Have you researched these versus other evergreen screening plants like Cryptomeria japonica and Arborvitae (Thuja 'Green Giant')? These days, it seems those get the recommendation, not Leylands.

Be sure to space any plants for their mature size. Too many folks crowd them together, which can lead to disease issues in time (Leylands get canker and spread them to each other).

Unless you just happen to like that formal "solider in a row" look, consider a mixed screen. It looks more natural, allows you to choose different plants and avoids issues like diseases that can affect the whole group of plants.

Personally, nothing says "I have no imagination" to me like a straight row of Leyland cypress! That is mostly tongue in cheek, but you know what I mean. If you're interested in other ideas, check out the Trees forum and search on "screening"; here is a search on "privacy":

Here is a link that might be useful: Privacy ideas on Trees forum

i would go cryptomeria. we have 5 leylands and 3 cryptomeria. cryptomeria are 2x taller, and the cypress are kinda sad. cryptomeria are always green, year round and taaaallllll

I hear ya regarding the other, possibly better, alternatives, but I recently stubmled across a local grower of leyland cypress' who has 5-6 ft trees for $25 a pop. I saw a Leyland about 7ft tall for $129. These trees are going to be behind my property, actually behind my back 6ft privacy fence. So, I'm not really concerned with the uniform soldier look, I'm just trying to get a head start on the neighbor they are building DIRECTLY behind my house, removing the beautiful view I once had of a pretty southern field and wooded area.

Well, if you have stumbled across a good deal then I can see you'd want to take advantage of it. Do consider the spacing though. You might even try to find a few loblolly pines and plant them between the leylands to give a buffer against canker issues spreading in the future.

As for encourage good growth - adequate moisture would be the most important issue for the first year. Don't amend the soil at all, but put a good layer of mulch all around to retain moisture and keep up with the watering. In the next year you can deal with fertilizing if you want.

Are they going to install those for $25 per?
If not, you can do much better, price wise.
Growers Outlet has them in 3gal. size for $9.
Cryptomeria (3 different cultivars) and Thuja 'Green Giant', for $10/3gal. size.
Without hesitation, I would never plant a leylandii cypress.
They are prone to two types of canker and two types of root rot. We have a friend that has had to replace half of the one's in her privacy planting during the past few years. She planted them to block the view from her den/kitchen of a half-mile row of 2-3 story condos, constructed with the cheapest siding material on the market (wet-dog ugly!) and only a few feet from her property line.
MHO
Rb

Here is a link that might be useful: Diseases of Leyland Cypress in the Landscape

Wow, that is interesting, b/c like I said, I was at Pike Nursery on Lawrenceville Highway in Tucker this week and they had a 7 ft. (or so) tall Leyland cypress for $129 bucs, so wehn I found the $25 ones, I thought I'd stumbled upon a great deal. I guess not. And no, that did not include installation. Now that I went to the Growers outlet site and read the plant info, I see what you are saying , thanks so much for the info, I think you've all but sold me on the Thuja Green Giant, I wonder how tall the 3 gallon ones are now, any idea? Looks like I may make a trip to GO earlier than I thought. Any tips on planting them? How much soil amending is needed? Thanks to all for the suggestions.

The current tree planting recommendation is no soil amendment. Now that doesn't mean leave it big ugly chunks - I still break it up with my hands, throw a few leaves in the bottom of the hole for worms to discover and mulch well. Also, press down hard when back filling to eliminate air pockets. If it's a big hole, I use my foot to do it.

And don't dig the hole too big, just deep enough to put the rootball in and half it sit above the hole about 1/2 inch. A little wider is good. Don't forget to cut any circling roots on the rootball and loosen the roots a bit.

Several years ago we planted a big tree at the school and one of the guys brought an auger to dig the hole. The hole was ridiculously loose and the tree fell down numerous times after planting (even with stakes). Moral: the hole was too GOOD - more is not better. A second tree (next to it) had a hang dug hole and never had a problem. Same size, same conditions.

Hope that helps. I have heard very positive things about 'Green Giant'.

To be fair, in defense of Leyland Cypress, Leylands grow incredibly fast, thuja does not. While Leyland does have some issues, thuja has them as well (bag worm and spider mite infestation). I think that a mixture of several different types of evergreen is always ultimately worthwhile and one can prune out the mistakes as the border matures.

For example, a mixture of, say, Mary Nell and Burford hollies (which also grow into trees), Arizona Cypress, Red Cedar, thuja and Leyland would make for a nice range of color and texture. The Leylands could form a screen quickly, while the others are getting going, and then ultimately be pruned out for mulch for the border. One can run Leyland limbs through even the smallest chipper and make great mulch...the logs on the other hand....

The nicest thing about Leylands is that they do grow so fast; one can put in two dollar pygmies and have thirty foot giants in five years!

Nippersdad, that contradicts other post I have read and I am now confused. I read multiple posts from folks describing the incredibly fast growth rate of the Thuja Green Giant, some even describing a rate of 3 to 5 feet per year.

blazepepper,
I have a deep loathing for Leyland cypress, pampas grass, and several other popularly-grown plants; but that's neither here nor there. Among other things, a dense wall-o-green contributes to my claustrophobia.

You will find amazingly inexpensive Leyland cypress plants advertised through _The Georgia Market Bulletin_. Cheap, cheap, cheap--and provided by reputable growers.

I think you would be wise to wait till next fall to plant them. If planted now, you will have to water, water, water and water some more.

Hi Blaze:

If they have experienced it then it must be so. I only know that the variants of thuja that I have growing are pretty slow. When I planted our windbreaks I experimented with a lot of things to see what would grow well here and the cypresses outpaced everything else by far! I am now in the process of "weeding" and limbing them to allow slower growing specimens (like our thuja) room to breathe. Green Giant may be a much faster growing cultivar than those to which I am used.

Therein lies the value of planting several different types of things...you just never know what will crop up. Whether it is drought resistance, disease, insect damage or speed of growth, species respond differently and a monoculture is ALWAYS subject to problems down the road. Red tip photinia, Euonymous manhattan...now Leyland cypress, plant enough of them in a region and you will eventually have problems. Green Giant could be the next despised overplanted variety. You never know until it becomes an actuality.

Anyway, my point was one in favor of diversity and seeing the good points of even the lowliest specimens.

I hear ya, so now I am stuck with the dilema, I need 8-10 trees, I could buy 6 ft tall leylands for $25 each, or 2.5 ft tall thuja green giants for $10 each. Based on this thread and some other research, and a tight budget this spring, I think I'm heading to Growers outlet for $10 Green Giants.

Ok, its donw, 10 Thuja Green Giants are in the ground, $10 a plant, all in $50 holes!!! And a sore back to boot. Wish me luck!

How well if at all will these trees grow in partial sun? If shade they won't grow at all is my guess. I wanted a winter screen amongst some deciduous trees behind my house. thx

I was looking for a quick growing screen for my side yard and after reading several internet sites I ended up choosing Green Giants over Leylands. From what I read they are supposed to grow just as quick (if not quicker) than Leylands, but are less prone to disease.

The one thing that bothered me was that I could not find many pictures of mature Green Giants. I like the look of mature Leylands and have seen plenty near my house in Roswell, GA, but have not seen any thuja Green Giants. Does anyone know where I could find a picture of mature thujas or see some in person in the Atlanta area? The few pictures on the web I have seen they look like enormous christmas trees, which unfotunately I did not like too much (and I saw these pictures after I have already planted about 10 Green Giants).

Hi, my Green Giants are only two years old so I don't have mature pictures to show you but I can share my growth rate.

Our house is on a corner lot on a cul-de-sac so we wanted a privacy hedge. Ours were 18" tall and planted about 5 feet apart in March of 2007. The ones that are raised up and in the shade (left side of pic) are now 36 - 40" tall. The ones in full sun are 65 - 68" tall and are already giving us a little coverage.

The first year they hardly grew at all. Last Spring I used a little Hollytone on them and they really began to shoot up. They only receive water when it rains and in spite of 2 years of drought they are very healthy looking. I'm pretty pleased with them.

Thanks Franny, those pictures are very promising. I planted them all in a row that gets nothing but sunchine. The smallest was about 15-18 inches, but the larges was already over 4 ft tall, although they were all very thin. I look forward to them growing up soon. Let me ask you this, when you planted them, did you do a lot of watering then? and what time of year did you plant them? thanks/bob

Hi Bob, we planted them in March of 2007. When I first planted them I did water them about once a week as needed. But later that summer, watering was banned so they've been on their own since then. Franny

Having read this and regretted allowing my brother to put in 50 leylands vs. some cryptomerias ... it is what it is. ;-)

So we put in 50 X 6 foot tall Leylands about 6 months ago in October 2012. They mostly are doing well with the recent wet spring, however I want them to really kick in and widen to make a good screen asap.

I have been doing some reading on fertilizers, and have read 10 8 8 slow release would be a good choice.

So need to ask. For optimum growth to hit 15 20 feet asap:

* Is 10 8 8 a good choice?
* Should I be avoiding chemical and stick to organic fertilizer?
* Do any of the Atlanta area folks have a recommendation for where to get a good fertilizer with the right chemistry and all the other things that it should have in there?
* Prefer to buy online if possible, so if anyone else can make a suggestion for a good online vendor, even better. Where do folks shop for time release fertilizer?

Many thanks!
Rachel

galstaf, suggest you start a new post - you'll get better results than latching into this really old one.

Bless your heart, 50 of those monsters.

Thanks Rosie!

I will do that right now in the trees forum... thanks for the tip!