune once a year. You may need to prune twice a year once they reach the height you are happy with. I am out in my yard almost every day (spring through fall) and prune what I see needs pruned ... this keeps me from spending a day pruning my shrubs and trees and I can prune as the plants need it.

Directions say 3 ft apart, but think 5 is more like it to give them lots of room to spread. I have lots of wind on my property and have had no problem and have never trimmed mine. The shapes are lovely. They have been in the ground for about 4 years and are around 12 ft tall.

We have a pasture that the wind really blows across making it feel 10 degrees colder than it really is. So we thought a good row of leyland cypress along the fenceline would not only help with the wind but also be something pretty to look at. I thought about doing a row of the trees and a trail along the tree line with some pretty shrubs in front of that.

Windbreaks are great for 'green' energy savings. Here is a couple links that you will want to read before installing your windbreak.

http://plasticulture.cas.psu.edu/WindBreaks.html

http://pubs.cas.psu.edu/FreePubs/pdfs/uh172.pdf

Hope these helps.