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Leyland Cypress Age/Growth questions

14 years ago

About 9 years ago, I planted Leyland Cypress trees in heavy shade. Of course, they never grew much and are still 2 -3 feet tall.

If I transplant them to full sun, will they grow normally or since they are 9 years old, are they too old and stunted to resume normal growth?

Thanks in advance.

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Comments (9)

ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
14 years ago
hey ... they are conifers ... but also trees .... in case you need to know in the future ..

where are you.. what is your soil... any other info that you might think important that might help ... are they zone appropriate for your area????

though lack of sun WILL impact vigor on a conifer that needs full sun .... it usually will not cause suspended animation for 9 years ... ergo.. i suspect there might be other issues besides the sun ...

there is no reason not to move a plant if it is within your physical ability .... but why bother moving it.. if there are other problems which will allow them to continue to lack vigor ....

make sense??

good luck

ken
lsst
Original Author
14 years ago
Thanks for the reply.
I am in SC zone 7b. We have red clay soil
They thrive here in full sun.
Other Leylands I planted at the same time are in full sun and are about 30 feet tall.
The ones in the shade have just grown very slow. The Leylands appear healthy. They would not be difficult to move and I have room for them in a sunny spot near the others.
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To clarify a point.... The remaining five Leylands are planted in a checkerboard pattern. So they are not only close to one but close to the others. When I removed the fallen hero, it left the insides of the remaining five trees exposed and since they never had light, there is nothing but brown limbs left up to about 12-15 feet. I know that these limbs won't grow. What I was wondering if the tree will make more in their place? What makes a better hedge than Leylands? I need something that will grow much like the leyland but not have its issues and will get maybe 15 feet tall max. Thanks all!
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At 20 ft. I'd probably cut it back and then follow below: For a smaller tree, restake, and water a couple of times. Then quit watering that tree. This could kill tree, but if it doesn't, you are forcing tree to grow its roots out to reach moisture. At the same time with no extra water, top growth will be slowed. I did this with an elm, and it worked. Every 3 months loosen up the wires slightly if it looks good so far to allow it to move a little more in the wind. Goal is to be totally loose in about a year. You may want to cut back or quit watering these trees altogether. My wife has these planted too close together and they seem to be either growing or dieing. There seems to be no middle position with them. If you cut them back, they will multi-leader. Might want to start replacing them with something else.
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The 2nd pic is a little deceiving, the tree most certainly is dead but there is one aside of it with a good deal of green on it. I can't touch the dead one because there is a bird's nest in it so I will let be for now. So I would say we might have lost maybe 5 total which I will replace and they art not as close to the power lines as they seem. Those may be trimmed to a lower height as the apt bldg is not next to them so a little trimming will be done. I did read an article the other day on these trees and it was somewhat promising, "The damage has occurred, what should I do? Now that we know some of the causes of winter damage, where do we start? The first reaction by homeowners is that plants are dead and need to be removed. Although this may appear to be the case, many of your trees and shrubs are actually alive and will bounce back. The first step is to be patientÃ¢ÂÂ¦Many plants that have winter burn need to have their first flush of growth (new leaves emerge). This occurs anywhere from mid-may to mid-June, depending on the variety. At this point you will be able to tell what needs to be pruned. There will also be some plants that do not come back at all. Homeowners that use gardeners should convey this to them so that the plants in question are left alone and not severely pruned or pulled out".
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I'm not sure why we make such a fuss about zone maps - they are only guidelines afterall and individual microclimates due to topography, elevation and proximity to bodies of water do come into play. If you get a good sized detailed map of WA state, there ARE pockets of zone 7 in western Washington, most notably in the Olympia area at the southern most point of Hood Canal. And comments from forum participants living in that area certainly seem to confirm this. And FWIW, all hardiness zone maps are based on the same data, that being the initial climate information compiled and zoned by Henry Skinner of the National Arboretum with the AHS in the early 60's and published as the USDA zone map in 1965. It was revised in 1990 and is currently undergoing another revision based on more recent climatic averages. And yes, that zone map and all subsequent revisions do show the Olympic Peninsula as zone 8 - obviously that may not apply to the top of Mt. Olympus but not too many folks garden up there :-)) And most of the OP is very temperate.....witness the Olympic rainforest and the banana belt of the east side of the Olympics. Here's what the National Arboretum says about the zone maps: "The USDA Hardiness Zone map divides North America into eleven zones based on temperature and each is referred to by the zone number, i.e. Zone 5. Additionally, each zone is subdivided into two sections, A and B to further delineate temperature ranges, i.e. Zone 5a. The zones can be thought of as a general guidance as there is no clear-cut delineation between zones. Any location may be warmer or colder based on topography, drainage or wind exposure." (emphasis mine)
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scotjute Z8
14 years ago
Slowest growth I've ever heard of on a Leyland.
lsst
Original Author
14 years ago
scotjute,

The small ones or the 30 foot ones? LOL
We planted over 100 of them as a propagated single branch in 2000. Each one was about 8 inches tall
So I guess the ones in the woods have grown some.
We planted them on acreage without access to irrigation.
It was during a drought and my husband and I would take gallons of water from our house and water each one.
Once we built our home on the land in 2004, we were able to water on a regular basis.
We did overlook the ones in the heavy shaded woods.
Embothrium
14 years ago
Full sun for this plant. Will perk up if given more light. In nature forest-adapted conifers may live as small specimens in the understory for hundreds of years before being released from suppression (shading) by a blow-down or other event which removes taller trees near them. After growing very slowly for a very long time such fortunate individuals then develop normal growth and grow large.
lsst
Original Author
14 years ago
Thanks bboy!!
pineresin
14 years ago
Should be fine, as long as they survive the move. Trees stunted by heavy shade won't have much energy reserve in their roots, so the move will be more stressful for them and less easy to recover from. Get as much of the root system intact as you possibly can, to maximise the chances - bear in mind that the roots will be thin, but very wide-spreading.

Resin
lsst
Original Author
14 years ago
I was able to dig up 10.
Luckily we had 5 inches of rain 2 days ago so the ground was very soft.
When I plant them tomorrow, should I add something like root stimulator to help with the transplant shock?
Embothrium
14 years ago
Never use root stimulator.

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