[willowman]

I am ordering a quantity of leylandii to make a solid windbreak hedge, quite necessary here in the Fens.
They will be about 8ft tall, in a 10 litre pot, and I am planting them about 2 ft apart.
Can anyone tell me how deep I should plant the root ball please?

[tode]

I should imagine that you plant em so the soil is at the same level it was in the pot (as a general rule).

You really sold on leylandii ?

[mumofstig]

I was going to say...plant them 2 ft above soil level horrible things

Also, apart from growing way too tall, they very quickly go brown and bare at the bottom when exposed to high wind, just where you need the protection.
Sorry as you can tell I don't like them much, but have to live with the hedge in my garden

[Rangerkris]

MOS Has the right idea plant them in the skip sorry, they do make a quickish hedge line tho. When asked about cutting these i say yes of couse right at the bottom. My house had 10 of these he day we moved in and that afternoon had none hahahha the mother-inlaws have all gone now as well and they were big *.

[willowman]

I knew somebody would have to have a moan about them.
When I was a postie I always said there were no bad dogs, just bad dog owners.
The same applies to leylandii, it's not the plant, it's the owners who don't keep them under control. They only grow way too tall if you let them.
Properly maintained they make a blooming good hedge which, as well as being a wind break, is also very secure being so thick, which is just what I need.
I know there are alternatives but I want a speedy solution to a specific security problem and they fit the bill.

[tode]

Just teasing, Willowman.   

But you must admit that you see a lot of Lelylandii where they really shouldn't be !

I s'pose if you're fair, you could say the same about a lot of trees.      

[willowman]

Sorry tode, I rose to the bait. I forgot this is a friendly forum.
Another Q & A site I have used tends to get very caustic at times and participants can get quite sarcastic, which is unnecessary I feel.
So, my humble apologies.
But you are right, anything can be a pain if left to grow wild (TOH says this applies to me too).
I always remember the old saying that any plant growing in the wrong place is a weed.
One of the TV gardeners (it may have been Alan Titchmarsh) said he thought a good hedge of bindweed full of huge white flowers looked magnificent - and I can see his point. But, like leylandii, if allowed to get out of hand can be a nightmare.
Along the bottom of our land the neighbouring site (a mobile home park) has a boundary fence of hawthorn, which has been allowed to grow into large trees. They look good, but cause us all sorts of problems when the leaves and berries drop.
If they had been looked after we could have had a lovely hawthorn hedge, but now it's too late.
Anyway, I've told my garden help he's got to dig 50 holes a foot across and a foot deep - you should have seen his face!!

[tode]

You're right.  And I shouldn't criticize:  got a MAJOR problem with willows that I grew from seed.
They were great when small, but now          

Should have had some regular trimming   . . . .   

[willowman]

A bit like kittens really. Nice and cute when they're small, but they get bigger.
I know what you mean about willows, we have a wonderful specimen on our land (hence my nickname) but I have just arranged for it to be professionally pollarded at a cost of £600 - it is huge!
We love to see it in full leaf but it's reached the stage where I worry everytime the wind blows in case a branch falls on our buildings, so it's got to have a haircut.
It looked really bare when last done four years ago, just the main trunks reaching into the sky, still, on a positve note, loads of logs for future winter fires.

[tode]

As you say, willows have a nasty habit of shedding their branches. And they're tricksy things to cut: the branches are like springs, and often whip and jump when you're cutting em.   

[Paul Plots]

We had a long leylandii hedge (light and dark green mixed) when we moved here. It stood up to the 1987 hurricane without a trace of damage despite the greenhouse glass trying to escape through it. Tough stuff.

Looked good kept in order.... but took so much skin from my arms and needed such very frequent cutting as well as drying out the soil all along its length it eventually had to go.

fun that was digging out a 100' length of the stuff 

If ever I planted it again I would add one foot to the over all height (including root) and make the hole that deep before planting and filling in. Sorry  - not in favour of them despite the speed of growth as they create a huge amount of very regular work.

On the plus side = they burn wonderfully well! 

[Kristen]

"Properly maintained they make a blooming good hedge which, as well as being a wind break, is also very secure being so thick, which is just what I need.
I know there are alternatives but I want a speedy solution to a specific security problem and they fit the bill."

Well, sorry to pour petrol on the fire,  but the problem is "Properly maintained". What happens if you are taken ill one year? or if you move? Leylandii grow 3' a year - so once they have reached desired height need clipping 3 times a year to look smart; clipping them once-a-year to maintain them is liable to cut them back into brown wood which won't regenerate. If you are starting with 8' tall plants presumably you are intending that the hedge will be taller than that? if so that will need scaffolding, or somesuch, to maintain the hedge - which is a major undertaking.

I think a better solution is to plant something easier to maintain, such as Thuja pilcata atrovirens; you could put Leylandii behind so that you get the benefit of the speed of Leylandii, and then cull them once the Thuja can cope on its own ...

... no, what am I talking about? that's what the previous owners of this place did, but they forgot / were ignorant / become "infirm" about taking out the Leylandii so they let them grow to 60', swamping the Thuja, and we have had to rip the whole lot out and start again so now have no windbreak at all.

Sorry for my outspoken views ... but PLEASE just plant something more likely to the maintained.