- Leyland cypress trees grow between 3 and 4 feet per year. They have a high level of drought tolerance and moderate tolerance for aerosol and soil salt levels. Leyland cypress trees are hardy in USDA zones 6 through 10A, which includes cities such as St. Louis, Missouri, Dallas, Texas and Naples, Florida. They prefer full sunlight or partial shade and grow in a variety of well-drained soil types.
- The University of Delaware Cooperative Extension warns that Leyland cypress trees have weak root systems. Trees that are planted during the fall do not reestablish quickly enough to survive the winter, so the website recommends planting trees during the spring. They need to be watered regularly for the first two or three years to give the root system a chance to develop.
- Leyland cypress trees are susceptible to a number of different infections and diseases. Annosus and phytophthora root rot infect the roots and cause yellowing, decline and dieback, while botryosphaeria and seiridium canker create sunken areas of damaged bark on twigs and branches of stressed trees. Bagworms, scale, weevils, spittlebugs and bark beetles also damage Leyland cypress plantings.
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