"Betsy" -0 wrote in message
...
I've seen it done without that issue--have you seen this problem first
hand?

Many times - darn every Leyland hedge in this vicinity that is older than 5
or 6 years has significant foliar dieback. If you don't hedge them, I'd
recommend at least 10 foot spacing - 15 is better. If you do hedge them, be
prepared to replace them after 10 or so years.......you simply cannot expect
a tree which wants to be 60 feet tall and 25 feet wide to flourish for any
length of time when restricted to a height of 8 feet and immediately
adjacent to its neighbor.

pam - gardengal

"David J Bockman" wrote in message
...
I would respectfully disgree, Betsy. If one planted Leylands 5' apart,
the
end result would be dieback on each tree's interior facing side of
foliage,
a higher likelihood of pests and diseases, and much short-lived trees.

Dave

"Betsy" -0 wrote in message
...
Their ultimate height depends on how close together you plant them.
They
won't grow as tall if the roots are competing because of close
planting.
"
Touching" isn't a problem, you want them to do that, but not when you
plant
them. Planted 5 feet apart they'll touch in a couple of years, when
they
are about 8-10 feet tall.

"Lecher9000" wrote in message
...
Thanks for the replies. I'm still considering the LEyland, but am
looking
at
blue spruce too, but the Blue S's are more expensive.

I am getting conflicting info (as I always do when
researching
anything) about the height of the mature "green" Leyland Cypress. I
usually
see 40 to 60 on the label on the tree, but yesterday I saw a label
indicating
20 to 30, or 30 to 40, for a "green" LC. Actually, 30 to 40
would
be
preferable, for me.

As far as environment for my prospective LC's. they would be 8 to
10
feet
apart (getting conflicting advice about how far apart to plant,
whether
tree-touching-tree is / is not a problem). They would be in full
sun,
and
would
be screening out a commercial nursery (how ironic, eh ?). The
"nursery"
land
is used as a dump for the nursery owner's road paving business !!
These
trees
will shade his property. The only view I will be "ruining" for the
other
neighbors will be their view of the dump, and, if the trees grow
tall
enough,
their view of the horizon above the dump. I and my neighbors are in
3-story
townhomes, so we have a bird's eye view of the dump, at this point.

I heard from a (different) local nursery that a lot of mature
LC's
were
broken off during last winter here in Pa.

Yes , we have bagworms here too, so that will be a concern.

Decisions, decisions.... leaning towards planting the 40 to 60 ft
"green"
Leylands, and watching them grow, hoping for the best.