Cutting Leylandii tree by a third!

Spender£

I took advice last year to reduce the height of leylandii tree by a third last march and despite cutting it flat by a third it has recovered perfectly looking as if had not been cut but with the reduced size i required.
Would i be getting ahead of myself to try doing this one more time to get it to my perfect reachable height.
Although cutting it down by a third works i can't find out if this can be done once every year or just as a one off.

Brie

The people who owned a place where I used to live used to cut the leylandii every year or two.  Initially we could look up at the trees from the first floor flat.  After a few trims they were more of a thick hedge no higher than the ground floor so essentially at our toe level. 

Ridiculously vigorous growers which is why so many people hate or love them.    

fatbelly

There's a leylandii really close to a church building where I do some gardening. I keep suggesting it should be cut down.

When I looked at it closely it had at one point been cut to about 6 feet and had regenerated to about 30 feet.

I don't like them but if you have one I think it's best to trim it regularly

twopenny

How old is the tree?
If it's sturdy with good roots establish you probably could cut again. It may be a bit slower than the first time.
I think I read somewhere to cut to 3ft to get a 6ft hedge....but check that.

Keep_pedalling

You really should trim it by 3 thirds, the only thing to do with these retched things. 

FreeBear

Keep_pedalling said:

You really should trim it by 3 thirds, the only thing to do with these retched things. 

I usually recommend pruning at ground level, but 3 thirds works just as well.

Dustyevsky

Poor leylandii, so misunderstood! We had 8 in our last garden, which formed a hedge within it, about 12' high and 3' wide. Great privacy where it was needed and the pruning was only an hour or two every 12 -18 months. In the later years, I bribed the kids to prune; it was that easy. 'Castlewellan Gold' is a little slower than the bog-standard one.

greyteam1959

I have a similar hedge around 15 foot high & 3 foot wide.
The top is so thick I can walk along it.
Cut it once a year 

Ganga

Its not normally your own Laylandii that causes problems ,its normally your neigbours that reach 40 ft and block the light  

Dustyevsky

Ganga said:

Its not normally your own Laylandii that causes problems ,its normally your neigbours that reach 40 ft and block the light  

We know, but that's a human problem, not the fault of the trees.

droopsnoot

My neighbours across the back and along one side have Leylandii hedges. The one across the back isn't so bad, they keep it from growing too high. The one on the left is worse, but if anyone is losing sunlight it will be them as it's on the east side of the garden. I've been thinning them down as they had spread to cover a couple of feet of my garden, but I've left it too long because some sections are brown which I believe will never return to green. 

Does anyone know - will small bits of leylandii cuttings left on the flower borders act in the same way that bark does, in reducing the effect of airborne seeds taking root? The hedge along the east has a border under it, and while I've gathered up the larger pieces, there are lots of small bits from when I used the electric hedge clippers to smooth the side off. It'd be handy if I had a reason for leaving them there, other than "too much trouble to pick them up".