On 07/04/2015 22:15, Christina Websell wrote:
"kev" wrote in message
...
We are planning to plant a hedge of Leylandii and will let them grow to
about 6-7'. What would be an ideal distance from the boundary 16-18"?

Personally, I'd choose something else,something that doesn't have ambitions
to be 30+ ft high unless you want to be topping and pruning it all the time.
I speak from personal experience.
The previous owners of my house planted a lot of lawson's cypress here
(similar to leylandii) then moved out after 4 years. Despite my best
efforts to keep them within bounds they shot up like Jack's beanstalk. The
more I topped them, the more they spread out sideways as well as up. I
ended up with an "almost" dispute with my previous neighbours who I got on
well with, so I had them removed at huge expense.

I still have three a long way down the garden, no trouble to anyone. Left
alone they have indeed grown to c. 30 ft. There's often goldcrests in them
Goldcrests love conifers.

Do you want leylandii because you want a fast growing hedge to make a
shield?
Or because you like the conifer effect?


I must disagree with Christine about Leylandii wanting to grow to 30 ft,
that is just in the first 10 years, they can grow to over 100ft, and 3
ft a year isn't unusual, especially if you follow some of the advice so
far given in that you prepare the ground and give them fertilizer.
When I lived in Cardiff I knew a nurse who had leylandii on 3 sides of
her small front garden, she did her back in lifting a patient and was
off work for almost a year, in that time her front garden almost became
a no-go area, the hedge went up to over 12 ft high and was almost 8ft ft
wide.
Have you thought of a Yew hedge, it will cost a bit more and grow a bit
slower but will give you a much better hedge, and one that if you find
it to tall you will be able to reduce the height without spoiling it.

https://www.best4hedging.co.uk/yew-h...lants+for+sale

A lot more firms sell them
David @ a sunny side of Swansea Bay