Leyland Cypress Sunlight Requirements

Thuja Green Giant and Leyland Cypress trees will tolerate partial shade. We want to discuss the canopy above, the shade on one side, the impact of how being in the south or north can affect a shady planting site. We will also cover the symptoms of too much shade, pruning the canopy shade trees and also recommend a good substitute for privacy screens in shady places.

A straight shade canopy is not the best situation for Thuja Green Giant or Leyland Cypress trees. The least desirable situation is a pine or evergreen canopy, because the trees under an evergreen canopy do not even get sunlight during winter. If that’s your application, don’t plant there! Sometimes it can’t be helped. For example, on Long Island and in the Hamptons area, some neighborhoods have rules about what can be cut and are very strict about cutting down native trees to replace them with anything that is not native to the area. Still, I don’t recommend planting Leyland Cypress or Thuja Green Giant trees under a canopy. I have planted these varieties under a canopy that was very tall and yet the shade affected the trees.

Northern locations tolerate shade better than southern locations if they come from deciduous trees. If the shade trees are deciduous trees, at least after those canopy trees lose their leaves, Thuja Green Giant trees will get full sun all winter long. This is more beneficial from New York and northward than in the southern states, because they shed about five weeks earlier in fall than southern trees and do not re-green until a month later than southern deciduous trees. On Long Island, Thuja Green Giant or Leyland Cypress trees planted under a partial canopy of scrub oak can receive full sun for seven winter months before leaves reappear, while southern states with a similar situation can provide only five months of full sun. Shading on one side of the row is usually fine, because Leyland cypress trees will still receive powerful direct sunlight. Thuja Green Giant or Leyland Cypress trees can grow three feet per year if fertilized correctly, so remember that if one side of your row is shaded by slower-growing species, The Thuja Green Giants or Leyland Cypress will outcompete the taller trees. slows that shade trees in most cases and thus eliminate the problem.

There are two main symptoms of too much shade;

The first is that the trees thin. In the first planting, if the trees grew in the Ball and Burlap field, they will be thick at first. Over the years, suspicious apps will take their toll and shrink a bit. The second symptom of too much shade is a slow growth rate.

Providing light by pruning harmful shade trees is a great idea! If you cut the branches of an evergreen tree that shades your row of Leyland Leyland cypress trees, those branches will not grow back, so it should be a one-time effort. If your arborists prune deciduous trees like oaks, maples, it is more likely that you will need to trim them again at a later date. If the branches of the deciduous trees are cut down to the trunk, on the side that gives shade to the Leyland cypress trees, you can solve it completely. The advice here is to do the tree surgery before planting the privacy hedge underneath. The arborist will probably be able to let the branches fall if it is done before installing the Thuja Green Giant row, but if you wait until after planting the arborist will likely have to tie the branches to avoid damage to your privacy screen below. .

A good variety of substites are Nellie Stevens Hollies for shade applications in Zone 6 and Canadian Hemlock if you are in Zone 5. Also remember, when planting in mature forest, nearby trees not only steal sunlight, they also steal sunlight. They will also have established root systems that will make it compete with your new plants for moisture.