I know that leylandii grow quickly and that you shouldn't grow them close to
the house, but if I keep a hedge trimmed to 6ft, how far will the roots
eventually spread outwards?
Bill Pritchard
Retired and Emotional

The height of the hedge is usually irrelevant as the roots continue to grow
through the plant's life. The best bet is not to plant this type of hedge
in the first place.

--
Neil Faulkner
www.conceptgardens.com

Bill Pritchard14/1/04 3:24

I know that leylandii grow quickly and that you shouldn't grow them close to
the house, but if I keep a hedge trimmed to 6ft, how far will the roots
eventually spread outwards?
Bill Pritchard
Retired and Emotional

A very general rule is that roots will spread to the tree's canopy width.
My experience of leylandii is that the roots spread beyond the width of its'
waist and take up a lot of ground. They're very 'massy'and my husband's
opinion is that they'll spread as far on a 6' one as on a 20' one!
Unless you're prepared to be very strict indeed with this hedge, don't plant
it. It has to be trimmed rigorously for height and width, or you will lose
a lot of your garden both shade and width wise.
If you only want a hedge up to 6', had you thought of planting yew, holly,
copper beech (which will retain its dead leaves if trimmed) Escallonia (if
your climate is friendly) or Fuchsia (ditto re climate).
--
Sacha
www.hillhousenursery.co.uk
South Devon
(remove the 'x' to email me)

In article ,
Sacha wrote:
Bill Pritchard14/1/04 3:24


I know that leylandii grow quickly and that you shouldn't grow them close to
the house, but if I keep a hedge trimmed to 6ft, how far will the roots
eventually spread outwards?

A very general rule is that roots will spread to the tree's canopy width.
My experience of leylandii is that the roots spread beyond the width of its'
waist and take up a lot of ground. They're very 'massy'and my husband's
opinion is that they'll spread as far on a 6' one as on a 20' one!
Unless you're prepared to be very strict indeed with this hedge, don't plant
it. It has to be trimmed rigorously for height and width, or you will lose
a lot of your garden both shade and width wise.
If you only want a hedge up to 6', had you thought of planting yew, holly,
copper beech (which will retain its dead leaves if trimmed) Escallonia (if
your climate is friendly) or Fuchsia (ditto re climate).

Heaven help me, even privet. It may be disgustingly rendolent of the
least inspired type of suburban gardening, but it isn't a bad hedge
plant, and its roots don't run at all badly. It's main root ball lies
under just the hedge, and its feeding roots tend not to spread further
than about 6'.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

In article , Neil
writes
The height of the hedge is usually irrelevant as the roots continue to grow
through the plant's life. The best bet is not to plant this type of hedge
in the first place.



I was quite gladdened to see in the December issue of The garden, the
fact that the new hedge height laws are applied to evergreens and semi
evergreens only so presumably you could have a 7 foot beech or hawthorn
hedge quite safely.

janet
--
Janet Tweedy
Dalmatian Telegraph
http://www.lancedal.demon.co.uk

"Neil" wrote in message
...
The height of the hedge is usually irrelevant as the roots continue to
grow
through the plant's life. The best bet is not to plant this type of hedge
in the first place.


i have a leylandi hedge, about 6ft tall and 40-50ft long, probably 15- 20
years old (here before I moved in). AFAICS the roots dont spread beyond the
width of the hedge. I assume this because the lawn goes right up to the edge
of the leylandii, its as dry as a bone underneath them, but I've had no
problem with the lawn drying out next to the hedge, or any noticeable roots
in the lawn, even within a few inches of the edge. If they have spread out
under the lawn they arent doing it any damage.

--
Tumbleweed

Remove theobvious before replying (but no email reply necessary to
newsgroups)

"Neil" wrote in message
...
The height of the hedge is usually irrelevant as the roots continue to
grow
through the plant's life. The best bet is not to plant this type of hedge
in the first place.


i have a leylandi hedge, about 6ft tall and 40-50ft long, probably 15- 20
years old (here before I moved in). AFAICS the roots dont spread beyond the
width of the hedge. I assume this because the lawn goes right up to the edge
of the leylandii, its as dry as a bone underneath them, but I've had no
problem with the lawn drying out next to the hedge, or any noticeable roots
in the lawn, even within a few inches of the edge. If they have spread out
under the lawn they arent doing it any damage.

--
Tumbleweed

Remove theobvious before replying (but no email reply necessary to
newsgroups)

The message
from (Nick Maclaren) contains these words:

Heaven help me, even privet. It may be disgustingly rendolent of the
least inspired type of suburban gardening, but it isn't a bad hedge
plant, and its roots don't run at all badly. It's main root ball lies
under just the hedge, and its feeding roots tend not to spread further
than about 6'.

Or one of the bushy Loniceras?

--
Rusty
Open the creaking gate to make a horrid.squeak, then lower the foobar.
http://www.users.zetnet.co.uk/hi-fi/

"Tumbleweed" wrote in message
. ..
"Neil" wrote in message
...
The height of the hedge is usually irrelevant as the roots continue to
grow
through the plant's life. The best bet is not to plant this type of
hedge
in the first place.


i have a leylandi hedge, about 6ft tall and 40-50ft long, probably 15- 20
years old (here before I moved in). AFAICS the roots dont spread beyond
the
width of the hedge. I assume this because the lawn goes right up to the
edge
of the leylandii, its as dry as a bone underneath them, but I've had no
problem with the lawn drying out next to the hedge, or any noticeable
roots
in the lawn, even within a few inches of the edge. If they have spread out
under the lawn they arent doing it any damage.

--
Tumbleweed

Remove theobvious before replying (but no email reply necessary to
newsgroups)




I have found many hedges/singles where on removal the roots are widely
spread. They drain some of the lawns at one job to the extent that no
amount of watering can help in the summer.
Neil

"Jaques d'Alltrades" wrote in message
...
The message
from (Nick Maclaren) contains these words:

Heaven help me, even privet. It may be disgustingly rendolent of the
least inspired type of suburban gardening, but it isn't a bad hedge
plant, and its roots don't run at all badly. It's main root ball lies
under just the hedge, and its feeding roots tend not to spread further
than about 6'.

Or one of the bushy Loniceras?

--
Rusty
Open the creaking gate to make a horrid.squeak, then lower the foobar.
http://www.users.zetnet.co.uk/hi-fi/

Can be worse than privet!

"Stephen (Sausagefans.com)" wrote in message
...
Please can someone point me towards a good FAQ on Leylandii or similar
bushes I could use to form a fence around my garden?

Aaaaaaarrrggghh!

--
Brian
Sig: I have nothing more to say

Stephen (Sausagefans.com) wrote:
In article ,
says...

"Stephen (Sausagefans.com)" wrote in message
...
Please can someone point me towards a good FAQ on Leylandii or similar
bushes I could use to form a fence around my garden?

Aaaaaaarrrggghh!

Forget that, done a little research.

Loral (spelling) ?

Laurel.

--
Chris Green