Leylandii withering

Officer_Crabtree

Hi all,

I've noticed recently that some of the Leylandii that I planted in my garden in Aberdeenshire back in November 2022 have started to wither on some branches.

They grew fine last year, its just this year that this problem has crept up. They have been fed regularly via root drench and foliar spray from April to October. Before these few branches started to wither, they went much darker than the other branches on the trees.

About 5-6 trees are affected and none of them are close to each other

So does anyone know what is going on? Too much water? Too little water?

For some reason the edge of the lawn is going yellow too, not sure why as there has been plenty of rain over winter and so far in spring.

Thank you.

fatbelly

Leylandii are pretty tough but I've not heard of people feeding them. The other foliage looks healthy. I think I'd just leave them alone. Did the soil get waterlogged during the recent wet spell?

Officer_Crabtree

Hi fatbelly,

There's only one small part of the garden that gets truly soaking wet and its nowhere near the trees. Its just really strange that its just a few branches on a few trees that are doing this.

I gave them a water today and whilst they weren't lapping it up like they did in the summer, the water certainly did soak up within 30 seconds.

Re; feeding, I really wanted to get them as big and strong as quick as possible to create a nice wall. Last year it didn't seem to have any negative effects, but then again, I've no idea just how quick an unfertilised leylandii grows over a year...

sheramber

Could be due to too dry or to wet.

They grow 75 -90 cms a year.

fatbelly

sheramber said:

Could be due to too dry or to wet.

They grow 75 -90 cms a year.

And that's without much attention. 

Max height around 100 feet, which is where they get their reputation

I think possibly you've been overdoing the tlc.

Officer_Crabtree

Quite possibly have been overdoing them. I think I'll hold back on fertilising them to once a month and just keeping them decently watered.

20 degrees this weekend!

Thank you both fatbelly and sheramber!

CliveOfIndia

sheramber said:

They grow 75 -90 cms a year.

I flippin' well wish mine would !  Planted quite a few of them a couple of years ago.  It's a very windy area of the garden, the old fence was useless.  I thought I'd plant these supposedly indestructible trees, keep them trimmed to a height of 5 or 6 feet or so, and they'd make a nice thick hedge that could withstand the wind better than any fence.

Two years on, they've put on maybe 3 or 4 inches of growth 

It's not like they were cheap rubbish in the first place - got them from a local nursery/garden centre thinking they'd be decent quality, and also do my bit to support a small local business.