Leyland Cypress — Fast Screens Grown in North Florida
Santa Fe Tree Company grows nearly 30,000 Leyland Cypress a year on our Alachua farm. Soft, feathery blue-green foliage and 3–4 feet of annual growth make it the tree crews still spec when a privacy screen has to fill now — not in five years.
A working East Coast source for wholesale Leyland
Most Leylands sold online are produced far from the job site. Ours are container-grown here, pulled to grade, and shipped on our trucks across the eastern U.S. That is the difference between ordering a catalog plant and working with a grower.
What is a Leyland Cypress?
Leyland Cypress (× Cuprocyparis leylandii, also written Cupressocyparis leylandii) is a hybrid of Monterey cypress and Nootka cypress. It was never found in the wild. It exists because two species crossed in cultivation and produced a tree that grows almost faster than the jobs it is asked to hide.
The habit is a dense pyramid of soft, feathery, blue-green sprays. Color holds through winter in the South. Used correctly — full sun, drainage, and enough space for air to move — it is still one of the fastest large evergreen screens available in USDA zones 6–10. We grow nearly 30,000 a year because contractors keep asking for it, and because some sites (coastal exposure, a client who wants fill in two seasons) are still Leyland jobs.
We also grow Thuja Green Giant and Murray Cypress. If the site is wrong for Leyland, we will say so and spec the other tree.
Soft, feathery Leyland Cypress foliage.
Leyland Cypress growing specs
Mature size is typically 50–70 feet tall and 12–20 feet wide if left unpruned. Hardy in USDA zones 6–10. Best in full sun, in well-drained soil of almost any pH. Better salt tolerance than Green Giant — useful on coastal and highway jobs that Green Giant will not take.
| Trait | Field standard |
|---|---|
| Botanical name | × Cuprocyparis leylandii (Cupressocyparis leylandii) |
| Common names | Leyland Cypress, Leylandii |
| Habit | Dense pyramidal to columnar evergreen; shears well as a hedge |
| Growth rate | 3–4 feet per year in good conditions |
| Mature size | 50–70 ft tall × 12–20 ft wide if unpruned |
| USDA zones | 6–10 (widely planted across the Southeast and Mid-Atlantic) |
| Sun | Full sun; thin and disease-prone in shade |
| Soil | Clay, loam, or sand if drained; acidic to alkaline |
| Salt | Better coastal / spray tolerance than Green Giant |
| Deer / pests | Usually left alone by deer; watch canker and needle blight on tight, wet, or stressed sites |
| Our wholesale sizes | 15-gallon and 30-gallon containers (other sizes on request) |
| Annual production | Nearly 30,000 Leyland Cypress grown each year in Alachua, Florida |
| Best jobs | Fast privacy, windbreaks, solar buffers, highway screens, coastal sites |
How far apart to plant Leyland Cypress
Leyland fails most often because it is planted too tight. Crowding looks finished in year two and sick in year eight. Give the trees air. That is the single best thing you can do for a Leyland screen in the humid South.
| Goal | Spacing | Notes from the nursery |
|---|---|---|
| Tight hedge, sheared wall | 6–8 ft on center | Fills fast. Plan to shear and keep air moving through the canopy. Do not go tighter than 6 ft. |
| Standard privacy screen | 8–10 ft on center | Best all-purpose spacing for most Southeast residential and commercial jobs. |
| Tall informal screen | 12–15 ft on center | Lets each tree keep its natural pyramid and lowers disease pressure long-term. |
| Windbreak / noise / solar buffer | Staggered double row, 10–12 ft | Use on solar sites, highways, and exposed property lines. Staggering beats a single crowded row. |
How to plant a container-grown Leyland
Plant in spring or fall. Set the root flare at grade, water through the first year, and mulch off the trunk. Do not fertilize at planting. Do not bury the stem.
Site it for sun and air
Full sun is not optional. Shade thins the interior and invites blight. Keep Leylands off standing water and out of low pockets that hold after a storm. Coastal spray is acceptable; swamp is not.
Dig wide, not deep
Hole twice the container width, no deeper than the root ball. Leylands fail when the trunk is buried or when the root ball sits in a bathtub of compacted clay.
Backfill with native soil
Do not create a pot of imported mix in heavy clay. Settle soil with water as you fill. The tree has to live in the site you actually have.
Water the first season like it matters
Established trees handle drought better than new ones. Florida heat will stall a dry Leyland in a month. Weekly deep watering the first growing season is the difference between a 3-foot flush and a brown interior.
Prune for air, not just shape
Leyland takes shearing and is often grown as a formal hedge. Start light. Open the interior if the screen is knitting too tight. Tight + wet + no air is how canker gets a row.
Leyland Cypress vs. Thuja Green Giant
We grow both. Leyland is the faster cosmetic fill and the better coastal tree. Green Giant is the more durable long-term screen in the humid interior South: stronger disease resistance, better ice and wind performance, and less of the dieback that has followed Leyland across the region.
Need Green Giant or Murray Cypress instead? Tell us the site and we will spec the right evergreen.