Hello
I've got an old leylandii hedge I inherited with a garden, which is browning and getting quite straggly. It offers much needed privacy and prevents the house behind looking directly into bedrooms etc. So removing it all at once and starting again is simply not an option at this moment. I have an elderly parent living with me who values this privacy and I don't want to unsettle them with big changes.
After much discussion and advice I've decided I would like to use yew hedging - because of its apparently reliable greenery, wildlife friendly, beautiful look and also because it can be kept relatively shallow. I'm aware that hornbeam and beech are good alternatives but worry that any mis-step in care may lead to a lack of leaves in the winter, so I don't want to risk those. Plus, who doesn't like a beautiful yew hedge?!
I know yew can be slower growing so I'm anticipating a gradual replacement of the worst leylandii that are already brown all over and no longer grow. It so happens that these stopped growing some time back and so don't reach a required height to hide the view from the windows of the house behind - but are thankfully in locations that have no key sight lines from the house behind. However, ultimately, I am going to have to bite the bullet and remove the leylandii which do afford the privacy.
I've read that yew is pretty tolerant of various soils but does anyone have any experience of growing it in the 'gaps' between leylandii please? The trunks are approximately 90c,m apart. It might look a bit strange and sound odd but I was thinking of cutting the lower branches on two adjacent leylandii, leaving the tops, to create a bit of an arch and retain privacy, then planting the yews in between. Gradually trimming higher up as the yew grow - accepting that at some point the tops of the leylandii will need to be cut but that the number of years to required to fill the gap will have been reduced. Or is my only option really to simply remove the dead leylandii from the root, and replace fully with yew? The yews that I want to buy are 150cm high. Ultimately, I need them to grow to 3m - 3.5m high. The leylandii currently get direct sun from one side though there is a fence behind them which is about 2-3 foot away from their trunks. And I need that gap to get behind and trim/maintain the hedge.
Hope that all makes sense!
Kind regards
I've got an old leylandii hedge I inherited with a garden, which is browning and getting quite straggly. It offers much needed privacy and prevents the house behind looking directly into bedrooms etc. So removing it all at once and starting again is simply not an option at this moment. I have an elderly parent living with me who values this privacy and I don't want to unsettle them with big changes.
After much discussion and advice I've decided I would like to use yew hedging - because of its apparently reliable greenery, wildlife friendly, beautiful look and also because it can be kept relatively shallow. I'm aware that hornbeam and beech are good alternatives but worry that any mis-step in care may lead to a lack of leaves in the winter, so I don't want to risk those. Plus, who doesn't like a beautiful yew hedge?!
I know yew can be slower growing so I'm anticipating a gradual replacement of the worst leylandii that are already brown all over and no longer grow. It so happens that these stopped growing some time back and so don't reach a required height to hide the view from the windows of the house behind - but are thankfully in locations that have no key sight lines from the house behind. However, ultimately, I am going to have to bite the bullet and remove the leylandii which do afford the privacy.
I've read that yew is pretty tolerant of various soils but does anyone have any experience of growing it in the 'gaps' between leylandii please? The trunks are approximately 90c,m apart. It might look a bit strange and sound odd but I was thinking of cutting the lower branches on two adjacent leylandii, leaving the tops, to create a bit of an arch and retain privacy, then planting the yews in between. Gradually trimming higher up as the yew grow - accepting that at some point the tops of the leylandii will need to be cut but that the number of years to required to fill the gap will have been reduced. Or is my only option really to simply remove the dead leylandii from the root, and replace fully with yew? The yews that I want to buy are 150cm high. Ultimately, I need them to grow to 3m - 3.5m high. The leylandii currently get direct sun from one side though there is a fence behind them which is about 2-3 foot away from their trunks. And I need that gap to get behind and trim/maintain the hedge.
Hope that all makes sense!
Kind regards
