Someone Topped My Leyland Cypress

The Downey Trees blog is oft upbeat and entertaining; this is non such a mail service. So oftentimes we are called out to look at Leyland Cypress trees that are having problems, and we know what we are going to find in about cases before we get there. Sharing the bad news is the worst part, simply before we become there, let's talk for only a minute about how nosotros got here.

The Leyland Cypress (Cupressocyparis leylandii) was developed in England in 1888. The tree is a hybrid of the Monterey Cypress (Cupressus macrocarpa) and the Alaska or Nootka Cypress (Cupressus nootkatensis). The natural range of these ii native Due north American plants is separated by 400 miles, simply both plants were growing in close proximity at the Leighton Hall Estate, at one fourth dimension owned by a Liverpool banker by name of Christopher Leyland. The genus Cupressocyparis arises from some controversy over the generic origin of the Nootka Cypress as some taxonomists classify it under the genus Chamaecyparis. That would imply that the Leyland Cypress is bigeneric cross, a very rare occurrence in conifers.

The modern popularity and widespread apply of the establish began in the 1950's, and past the 1980's use of the Leyland Cypress was widespread. It is fast-growing, evergreen, strikingly beautiful in form and colour, and adaptable to many situations. Like and then many plants introduced earlier and since that are touted as the "perfect landscape plant," the Leyland Cypress has fallen from grace. In the 1960's, that perfect found was the Red Tip Photinia. In the 1970'south, it was the Bradford Pear. Then the Leyland Cypress was planted – everywhere! For decades information technology became 1 of the get-to plants for hedges, screens and specimens, and is still planted for these purposes. Despite the fact that the tree can grow 20 anxiety wide and 70-100 feet tall, many became hedges with a planted spacing of five feet or less. The trees abound apace and provide privacy for individual homes on increasingly smaller lots.

And then the problems started. Beingness a cone-bearing plant with a Mediterranean cross Northern Temperate Cloud Forest heritage,the Leyland Cypress prefers moderate temperatures and soils that are airy and bleed quickly, and on the moist side but never saturated and never bone-dry. Georgia conditions are precisely counter to this. Our air is damp with humidity, our loftier clay-content soils hold h2o, drain poorly, and exclude oxygen from the pore spaces in the soil. Not only that, while Georgia commonly gets a robust 48-52 inches of rainfall per year, the distribution is anything but fifty-fifty: during the late summertime and fall of 2016, we went well over iii months with no rainfall whatsoever. Conversely, every bit of September 30, 2022 we accept had 46.xviii inches of rainfall – virtually 8 inches above average for this time of year. These contrary conditions and vast swings in soil moisture, coupled with the fact that the plant's popularity has rendered it nearly a monoculture in close urban plantings, has made these plants susceptible to disease problems. Add to this the specter of broken branches from wintertime water ice and summer thunderstorms, the diseases can spread rapidly.

There are 2 primary fungal pathogens that attack Leyland Cypress trees in the Southeast, Seiridium Canker and Botryosphaera (Bot) Canker. The symptoms of both of these fungal pathogens are the yellowing or browning of the foliage on one or many of the top or lateral branches. This telltale "dieback" is what we take all become and then painfully familiar with. A closer wait at the branches and principal stem may reveal beads or runny areas of amber-colored sap oozing from the wood (Seiridium) or cankers, sunken areas girdling the base of dead shoots or branches (Bot canker). Unfortunately, at that place are no effective chemical treatments for the management of these diseases. While the spread of these fungi cannot exist stopped, it can be slowed through some of the post-obit management practices:

Planning & Planting

• When considering hedges and screens, think near using a multifariousness of plants every bit opposed to a monocultural planting of Leyland Cypress trees or other conifers (yep, these diseases and issues are associated with other conifers such as Italian Cypress). When screening unpleasant views, a unmarried plant is often all that is needed. A lone Leyland Cypress has a much better chance of growing with a minimum of problems due to better light, air movement, and lack of similar plants in close proximity.
• Thoroughly amend the soil when planting to ameliorate our common dirt soil. Leyland Cypress trees are shallow rooted. Positive drainage is a must!Downey Trees has several products to improve drainage and poor soils.
• Provide adequate spacing betwixt plants. Given the fact that the trees can grow 10-xx feet wide, planting them besides close is a recipe for disaster!
• Provide plenty of water during the institution period of new plants, and develop a plan to provide supplemental water during dry periods. It is a common misconception that conifers such as Leyland Cypress trees are tolerant of extreme drought. This is not the example!

Management of Existing Trees

• Avert over-fertilization of plants – This ofttimes produces lush growth that is more than susceptible to disease.
• Facilitate watering during dry periods – At that place is not much that can be done for established plants when we receive too much pelting, simply the wild moisture/dry fluctuations of natural rainfall predispose Leyland Cypress to disease. Try to manage water to one inch per week (natural rainfall plus supplemental watering).
• Prune expressionless branches (either those shaded or those diseased) and sterilize pruning tools between cuts. Here are 3 ways to do this:
  • A 10% chlorine bleach solution (one cup bleach to ix cups water). Note that chlorine bleach can corrode pruning tools.
  • Full-forcefulness Lysol – This seems to be the preferred method for maximum sterilization with minimum corrosion.
  • Alcohol wipes – No drying required and may exist a bit less cumbersome in the field.
• In situations where the height of the screening plants is valued, such every bit the instance of the second-story deck in the photograph, information technology may exist acceptable for the plants in a screening row to be more open at the base through elevation of the lower branches. Anything that can be done to promote light penetration and air motion within the canopy tin can prolong the life and wellness of the trees.
• Soil decompaction and sub-surface nutrient injections – Downey Copse can provide these two services to assistance maintain the health of existing Leyland Cypress trees or aid slow the spread of Seiridium and Bot Canker in trees that are diseased.  De-compaction aids water penetration during dry periods and drainage during wetter times.  Nutrients enhance constitute wellness by improving the living soil web every bit opposed to adding a high level of growth-stimulating fertilizers.
• Other diseases such as Cercospora needle bane also adversely touch on the health and appearance of the trees. The photo showing Leyland Cypress Trees with browning leafage at the base of operations of the plants is representative of Cercospora.  While fungicides are effective against some of these other pathogens, repeated applications are oft needed, and failure to employ the other management practices oftentimes results in a recurrence of the disease.
• The best expectation from enhanced management of Leyland Cypress utilizing the suggestions above is a slowing of the progression of Seiridium and Bot Canker: management, not control, is the ultimate goal.

Thinking long-term, program to replace Leyland Cypress trees with something else, perhaps even a diverse selection of evergreens. A possible exception to this may be that situation described above where one constitute would satisfy the screening needs for a particular view. A single plant located in such a situation may receive the light, air movement, and isolation needed to provide a salubrious growing situation, provided the other needs outlined in a higher place are met also. Avoiding the past history of cultural mistakes with Leyland Cypress and other conifers may help you avert the heartbreak that has become so commonly associated with this tree. Refer to the links beneath for boosted data:

• https://secure.caes.uga.edu/extension/publications/files/pdf/B%201229_4.PDF
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leyland_cypress
• https://s3.wp.wsu.edu/uploads/sites/403/2015/03/cloroxed-clippers.pdf

Descriptions of the above photos, starting with the pinnacle row and moving left to right:

1. Brown die-back in the branches shows the beginning of the development of disease in these Leyland Cypress copse.
2. Fifty-fifty though the lower limbs of these trees may be thinning form shade-out and illness, the upper portions of the trees still provide privacy for this second-story deck. Constitute Health Care to irksome the advance of the disease may exist a worthwhile investment in such situations.
3. Amber-colored sap oozing from the branches and trunks is indicative of Seiridium Canker.
4. These Leyland Cypress trees take Cercospora – some other disease of Leyland Cypress.
5. A close look at this Italian Cypress tree shows the same type of die-dorsum, probable Seiridium.
6. An example of advanced pass up in a stand of Leyland Cypress.

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Source: https://www.downeytreesinc.com/heartbreaking-leyland-cypress-need-know/

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