Quote:
Originally Posted by Nick
I would appreciate the advice of the learned folk here please.
We have 2 lilac trees (Syringa, I think) in very close proximity. One bears
white blooms, the other purple.
You may have guessed that I am a beginner.
These were planted by my mother 40-50 years ago. A few years later my father
planted some leylandii immediately to the south of the lilacs to provide a
screen.
Neither the lilacs nor the leylandii have seen any attention in many a year.
The leylandii grew to 12m+, put the lilacs in permanent shade and demolished
the garden wall.
|
Lilacs are very difficult to kill, even when growing through a leylandii hedge. (He says, from the bitter experience of the neighbour's lilac invading my garden through the neighbour's leylandii hedge.) Generally speaking, you can hack them back hard as you like, when you like. So long as you omit to use a suitable weedkiller, they'll come back.
The Leylandii, on the other hand... The trouble with letting them get overgrown is that you can't substantially reduce their fatness, because if you trim them back beyond the green, because they won't regrow from the brown. But the really good thing about leylandii is if you prune them at ground level with a single horizontal cut, they won't ever grow again! Isn't that nice?