How to Stop Leylandii Growing

If left to grow, Leylandii can reach huge heights that can be disruptive to your own garden and your neighbours. Some Leylandii hedges have been known to grow up to 30 metres in height and 8-metres wide. Before your plant gets uncontrollable, there are a number of things you can do to stop Leylandii growing or at least reduce the height of your Leylandii hedge

Firstly, the only way to physically stop Leylandii growing if it’s becoming too much of a nuisance is to kill the plant or remove it from your garden. If your Leylandii plant is particularly large, it may be best for your own safety to enlist the help of a tree surgeon to do this. 

Although this may cost some money, the investment of a professional to remove tall hedges and trees is worth it. They will advise whether it is best to gradually cut the tree down or do this in one sitting.

Reducing the Height of Leylandii Hedge

If you’ve left your Leylandii hedge to grow, or perhaps you’ve moved into a new home with a large Leylandii, it is possible to reduce its height. The best way to reduce the height of a Leylandii is through regular pruning. 

We recommend that you prune your Leylandii hedge two-three times a year. Cutting off enough ensures that the height remains short within legal limits and you will not face any problems. You can read more about the legal height of Leylandii here.

Trimming the sides is extremely beneficial, particularly the green shoots on the side of Leylandii. The brown areas of a hedge will not shoot new buds, you can trim these back with ease.  Trimming the new buds regularly will encourage a thicker, wider hedge rather than a taller one.

Will Leylandii Grow Back After Cutting?

Leylandii is one of the fastest-growing hedges available at 75-90cm per year. Leylandii will continually grow if left unattended, so it is important that regular pruning is maintained. It will grow back after cutting, so cutting 2-3 times a year as previously mentioned is recommended.

However, Leylandii hedges do not grow back in all circumstances. If the hedge is brown, new buds will not reappear as these branches have already died. Therefore, removing these brown branches and trimming green branches allows for new green buds to appear. 

The brown colour across branches will not be a problem provided you trim regularly. Should your Leylandii grow over into neighbouring properties and appears brown at the bottom or has lost foliage, it is probably best to dig the whole tree up completely or replace it. You can easily start again given the rapid growth rate of Leylandii plants.

More About us

Hopes Grove Nurseries are the UK’s leading hedging plant specialists. We’re knowledgeable when it comes to everything hedging related. Whether you’re looking for Box hedging, Privet hedging or Hydrangea hedging, we can help.

Reducing the height of Leylandii hedges or stopping Leylandii growing can be a difficult task. If you’d like to know more about what we do, buy online today or contact us for more information.

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