Native Plants

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Tuesday - April 27, 2010

From: Roswell, GA
Region: Southeast
Topic: Diseases and Disorders
Title: Yellowing of Leyland Cypress in Roswell, GA
Answered by: Barbara Medford

QUESTION:

We paid for 12 foot naylor blue leyland's to be planted behind our home. This is their first season in the ground here - they came from a tree farm - there is yellowing on some of the branches and we're concerned about their health. Mostly we are not educated enough about these particular trees. How much of this could be due to the packaging/transfer/planting..etc?

ANSWER:

The "scientific" name of this plant is xCupressocyparis leylandii 'Naylor's Blue.' Here is some information about the plant from the University of Florida Extension.

This is a non-native genus hybrid (that's why the "x" before the name) between Chamaecyparis and Cupressus. While some of the forbears of both genera are native to North America, hybridization puts them out of the range of our expertise at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center. We are committed to the use, protection and propagation of plants native to North America as well as to the area where they are being grown.

We can tell you that this plant is hardy from USDA Hardiness Zones 6 to 10a; Fulton County in northwest Georgia, is Zone 7a to 7b, so the trees should be fine there in terms of climate. Some of the references to disease of this plant that we found were canker and they are often bothered by bagworms. If this tree is being widely grown there, others have likely had the same sort of problems. You might contact the University of Georgia Cooperative Extension Office for Fulton County to see if they have any experience with problems in this tree.