Dying Leylandii !

[Lautrec]

The long hot Summer of 2003 is just showing its downside! A large number of mature Leylandii trees, which form our boundary with our neighbours, are going brown and dying. For privacy reasons, they have to be replaced. I wonder if some knowledgable gardener will answer some queries.

1. Before replacing with new trees, is it possible just to cut the to the ground and leave the roots, or would they have to be taken up?

2. Small trees would take too long to give cover so does anyone know the approx price of a 160mm tree and would they be sold in any Jardiniere? Or maybe a specialist tree retailer!

There is already a chain link fence there behind the trees and another poster suggested in another topic that fast growing evergreen creepers would soon grow and form a sight barrier. This might be the easier and cheaper option. Any suggestions on the type of evergreen which could be used.?

I would be very pleased to hear from any green fingered poster!

[Pantouflard]

Sorry, don't have any answers.  In fact I'm interested in hearing them too.

 

But do you mean 160mm?

[BJSLIV]

There is a disease which is attcaking the leylandii in many parts of France, do perhaps god dislikes them as much as many people on earth do.

A couple of quotes from gardening discussions

Effectivement, il existe une maladie du thuya depuis quelques années. Il s'agit d'une bactérie, quelqu'un mentionnait le "didymascelle".
ça commence par faire brunir sudainement une branche et petit à petit c'est tout l'arbre.

En aucun cas il peut s'agir d'un manque d'eau si vos thuya sont planter depuis plus de 2-3 ans en pleine terre.


pareil chez moi. Aucun rapport avec la canicule... il s'agit de notre ami le didymascella qui se traite par du Bayleton 100 (en vente chez Casto, Maladies Thuyas) 1 fois par mois pendant 5 à 6 mois (printemps été) + arosage aux gouttes à gouttes... ca marche pas mal... par contre, je coupe les branches qui commencent à noircir au fur et à mesure pour éviter la prolifération... de toute facon, pas de retour arriere possible...

The general opinion is that it is better to replace with a different type as the disease is hard to eradicate.

[Tresco]

Hi

It may have been me that suggested a fast growing climber on chain link fencing. Obviously whatever you choose in this direction will be a temporary solution. There's a plant called Humulous Lupulus which is a very fast grower, I reckon one plant every 10 foot, or less, would do the job for this year if planted soon. It is not evergreen though.

As far as your poor dead trees are concerned, you could chop them as low as you can, the stumps with no further treatment will take many years to rot away, but even with chemical treatment is by no means going to be this year or even next that you can get them out.

If it was me I would chop as low as possible, and plant between the stumps with an evergreen hedge that suits your soil. The Lleylandi will have sucked just about every bit of nutrients so you will need to spend as much money on each hole as you do on each new plant, stick a lot of good things in each one first, and water really well for the first year at the least.

It will take a few years for the screen to be effective. Thats why I suggested the climbing plant, above. If you can afford it, stick a few of them in, then at least for 7/8 months you will have a screen while the permanent one gets going. Its a decidous climber, so it will come back even if it dies to the ground in winter. These are just my first thoughts, instant remedy sort of thing.

tresco

[Iceni]

You need to get the stumps out if you can, Dead Leylandi is a great host to Honey Fungus which will spread to other live plants. In many areas there is a communial stump remover (used for removing stumps of trees cleared for logging), ask at the Marie and see if your commune has one - otherwise chat up a farmer .

[Esperaza]

Leylandii are fairly shallow rooted (or at least mine were) and mine (30) came out easily with a chain attached to my Landcruiser in low gear.

It is best to leave about 18" of trunk above ground to attach to.

[le val charente]

When pricing at local pepinists(?), prices for a quantity of Leylandii were around 11 euros for a 160mm tree.

[Washy]

Sorry about your trees.   I had them all around my garden in the UK and hated them but they did a good job of hiding an ugly neighbour....sorry wall...

I am growing some Paulownia Tormentosa from seed (Iam a glutton for punishment!)  these are very fast growing trees, which can grow 20ft in the first year.  They grow to a max of about 60ft, but they can be cut hard back each year and will grow out from the base about 10ft each year into a large leaved bush.  They also have purple, orchid-like flowers.  They are available at pepinieres as not everyone like me wants to take so much trouble.  They are the trees you see pollarded down south here for shade, their leaves can be as much as a foot across.

I am sure they are not as cheap as Leylandii but so much more beautiful.

[Millymollymandy]

[quote]There is a disease which is attcaking the leylandii in many parts of France, do perhaps god dislikes them as much as many people on earth do. A couple of quotes from gardening discussions Effectiv...[/quote]

As far as I am aware Thuya is a Cedar and Leylandii is a Cypress.

I don't think that Leyland Cypress is affected by the disease you mention.

[zeb]

Hi Lautrec - I agree with Di (or was it John?), get the roots and stumps out if possible as they may cause all sorts of problems later on.

The garden centre at Ruffec is very good (healthy plants and shrubs), you could always put in laurel and this grows quite quickly. Plant photinus red robin here and there to make the grown hedge look more attractive. A pepniere sells shrubs and things outside Leclerc on Saturdays, you could try ordering from him.

Also, Castarama at Angouleme (on the bypass near l'hopital Girac) sells good healthy shrubs, often at bargain prices.