70ft (ish) - how many leylandii?

[IveGotTightsOlderThanYouLove]

I've found differing info online about how far apart you should plant leylandii. What would you recommend?

My garden backs onto several other gardens and there's little privacy, so I thought I'd plant leylandii next to the fences, but I'm not sure how many to buy (probably can't afford it anyway!) and how close to the fence I can plant them?

We're looking to put the house on the market soon, so I'd like fairly tall leylandii.

Thanks for your advice. :)

[wordgirl]

Well I wouldn't buy a house with leylandi in the garden so I'd recommend none

[AurraSing]

Honestly, none. They're the work of the devil.

[sommewhereelse]

What wordgirl said, they're ugly and a nightmare to maintain. I would rather buy an overlooked house and plant a nice hedge and wait a few years.

[IveGotTightsOlderThanYouLove]

Ah, thanks for that! I thought they were easy, but clearly not.

Would you recommend any other plant? Any trees that could perhaps block the view a bit, but can be planted next to a fence?

I'm sure it's the wrong time of year to plant these things!

[screamqueenrollo]

I'd agree with the others, avoid Leylandii. I refused to sell them when I had my business. I hate them, but did end up buying a house which has two hedges formed from them. The biggest one is probably about 20ft high and 40ft long. It's a bloody nightmare to keep tidy and some of them were already dying off in the middle, so I have huge horrible brown patches which i can do nothing to remedy. They will be coming out but at the moment we don't have money to replace the boundary with anything suitable.

If you're putting the house on the market then you either 1/ leave it as is....let it be sorted by whoever buys the house or 2/ to achieve privacy you'll need to spend a bit more money on established plants to gain the height you need.

If you really want a hedge you could go for something like laurel.

It's not necessarily the 'wrong' time of year to plant, technically autumn planting is good for some plants as they have a chance to establish good root growth over the winter ready for foliage growth in the spring. The warning i would give is that it's unseasonably warm at the moment, and if this changes suddeny it could be a shock to the plant. Certainly if we get heavy snowfall you'll need to go out and 'shake' the snow so it's not sitting on the plants as that'll do for them.

[sommewhereelse]

Actually it's a good time of year to plant. We have cotoneaster which is evergreen, pretty and reached 2 metres high after about 5/6 yrs.

[screamqueenrollo]

yes cotoneaster would be good (make sure you get an upright variety!) or pyracantha - though the latter is quite spiky. Both get loaded with berries so very good for the birds and both are evergreen.

[survivingsummer]

Thuja Plicata Atrovirens (green giant) is a better choice because you can prune it back to the older wood and it won't look brown and dead underneath like leylandii.

Our garden is very overlooked and I have planted a range of evergreen and deciduous shrubs and trees for variety along a 40 ft fence. Pyracanthus, cherry trees, photinia red robin and cherry laurel which I hope will make a fairly thick screen in the long run but add more interest than conifers..