In recent years, Leylandii has gotten a bit of a bad reputation with UK homeowners. The reason for this is that these trees grow exceptionally tall and do so quickly. If they are planted close together, they have a tendency to block out light and create a lot of shadow. This can make it impossible to enjoy a garden and severely limit the plants that can be grown in the shadow of these huge trees.
However, it is sad that these trees have this reputation because they are actually very beautiful plants. You just have to know how to plant them and care for them.
Uses for Leylandii
Because Leylandii can grow in practically any kind of soil and do not need much water, they can be planted practically anywhere. They make beautiful trees and an avenue of mature Leylandii is particularly attractive. Many large homes and parks around the world use these trees to create a vista.
However, they are also used a lot in private gardens. Despite being very large trees, they can be kept to a manageable size by trimming. Many people use them as hedging. They simply wait until they get to the right height then cut the top off them. Once this is done they do not grow any higher, instead they just thicken out to form a dense hedge. It is easy to maintain this kind of hedge, by trimming it once a year.
Types of Leylandii
There are several different types of Leylandii available. They come in two basic shades, dark green and gold, which has a kind of yellow hue to it. However, there are 40 different varieties available including trees that some people say have a grey hue. It is a relatively new breed of tree that was produced by accident.
In 1847, the banker Christopher Leyland planted a mix of trees from across the world in his estate at Leighton Hall, Powys. This mix of trees included Monterey Cypresses and Nootka or Alaskan Cypresses. These two trees crossbred producing the Leyland or Leylandii tree. Over the years, botanists created a range of different varieties by cross breeding different varieties of Alaskan and Monetary Cypresses.
If you are looking for Leylandi visit the Hedging UK website. They sell the best varieties for use as hedging.
