Leland cypress (x Cupressocyparis leylandii) is a rare, but successful, hybrid between two different genera: Cupressus and Chamaecyparis. Join now. [18], Part VIII of the United Kingdom's Anti-Social Behaviour Act 2003, introduced in 2005, gave a way for people affected by high hedges (usually, but not necessarily, of leylandii) to ask their local authority to investigate complaints about the hedges, and gave the authorities in England and Wales power to have the hedges reduced in height. Since a Leyland cypress hedge can reach a height of up to 35 metres without proper maintenance, they have been a constant source of neighbourly disputes for a long time, sometimes even leading to violence. Thalacker, Braunschweig 1997, "Plymouth neighbours row over 35ft trees", "Nuclear and Cytoplasmic DNA Sequence Data Further Illuminate the Genetic Composition of Leyland Cypresses", "x Cuppressocyparis leylandii 'Naylor's Blue'", "The circumscription and phylogenetic relationships of, "Mother of all trees that sets neighbours at war revealed to have its accidental roots in Wales", "TRACING GREEN GIANT BACK TO CASTLE ROOTS", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Leyland_cypress&oldid=984562046, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, This page was last edited on 20 October 2020, at 19:28. Leylandii hedges can easily get out of hand and require frequent maintenance. Many varieties have been cultivated, each with different foliage. An evergreen conifer, Leylandii is a hybrid between two American conifers and was discovered in 1888 at Leighton Hall in Wales. Because of their growth rate, leylandii hedges are very quickly established; you can acquire a decent privacy hedge in no more than three years. The branches are slightly flattened and densely populated with scaly needles. Growth/Year* 2.5-3ft (75-90cm) Dry Shade: Wet Sites: Native: Coastal Areas: Evergreen: Chalky Soil : Av. The UK's Leading Specialists For Mature Trees & Shrubs. Two other similar hybrids have also been raised, both involving Nootka cypress with other Cupressus species: Leyland cypress is light-demanding, but is tolerant of high levels of pollution and salt spray. In both forms of the hybrid, Leyland cypress combines the hardiness of the Nootka or Alaska cypress with the fast growth of the Monterey cypress.[5]. In California's Central Valley, they rarely live more than 10 years before succumbing, and not much longer in southern states like Alabama. However, the topmost branch of the Lawson Cypress droops, whereas that of the Leyland Cypress only leans. When it comes to pruning, however, leylandii hedges are less user-friendly than other conifer hedges. Although widely used for screening, it has not been planted much for forestry purposes. The Leyland cypress, Cupressus × leylandii, often referred to simply as leylandii, is a fast-growing coniferous evergreen tree much used in horticulture, primarily for hedges and screens.

The trees have dark sprays of flat green foliage held out on yellow-green stems. When young, the foliage is a light colour but it gradually matures to dark green. The tallest Leyland cypress presently documented is about 40 m (130 ft) tall and still growing. They are dark green, somewhat paler on the underside, but can have different colors, depending on the cultivar. It also requires soils with an excellent drainage characteristic and, just like other plants, occasional fertilization for nutrients. [9], The plant's rapid growth and great potential height can become a serious problem. The foliage on top can be kept in trim with a once or twice-yearly cut. Due to their vigorous growth, leylandii hedges unfortunately have a tendency of becoming excessively large if they are not pruned very often. A hardy, fast-growing natural hybrid, it thrives on a variety of soils, and sites are commonly planted in gardens to provide a quick boundary or shelter hedge, because of their rapid growth. You can also add winter colour to a patio or front garden with leylandii half standards in a well-watered container.How To Care For Cupressus Leylandi Half StandardLeyland Cypress need little care once established. The two parent species would not likely cross in the wild, as their natural ranges are more than 400 miles (640 km) apart, but in 1888, the hybrid cross occurred when the female flowers or cones of Nootka cypress were fertilised by pollen from Monterey cypress. The Leyland cypress is certainly one of the conifers most used to set up a hedge.. A List of Leyland Cypress facts. Nootka cypress was first regarded as belonging in the genus Cupressus, but was later placed in Chamaecyparis. [14], In some of these classifications, this and other hybrids of Nootka cypress become very unusual in being intergeneric hybrids, the only ones ever reported among the gymnosperms. It has been the top selling item of almost every British garden centre for many years, making up to a tenth of their total sales. [2] Their rapid, thick growth means they are sometimes used to achieve privacy, but such use can result in disputes with neighbours whose own property becomes overshadowed. Christopher was a sea captain by trade. Trade; Retail; Find a store. Eventually they found the six original trees developed by Leyland, and began propagating the species. Name – Cuprocyparis leylandii Family – Cupressaceae Type – conifer. The Leyland cypress or cupressocyparis leylandii is an evergreen hedging conifer generally chosen for its exceptionally rapid growth; it can grow up to a stunning 90 centimetres per year. This evergreen plant tolerates any climatic condition with its optimal growth achieved with a sufficient supply of sunshine. Leylandii, as they are often simply referred to, have a compact, dense growth habit and are often used in hedges of a more formal appearance. Even on sites of relatively poor culture, plants have been known to grow to heights of 15 metres (49 ft) in 16 years. Over time, the cones shrink dry and turn gray or chocolate brown and then have a diameter of 1 cm. The hybrid between the Monterey cypress and the Nootka cypress was unlikely to ever occur in the wild, because their natural ranges are over 600 kilometres apart. [6] He further developed the hybrid at his new home, and hence named the first clone variant 'Haggerston Grey'. This form, widely propagated from the 1970s, was selected by the park director, John Keown, and was named Cupressus macrocarpa 'Keownii', 1963.[11]. As a hybrid, although fertility of certain Leyland cypress forms were recently reported,[7][8] most Leyland cypress were thought to be sterile, and nearly all the trees now seen have resulted from cuttings originating from those few plants. Leyland Cypress or Cupressus Leylandii in a Half Standard Tree Shape These are evergreen Leyland Cypress conifer trees but shaped as half-standard trees on clear stems of circa 1.2 Metres tall with a canopy of foliage on top.