whats happening?

my leyland cypresses have been randomly getting dead spots.i've seen this happen to a lot of leyland cypresses around. if anyone's driven I-26 between columbia and I-95, the you'll probably remember some larger cypresses that were half dead, or their top was dead, or that had so many random branches all over that were brown that it looked like it had brown variegation. well if i remember correctly, those trees started out the same way mine are now, and i really dont want mine to be that ugly

here is a picture that isn't the best, but you can see what i'm talking about

the branch is not dead all the way to the trunk, just halfway

Trent, that often happens to Leylands and they are sort of falling out of favor because of the dieback. A few years ago I thought we were going to have to shovel prune ours because it looked so bare in spots but the last year or so it has looked terrific and I haven't done anything different to it. Go figure.

ok thanks. if it gets too bad, i might convince my dad to replace those with italian cypress

Also, leylands are not drought hardy. Many around my area have been lost over the last year.

these are at no risk of dying of thirst.....they are in a part of the yard that is always moist. not wet, but moist even in the drought

I've seen a couple of small leyland with the same problem as yours around here. Why? Don't know. I like the Italian cypress but they look formal to me. You need to make a defined line or boarder from them to look right.

I love TY TY's pictures. LOL. http://www.tytyga.com/product/Italian+Cypress+Shrubs+and+Trees

If you look fast enough today's special is fig trees, nice picture. Not sure what that has to do with figs.

Wow, looked up what the peach tree picture looks like. http://www.tytyga.com/category/Peach+Trees

Oh no, they didn't do that? LOL. Reminds me of a song.

tyty has some of the weidest pictures i have ever seen... some are almost disturbing. if i did replace them w/ italian cypress, then they would be part of a border, so it would look ok

Leyland cypress are susceptible to a fungal disease which eventually kills them. Once it gets started there is not much you can do - maybe try cutting off the dead branches at the base. But once it goes too far the tree is doomed.

oh well... looks like italian cypres might be the answer....

I kept trimming off the die back and mine flourishes today. I never thought we would still have it much less that it would look good.

ok thats what i'll do then

I can remember the landscaper telling me that when you see a shrub that looks good with no obvious damage and just one branch or group of branches that are dying back like that (at the time we were looking at a cryptomeria (nana) that it usually is a sign that it is too dry or too wet and told me to look at the environment and figure out which it is.

It's becuase of a fungus is correct. Here is some more info on it. I had the same type of post in the tree forum. I am having them cut all 8 of them due to rampant infection.
Perhaps Thuja Green Giant will fair better? (spelling?)

http://www.ces.ncsu.edu/depts/pp/notes/Ornamental/odin17/od17.htm

r30

This message was edited Jun 4, 2008 9:49 PM

rebecca30 is right - it does look like a fungus. The Thuja 'Green Giant' might be a better option. My neighbors had Italian cypresses and they all turned brown and died (the cypresses, not the neighbors :) so I suspect Italian cypress is prone to the same diseases in our hot, humid environment.

ok well i guess i'll just have to wait and see. thanks for the website

This one is about 7 years old and has suffered with dieback many times over the years. I just snip the dead parts off and it is fine now. I don't remember snipping anything for the past year or two. The picture is a bit fuzzy, I just took it a few minutes ago and it is so hot today. The heat index is 107.

The plant in the lower right is the Salvia that blooms all winter. It gets huge.

Edited to add that this one is in the 12' to 15' range, probably closer to 15'.


This message was edited Jun 5, 2008 3:08 PM

oh my gosh it is aweful outside today! in the shade the thermometer says 95.....