Leyland Cypress (Cupressus leylandii), also known as leylandii, are large, very fast growing evergreen conifer trees which can reach heights in excess of 30 metres if unchecked. I inherited many hedges of this conifer when I moved into my property. Some were around the boundary of the garden, and some were within the garden itself. I had those within the garden removed as they didn’t fit in with my design.
Whilst I focused on the rest of the garden between 2011 and 2016, it would be fair to say that I neglected the boundary hedges. In 2016 the electricity company cut back half of the hedge behind the greenhouse where it was going to be reaching the height of the electricity cables which run overhead. As they only cut back the part of the hedge that was below the electricity cables it meant that I was left with a very lopsided hedge. This motivated me to get on top of the hedges throughout my garden and in the autumn of 2016 I got people in to get on top of all the boundary hedges. The Leyland Cypress which runs along the back of the water garden was cut back to around 12 foot tall, and the rest of the boundary hedges to between 5 and 6 foot tall so that I would be able to maintain them going forward.
The hedge behind the greenhouse.
One hedge, to the side of my bungalow, had grown taller than my neighbour’s two-storey house.
One hedge running down the back of the water garden had grown so tall that I could no longer see the roof of my neighbour’s property. One of the plants at the end of the hedge had been allow to grow unchecked previously so I got the people to cut this back to make it a part of the hedge.
