[nwalch]

Over the last year or so my conifer hedge (around 60 ft by 10 foot high) has started to die and turn brown (could be the bad winters or maybe the conifer aphid). I’ve started to cut down the dead ones but some bits are still growing and you have a mixture of alive and dead conifer! The hedge has always been a good couple of foot too tall to manage so do you think its worth cutting the hedge a couple of foot lower in the sections which are still mostly green in the hope it will grow back or should I give it up as a lost cause and cut it all down and replant (a big job).

I know most people will say get rid of the conifers but it was a nice hedge and did a good job of blocking the noise and pollution from the road behind (and doesn’t bother any neighbours as it backs onto a main road.

If I did rip down and replan what would people recommend. The requirements are fairly fast grower to 8 foot or so, evergreen and not privet (always hated it). I want to be able to train it into a formal hedge again.

[Lardman]

It's aphid damage... 

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-472999/Plagues-aphids-turn-leylandii-brown-Britains-gardens-climate-change-starts-bite.html