Leyland Cypress trees and similar like Thuja Green Giant trees can provide great privacy but have huge issues when it comes to offering privacy long term. Disease, drought, and natural disasters are the leading causes of damage to these trees. In many cases, you’ll have a few of them die which will create gaps in your screen rendering it almost useless. To fix the gap you will have to install more of them which could then damage the others around it. These have very large root balls so replacing one of them will likely damage the others in the process.
Leyland Cypress
- Prone to disease which threatens the life of the plant.
- Prone to drought damage or death.
- Will up-root in natural disasters and are difficult to revive.
- Expensive to replace.
Bamboo
- Resistant to pests and disease, while problems are rare it does not typically affect plant health.
- All bamboo is drought resistant and holds water very well.
- Even in the worst of disasters broken canes will always be replaced by the next spring’s growth.
- Bamboo will replenish damaged canes during the next spring growth cycle.
Diseases
Seiridium Canker, Botryosphaeria Canker, and Cercospora Needle Blight are all common diseases that can affect foliage, stems, and branches. These are the common diseases that will cause branches or the whole tree to turn brown. There are also some root diseases such as Phytophthora root rot caused by Phytophthora cinnamomi, and Annosus root rot caused by Heterobasidion annosum. These diseases spread quickly from tree to tree and can eventually kill off your whole privacy screen.
Drought
Possibly the most common reason for these cypress trees dying is drought. Unlike disease, a drought will quickly destroy your entire planting. With some of the recent record-breaking droughts across the USA, it’s safer to stick to plants with more tolerance for drought. Just look at our facebook post with a picture taken after 54 days without rain. The drought we had last year in Alabama greatly affected cypress trees around our area. A large majority of them showing partial foliar damage, or completely dead.
Natural Disaster
Leyland Cypress trees are prone to wind damage and have fell prey to tornadoes and hurricanes in the past. In storm-prone areas, it is not recommended to plant these near buildings or power lines. Not to mention once they have been uprooted from the ground it can be near impossible to secure them in the ground again, especially without damage to the tree. Many arborists recommend removing the tree and starting with a new one. (Losing your screen)
Why Bamboo?
Bamboo is resistant to disease, drought, and natural disaster. In just under 40 years of growing bamboo, we have never encountered any serious problems with any of these issues. As much of bamboos “life” system is underground, any damage above ground can be quickly replaced with the next springs new shoots. Eliminating costly maintenance and loss of your privacy screen.
If you are not familiar with how bamboo grows we highly recommend you read more here. How Bamboo Grows
Bamboo is an amazing plant that grows quicker than any other species and provides a lush, evergreen screen for you to enjoy. We love bamboo and hope you choose it as a feature in your landscape. We have over 150 species growing at our nursery and can choose the right kind for you.
What are you waiting for? See what bamboo plants we have for you.
Links: Mail Order Plants – Caring for Bamboo – Frequently Asked Questions – About our family owned company