Leyland Cypress Diseases: Treating Disease In Leyland Cypress Trees


Gardeners in need of quick privacy hedges love quick growing Leyland cypress (x
Cupressocyparis leylandii). When you plant them in an appropriate location and provide good culture, your shrubs may not suffer from Leyland cypress diseases. Read on for information about the main diseases of Leyland cypress trees, including tips on treating diseases in Leyland cypress plants.
Preventing Leyland Cypress Diseases
Prevention is easier than cure when it comes to diseases of Leyland cypress trees. Your first, best step toward keeping these attractive evergreens healthy is planting them in appropriate sites.
The second step is giving them the best care. A healthy, vigorous plant shakes off problems with more ease than a stressed plant. Leyland cypress disease treatment is often impossible or ineffective.
So, save yourself the time and effort involved in treating disease in Leyland cypress. Plant these shrubs in a sunny location in soil offering excellent drainage. Space them far enough apart to let air pass between them. Provide water during times of drought and check your hardiness zone. Leyland cypresses thrive in U.S. Department of Agriculture plant hardiness zones 6 through 10.
Diseases of Leyland Cypress Trees
If your shrubs are ill, you’ll have to learn something about the different Leyland cypress diseases to figure out what’s wrong. Diseases of Leyland cypress generally fall into three categories: blights, cankers, and root rots.
Blight
The symptoms of needle blight diseases include needles browning and dropping. Usually, this begins on the lower branches. These are fungal diseases, and the spores spread from branch to branch by rain, wind, and tools.
Gardening tips, videos, info and more delivered right to your inbox!
Sign up for the Gardening Know How newsletter today and receive a free copy of our e-book "How to Grow Delicious Tomatoes".
Placing the shrubs far enough apart to allow air and sun to get through the branches helps prevent needle blight. If it’s too late for prevention, prune out infected branches. Thorough application of a fungicide helps but is difficult on tall specimens.
Canker
If your Leyland cypress needles turn red-brown or you see cankers on the trunks or branches, the shrubs may have a canker disease, like Seiridium or Botryosphaeria canker. Cankers are dry lesions, often sunken, on stems and branches. Surrounding bark can show a dark brown or purplish discoloration.
Canker diseases are also caused by fungi and usually only attack stressed plants. When it comes to treating disease in Leyland cypress, fungicides are not effective. The only Leyland cypress disease treatment for this is to prune out infected branches, being sure to sterilize the pruners. Then start a program of regular irrigation.
Root rot
Root rot diseases cause dying roots leading to yellowing foliage. It is often caused by inappropriate planting in an area where the soil does not drain well.
Once a shrub has root rot, chemical Leyland cypress disease treatment is not effective. As with the other diseases, the best way of treating disease in Leyland cypress is to give the plants appropriate cultural care.
Teo Spengler is a master gardener and a docent at the San Francisco Botanical Garden, where she hosts public tours. She has studied horticulture and written about nature, trees, plants, and gardening for more than two decades. Her extended family includes some 30 houseplants and hundreds of outdoor plants, including 250 trees, which are her main passion. Spengler currently splits her life between San Francisco and the French Basque Country, though she was raised in Alaska, giving her experience of gardening in a range of climates.
-
Ideal Azalea Water Requirements – For Lush, Healthy Shrubs That Will Thrive For Years
What are an azalea's water requirements? Learn how to keep these beautiful spring-blooming shrubs happy and healthy in your yard or container garden.
By Amy Grant
-
7 Vegetables To Plant In April: Start Indoors Or Outside For A Bumper Summer Harvest
Achieve your growing ambitions with these best vegetables to plant in April – including cold-hardy crops to sow direct and tender varieties to start indoors
By Mary Ellen Ellis
-
Golden Cypress Care: How To Grow Golden Leyland Cypress Trees
For a high impact of golden foliage combined with the ease of an evergreen, look no further than the golden Leyland cypress. Click here for more information.
By Bonnie L. Grant
-
Pruning Leyland Cypress – Tips On How To Trim A Leyland Cypress Tree
Leyland Cypress is a large, fast-growing, evergreen conifer. Because it is so large it can quickly outgrow its space. If you don?t have the space, however, pruning the tree may be necessary. This article will help with that.
By Karen Boness
-
Leyland Cypress Tree: How To Grow Leyland Cypress Trees
Leyland cypress is an appealing choice for medium to large landscapes and makes an excellent choice for a quick specimen lawn tree or a privacy hedge. Get tips for growing a Leyland cypress tree here.
By Jackie Carroll