Any landscapers or tree experts

WCURoverd90

Active Member
Joined
Apr 7, 2008
Location
Lake Wylie, SC
I have 4 leland cypress trees that are about 8 feet tall...they were about 6.5 feet tall when I put them in the ground. They have been watered like i have read they are supposed to but there are some parts of a couple of the trees that are started to turn brown and looking a little "starved" for water. Any other things that I need to do to them to make sure they continue to grow. I have heard these are trees that are hard to kill and grow like crazy...

Thanks in advance.
 
no expert...just a thought...arent they susceptible to some kinda bug?
 
BigRedB2 said:
no expert...just a thought...arent they susceptible to some kinda bug?
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They shouldn't be but could be. I haven't really done a lot of research yet. Have had the yard sprayed for bugs recently. I will have to check into that.
 
They are suseptible to Spider Mites if they are planted too close. Proper spacing is about 8 to 10 feet. Alot of people plant them around 5 or 6 feet apart and they don't survive. The other problem could be too much water. They don't like "wet feet". The roots need proper drainage or they won't make it. Keep in mind that they are easily a 50 to 60 foot tree left growing without pruning. If you do top/prune them the spacing needs to be a little more because the lower branches will grow even wider than normal. You want the branches to just touch and not envelope each other.

They also have a shallow root system so ice and wind can present a problem for causing damage.My 2 cents
 
There is also a fungus - do a google on "leland cyprus fungus" and you can read up on it. I'm having similar issues, and think that may be the problem, but havent' found a good tree guy to come and confirm - and help fix.
 
At 8 feet tall they should not be having any problems like you mentioned. Broncoslim is right on with his comments. Usually drought takes it's toll on older plants that are over 20' tall and starting to mature.
Drought and "wet feet" have the exact same symptoms because the roots actually die and the plant starves for nutrients and water.
If you planted 6' tall plants were they balled and burlapped or in containers? If B&B did you remove any/all strings wrapped around the trunks? If not do so now.
Cedar Bag Worms are a common and destructive pest that cause dying out. Ice could have broken branches for them to turn brown too.
If you can, post a pic.
And yes they do get many diseases but usually only after they get a few years old and are stressed for some reason.
 
Thanks RQ for your comments. I forgot about the bag worms. I always would ask customers not only where they wanted the Leyland but why. If you want a 60 foot green wall then you will have it. But when one dies it will look like ass for along time before another one grows up in its place. There are better boarder hedge plants than a Leyland. They are attractive but just not my choice.
 
/dev/yj said:
There is also a fungus - do a google on "leland cyprus fungus" and you can read up on it. I'm having similar issues, and think that may be the problem, but havent' found a good tree guy to come and confirm - and help fix.
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Several fungi and cankers to be exact. Not much fixin' to be done. Just prune out the dead limbs and haul them away or burn them. Remove the tree when it's too bad. Clean out old droppings from under them so they don't reinfect themselves. Problem is birds carry the diseases back and forth.
 
bronco slim said:
Thanks RQ for your comments. I forgot about the bag worms. I always would ask customers not only where they wanted the Leyland but why. If you want a 60 foot green wall then you will have it. But when one dies it will look like ass for along time before another one grows up in its place. There are better boarder hedge plants than a Leyland. They are attractive but just not my choice.
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For residential customers I just wouldn't plant them but would offer other choices like you said. For construction jobs I would offer my opinion and then plant them if they wanted.
I removed 26 50' tall Leylands a couple years ago and planted Nellie R. Stevens hollies in their place to the tune of about $20k.
People just won't listen:shaking:
 
Thanks for all the comments guys. Hopefully some of what you all are saying can be nailed down as the problem. I wouldn't have planted them but the builder tore out some trees on the lot next to me after he told me he would leave some in between the lots. He obviously didn't have to do anything since it wasn't on my property but decided to have his landscapers come in and put 4 of them up on my fence line around the side of the house. And they are about 6-8 apart and all the strings and sacks were removed.
 
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