I have a row of leylands and i like them a lot. As you observed, many on this forum really hate leylands, but i love the look of a formal hedge and decided to give them a shot. They do need a lot of sun or they get leggy. They also have shallow roots and will be the first to topple in high winds. Be sure to space them properly...a minimum of 6ft for a formal hedge. Also, keep in mind that hungry deer will eat almost anything including leylands. Good Luck

Thanks for the response. The pictures that I've seen online look great. What size Leyland did you start with? How often are you trimming them to maintain the formal hedge look? I was hoping to maintain a height of about 8 - 10 FT.

Thanks

They're actually very windfirm, provided they are planted properly. The problem is planting potbound plants with coiled roots, that makes them unstable in later life.

SC77 is right though about their sun needs - your photo shows a site that looks too shady for good growth. And ditto too about hungry deer.

"I've seen pictures of Leyland crafted into an ornamental hedge. Is this difficult to achieve, or does it just require diligent pruning?"

It requires frequent pruning, with a commitment not to miss out on the schedule.

"Also, does Leyland have a short life span?"

That depends on your climate. In cool-summer oceanic climates like Britain, it is long-lived (100+ years). In areas with warm to hot summers, it is prone to fungal diseases, particularly Seiridium cypress canker, and can succumb in just 10-15 years.

Resin

Mine lasted just about 12 years, but that was long enough for me to plant other things in front of them (which was the master plan). As Resin notes, in our hot summers, they just don't last.

I probably should have explained the photo. The hedge would start near where I'm standing and stop at or about the fence. I lost about three trees in this area to hurricane sandy and the remaining trees are damaged and will be removed prior to planting, so I would anticipate it getting a lot more sun in this area. I'm also planning on removing all of the ivy located in the front right of the photo.

I'm aware that there are no guarantees about the deer. They've been influencing my landscaping decisions and making my life miserable for the past year.

Thanks

When I bought my Leyland's they were all about 2.5ft tall in the spring of 2011. Now they range from 3ft to 4.5ft, which doesn't match the 3ft+ a year growth. However, the variance in growth of the trees is clearly due to some having better access to the sun than others. This past summer I actually pruned a bunch of tall maple trees that were blocking the full sun to some of the trees. Since doing that I have started to see an increased rate of growth and the trees developing a fuller look. They still have a ways to go before I need to start pruning them, so I cannot comment on that. I probably will also be aiming for about an 8ft hedge and maintain it at the level.

To add to my comment about shallow roots. I have had no personal experience with this quality causing the trees to topple, but have heard that discussed as something to consider about these trees. I too was impacted by Hurricane Sandy and the Leyland's did fine.

Do you really want to be slave to pruning a bunch of shrubs? I know I could not and many who say they won't mind eventually give up and they look a mess. Leylands will need constant trimming. There are other things that would be better with less work like maybe Thuja 'Smaragd'. Others here would know better than me what would work. I would suggest Awabuki viburnum, my favorite hedge, but it probably wouldn't be hardy for you.

Geographic location?

"There are other things that would be better with less work like maybe Thuja 'Smaragd'"

The deer would love that! Feast of the year!

Resin

Thanks for everyone's feedback. I'm definitely dedicated to maintaining my hedges and I do not mind trimming on a regular basis. I purchased a couple of gas trimmers, one of which has an articulating head, so that makes the job a lot easier.

I'm located on Long Island.

If you want to trim hedges, you need a hedge trimmer, not a gas trimmer ;-)

"I initially was thinking Ilex, but many of my local nurseries have advised against it."

This is because nurseries can produce saleable Leyland Cypress for about 3X less than the price of comparably sized Ilex. Hence they are more profitable.

Some people just never get the fact that people offering them "advice" may not have their best interests in mind.

I know that there are varieties of Ilex that are deer resistant, like American Holly, but it's more of a tree than a hedge plant. For due diligence I contacted Cornell Univ about the information I received from my local nurseries and they confirmed that many hedge varieties of Ilex are frequently damaged by deer.

I attached the information that Cornell provided: http://ccesuffolk.org/assets/galleries/Agriculture/Commercial-Nursery-and-Landscape-Management/Presentation-Handouts/Bridgen-Deer-Resistant-Plant-List-7-09.pdf

If you are aware of a hedge variety of Ilex that is resistant on Long Island please share, I will investigate. Thanks

Zooba,
I suppose that could be why they advised against them; but many nurserymen will admit to not growing hollies for the reason I mentioned. They take a long time to grow from cuttings and look ugly when they are small. But my overall point stands: there are other conifers that are deer resistant, too, but slower growing than leyland in nursery production and thus less profitable.

The woods surrounding my house are full of Ilex opaca and I've never seen what appears to be any deer browsing on them. This article I've attached is one of the most perceptive about this subject: deer (and rabbits) for me will often attack a new-from-the-nursery plant that is loaded up with nitrogen fertilizer, but ignore the same plant after a couple years. That being said I seem to luckily have a "hypovirulent" strain of deer - knock on wood - compared to many in the NE. (I'm on the northern tip of the Chesapeake Bay) I do leave my grass long in the winter for them, and contrary to reports that they don't like to eat grass, I sometimes observe them grazing on it in the early winter mornings.
The darn things are destroying what's left of the native plant ecosystems - because they don't eat many invasives, and no longer have any predators. The best thing would be to severely curtail their population but I don't know if we'll ever have the will to do that. For now I'm glad a lot of hunting goes on in my county although hunting and "game management" is a double edged sword because "folks" want them to be easy enough to find during a hunt. And, for example, some complete imbeciles in Virginia recently imported some feral pigs from the southeast, which can cause 10X the devastation in a garden that deer can - so they could have something else to hunt. Hopefully the cougars, wolves and coyotes will eventually restore their populations and get the damn deer under control - just don't let your kids play outside after dark anymore LOL.

Here is a link that might be useful: http://www.summerhillnursery.com/plantswegrow/plants-deer.html

"American Holly, but it's more of a tree than a hedge plant."

The correct cultivar is no less suitable as a hedge than leyland cypress - which get to be gigantic eventually, much larger than any American Holly.

I definitely appreciate all of the responses. I'm unfortunately in a residential area with one acre zoning, so our town and county make it almost impossible to hunt deer, even with a bow. Despite the enormous amount of damage and the unsustainable population growth, our town is trying to implement additional protections for these animals. There is no concern for the dangers that they pose toward people or property. The other day I had three large deer running full speed through my property after being spooked by something. One of them hopped my pool fence and just missed hitting the cover. I have young children that play in the backyard and these things could easily have trampled someone. The logical solution would be to fence in the property, but being on a corner lot, there are tons of restrictions for fence height (only 4' on the property line). At this point, my plan is to erect a 4' fence on the line and then put a hedge behind it (possibly on both sides). This is why I'm on this board trying to identify different varieties of plants that are deer resistant. I'm at my wits end with the deer...

I deal with several wholesale nurseries in this area and none of them recommend Leyland, they just said that Ilex often gets eaten in our area. Leyland was one of several evergreens that they said might work. Others included Blue Spruce, Cedar, and Green Giant Arborvitae. Ilex Opaca was also mentioned, but given the size of the property I'm looking to hedge, he said it would be very pricey. I used privet in one part of my property where having an evergreen hedge was not required, and I plan on using Boxwood in another area. If I do decide to go with Leyland for one of the borders, I can assure you that they will be meticulously maintained. I get the impression that many people are against them because of their tendency to get out of control. I know people feel the same was about Ligustrum. There doesn't seem to be any perfect solution to the deer resistant evergreen hedge. Thanks again