Why plant Leyland Cypress?
Leyland Cypress is a popular, lightning-fast-growing evergreen tree that’s ideal for homeowners who want a privacy screen in a hurry. A row of these beautiful columnar blue-green sentinels will shoot up and expand to give you a feeling of seclusion faster than you can say, “Honey, would you bring me another margarita, please?”, as you relax on your back patio. If a neatly sheared hedge is the look you’re after, Leyland Cypress is great for that, too. With regular pruning, you can maintain it at pretty much any size (and shape) you like. Left unpruned, it can become a large tree, so plan accordingly before unleashing this super-quick grower into your landscape.
The story of the Leyland Cypress takes us back to the chance meeting of two West Coast strangers on an estate in a remote village in England in 1888. The hero of our story: the rugged and picturesque Monterey Cypress, native only to the Monterey Peninsula of California just south of San Francisco. The heroine of our story: the Alaskan Cedar, a beauty native from coastal Alaska to Oregon with pendulous branches clothed in lustrous dark green foliage. The two trees were planted in the same British garden, and love was in the air (in the form of pollen), resulting in six seedlings—the first-ever Leyland Cypress Trees. They were named after the owner of the estate, Christopher J. Leyland. Leyland Cypress, on the other hand, has a naturally tight, columnar, upright, formal appearance. Additionally, it exhibits what’s known as “hybrid vigor.” Some plants are greatly improved by mixing up the gene pool, and such hybrids will often grow much faster than their parents, like this one.
How to use Leyland Cypress in the landscape?
With the dense branching habit, extremely fast growth rate, and lovely evergreen foliage, the Leyland Cypress is the ideal tree for privacy hedges, windbreaks, or even as a unique specimen tree. No matter how you decide to use it, you'll want to run your hands through to soft and fluffy foliage!
Planting Zones
Hardiness Zone: 6-10
How To Plant Leyland Cypress
Leyland Cypress is more adaptable than its parents, and it’s easy to grow as long as a couple of conditions are met. One requirement is full sun. In shady sites, it will grow more slowly and its foliage may become sparse. Another must is good drainage. Leyland Cypress is a superb choice for planting near the seashore, as it is extremely tolerant of salt spray. In fact, it’s one of the most salt-tolerant evergreen trees you can buy!
How To Water
When first planted and for the first growing season, you should water your Leyland Cypress slowly, deeply, and thoroughly every three to four days. Although regular irrigation is important, especially during the first year or two of establishment, this tree shouldn’t sit in water for any length of time, since “wet feet” may lead to fungal disease and death.
How To Fertilize
We recommend applying the Bower & Branch Starter Plant Food when planting. This will help your tree receive the nutrients it needs to begin to establish itself as it won't be able to source those nutrients on its own yet. Repeat this application each spring and fall.
How To Prune
Recommendations for pruning your Leyland Cypress depends on how you intend to use it. If you wish to control the over all height of your tree, you should prune in summer, after the new growth has flushed out. This will allow you to control the size and density of the tree. If you are developing them into a hedge, they may need to be pruned a few times a year in order to control the rapid growth from getting out of hand.
Frequently Asked Questions
This can be normal with any evergreen. Like all trees, evergreens do drop foliage - but not all at once. They also tend to drop their foliage from inner positions - so that browning is normal. It can also occur on outer foliage, but usually to a lesser extent.
Are you keeping up with watering? Browning foliage can be a sign that your evergreen needs more water. Deep, consistent waterings are essential until the tree is established.
How Does Shipping Work?
Bower & Branch Trees, the real BIG trees, don’t fit in a box! Our big trees, sizes XL and bigger, require expert delivery and care, that means our extra-large trees are shipped on Bower & Branch trucks. We are the only ones who know how to ship our big and bigger trees and plants with tender loving care. We deliver your trees and plants directly to you. Ask Bower & Branch about planting services – we'd be happy to assist in installation.
*For Big trees and Shrubs, Size XL and bigger: Review our Seasonal Shipping Timelines and Policy here.
Your trees and plants are grown across the United States at various Bower & Branch Growers. Depending on your location, your plant orders may be shipped from various locations. Please expect orders with multiple items to be delivered over a number of days as a result. Orders made up of numerous items or selections will not arrive at your home on the same day.
Shipping Delays:
From time to time, Bower & Branch Growers may determine to delay order shipment based on various factors for plant health. Weather in your region, as well as, where your plants are grown, is always considered when shipping. Extreme weather conditions may delay some or all of your order. Bower & Branch allows our Growers to make final shipping decisions based solely to benefit your trees and plants’ health and success.
How Does Sizing Work?
The size of our trees have nothing to do with the container size like you may find elsewhere–big doesn't mean just height - it’s also vigor, age, and overall health. Other online retailers are going to tell you that a plant is a seven gallon, that means nothing to your tree or plant (or you.)
Our trees for sale online are graded on large, x-large, and even bigger sizes. This is because our trees are sized by their age—the higher the letter, the more mature the tree. The age determines the trees’ overall height, size of the trunk and the overall branch density.
All of these characteristics are what you should be looking for when choosing a tree for immediate impact and instant curb appeal. Our extra-large tree and plant sizes are sure to wow you and your neighbors!
See the size guides below.
Our Guarantees
3-YEAR-TREE GUARANTEE:
Bower & Branch offers a Three-Year Tree Guarantee on all of our trees, sizes X-Large and up. Only the finest and the most experienced growers are awarded the opportunity to grow for Bower & Branch, so we offer the best guarantee available.
If your tree(s) should fail for any reason during the three-year guarantee period, you will receive an online gift card in the amount that you originally spent on the tree.* You can then use this online gift card for any Bower & Branch Purchase.
* Bower & Branch provides online gift cards in the amount of the original purchase price of the tree(s). The amount does not include any additional costs such as delivery, planting, tax, or any other products or services. Online gift cards can be applied towards any Bower & Branch purchase on BowerandBranch.com and have no expiration dates. Bower & Branch does not guarantee tree replacement or availability of any desired product at any time. Cash refunds are not offered. Bower & Branch requires that all original tags and receipts are present when a guarantee request is initiated. The Bower & Branch Three-Year Guarantee only applies to plant material that has been planted in the ground. Container plantings are NOT covered.
At Bower & Branch, we do our best to honor all guarantee fulfillment requests to ensure customer satisfaction. However, we reserve the right to refuse the request if the required guarantee steps were not satisfied. Bower & Branch also reserves the right to deny any guarantee fulfillment request that is made as a result of animal damage, problems with plant hardiness and zone issues, or acts of nature (snow storms, hurricanes, and similar).
Reach out to a Plant Whisperer with any questions:
- Email: plantwhisperers@bowerandbranch.com
- Phone: 866-873-3888
- Or via Online Chat