Advice needed with my Leylandii hedging

Hi there fellow gardeners


So one of the issues in my back garden is with my mature Leylandii heading that I have had in place about 22 years now as you can see from the photographs sections are starting to die or have died in recent years!!

I was hoping that fresh growth would appear or that healthy sections would grow and cover the dead parts and in the past two years I have trimmed very little in a hope that the healthy sections of the tress/ hedge would help but I am afraid not!!

The top two are not Leylandii I may add - I should have bought this for the entire hedge but thats another story!

Question - Is my hedge lost? will it ever recover??

If the answer is bad news and it wont recover does anyone have recommendations for a replacement ?

I was thinking of low maintenance PVC fencing but I guess would be very expensive and I may add all the cost I would have to bear as my neighbour isn't the nicest person lets say

I was also thinking of birch hedging and would like thoughts on this

Please bear in mind I would like something that is low maintenance and grows to about 7 feet for privacy

Thanks again

 

@Will Hay

Sadly yes and it, almost certainly, won't recover.
You could consider yew as a replacement, beech? 7ft might be too tall for it, but I'm no expert.

 

I didnt realise it had about a 25 year life span!!!!

 

I dont think you can beat yew for a hedge.
They always say its slow, but I've found yew to grow fairly fast, not as fast as some but who wants a hedge that grows like the clappers.

 

I want a hedge with privacy and also easy to maintain - yew is the recommended option? Birch not so?

 

Question I forgot to ask...

Can anyone explain why they died off?

 

There is a conifer aphid that can cause that sort of damage.

 

I don't think that birch is good for hedging plant, @NigelJ suggested beech which I think could work.
Just my personal opinion that I like yew which is evergreen and and gives a dense hedge.
It could be a disease that is killing your existing hedge, getting it out and replanting is going to be a big job.

 

Yes a big expensive job and therein is my problem - finance - as I have another huge job staring at me the wall at the back of the garden

If you see the photos it replaced a ditch the was collapsing and built about 2007 but was built wrong as it is a facing wall and not a retaining wall as it should have been. The wall is now tilting and bulging and needs to be addressed most people I have contacted are interested and the two that have come down have different approaches

One company is mentioning wall anchors about 7 - 10 of them but they extend into the neighbours land above and they MAY object

Another company is suggesting stabilising the wall by building at type of rockery structure

Either way will be €15,000 at least

 

It looks like the wall is probably the most pressing of the two jobs.

Not sure how feasible, but I've seen those cages filled with rocks used as retaining walls.
I always fancied something like that, add some soil and you could have a living wall.

 

Gabions and they work very well, instant rock garden.
Wall would be my priority as well. Anchors would be the quickest and least disruptive, may be cheaper as well, but if you need neighbours permission then it depends on your relationship with them.
In the meantime, while sorting the wall out, you could plant climbers in pots along the hedge, sweet peas, nasturtiums, Eccremocarpus scaber etc not a complete answer, but will give colour and interest in summer at least.

 

I wanted to have some of these gabion planters in our parish, but I was out voted and we went down the route of half whiskey barrels.

These come in all shapes and sizes and look lovely when planted.