[Dobsonknob]

Does leyland cypress grow in PA?

I've never seen any but its widely planted in the mtns of NC, SC and TN.

I know the Lowes stores in the south carry it but haven't seen any at the stores around Pittsburgh.

Would it worth trying some for a screen or cover?


Thanks

 

[OAWC]

Sorry, I don't have any experience with those.

 

[Dobsonknob]

Thanks

I guess I will have to bring some up and try them.

 

[ng270]

I haven't tried them. I considered using them in a road screen, but ultimately decided to use something that wasn't sterile (i.e., pines and spruces) so that they would still produce some food for birds and smaller wildlife species. I can't say how much deer may browse them, but from my reading online, it doesn't seem to be an issue except possibly in very high deer density (suburban?) areas.

I didn't consider them for cover plantings elsewhere just because they don't reputedly offer any real food value to wildlife, and most places I was/am planting I prefer pines as potential future turkey roost trees.

Everything I could find online at that time said that they do fine in Zone 6, so I don't see why they shouldn't do well here in PA. If you try them here, I'll be interested to see how they do for you!

 

[3 Jaegers]

I had 14 of them planted as a row / wind block. They grew fast (3' a yr) but caught some mysterious blight and all died within a 2 month period. I had a buck completely destroy 1/2 of one til I fenced them off.

Talked to a landscape buddy and he said the leylands have alot of issues. There's another tree similar but far more hardy. Will try to dig up the name of the species.

Still steaming from my $1800 investment.

 

[Dobsonknob]

I have not seen deer browse them here in NC.

A lot of folks plant northern white cedar instead of leyland cypress but I know deer love white cedars.

I see small birds roost in big leyland cypress. Which made me interested in trying some up north for bird cover.

 

[outofstater]

Does leyland cypress grow in PA?

I've never seen any but its widely planted in the mtns of NC, SC and TN.

I know the Lowes stores in the south carry it but haven't seen any at the stores around Pittsburgh.

Would it worth trying some for a screen or cover?


Thanks

Yes they will grow in Pa. I'm from 2 mile south of Pa. Line and seen a guy had several planted as like a fence. I could not believe how fast and tall they grew like someone said 3' every year. I wanted some for my Pa property to distract the road hunters at night flinging arrows in my yard. I could not get them at time and used Green Giant arbv. They didn't do bad but was not as quick growing as I wanted. I then 2 years later got around 8 of the Leyland and put in behind the others. Only problem if a buck rubs them your kind of screwed. I finally have some things around 6-7' now and does make it tough for the road hunters now. To answer your question it depends on how many you want and how cheap you can get them. I'm actually a landscape contractor but not in to shrubbery I bought these from a buddy competitor that has a nursery.

 

[Birch812]

We have them on several of our campuses for landscaping and they do grow here in Pa. quite hardily in fact.
One location we have them as a privacy barrier and in a little over 12 years have grown to over 45 feet tall. All the other places they are around buildings and are kept to around a height of 20'.
Our crews use bucket trucks and chainsaws to shape them and top them on a every-other season schedule. They grow over 3' a year and waiting longer makes them harder to shape and start looking more like a hedge.

They do what they were put in place for but wouldn't be my first choice if I was using them on my property.

 

[Shed Antler]

I put 10 of them in across the back of my property 2 years ago they were knee high. They are taller then me now. I put them 5' apart and they are almost touching each other now.
Central pa.

 

[RGrizzzz]

They definitely grow. Costco usually has them for a reason price in the spring. I think they were about 3' for $17 last year. That's cheaper than any of the nurseries I checked with.

A word of warning with Leylands. They need to be watered if it gets dry, in the first year or so of planting. I lost a planting of about 10 during a hot/dry spell 2 summers ago.

Regarding deer bothering them, I haven't had many problems. Bucks have rubbed up against a few in the fall, only really damaging one, but it's recovered pretty well. This is at my house, in the suburbs, with a very high deer density. They ate up a bunch of my holly and roses bushes 3 winters ago.

 

[wildernessjournies]

Leylands grow in pa. the problems comes when we get a month when the temps drop into the single digets or below zero for a week or so.So what you have is trees which grew well got tall and full then froze back due to the cold.I run a tree service(in southern York county) for a living and get quite a bit of work taking leylands down after hard winters.I.M.O. eastern red ceder or green giant arborvitae are a much better choice for Pa.Yes they do grow quite rapidly however as previously stated along comes a hard winter ,half your trees are dead ,with some being half dead.