Question about prunned leyland cypress

[Rob C]

Hello All,
Thank you for taking the time to read my question. I planted a row if 10 Leyland cypress trees last year in New York. The trees look great but a local arborist mentioned to keep them trimmed early to give the roots time to establish. I gently pruned the trees but made the mistake of cutting the tops and I at a loss as to what my options are. The trees are currently around 5' tall and I would hate to have to rip the all out. Someone mentioned creating a dominant leader but would have no idea how to do this. Can anyone help point me in the right direction ? I have included a picture of an example of the top the Leyland. Thank you all for your time!

 

[Tetters]

Hello Rob, I grew my leylandii hedge from cuttings, and shaped it up like the photo shows. You need to chop it off at the height you want, and then prune it and shape it every winter so that it will thicken up. It is important never to cut into the brown wood. The hedge needs to be wider at the bottom than the top - and you can`t afford to forget it otherwise it will get out of hand.

Edit....If you want your trees to be really really tall, don`t worry - this sort will never stop growing. Think hard about letting them get too big though, because they block out the light and can become a big problem. The only way to kill these is to cut into the brown wood. They grow fast.
Don`t worry so much

 

[Robert Cummings]

The variety in the photo is cuppresocyparis Leylandii Castlewellan a cross between common green Leyland cypress and gold macrocarpa developed in Castlewellan in Ireland, The gold form is not quite as vigorous as the common green Leylandii but will tolerate trimming in summer and Autumn, best to trim off only soft new growth or discolouration will occur.

 

[DrCase]

Your trees are still young , give them some time one of the branches will grow up into a new top .