Life on the Hedge

Let’s talk trees. And not any old trees. Oh no, these are trees that spark wars, riots, and attacks of the manic hedge trimmer.We’re talking Leyland Cypress here – or Cupressocyparis leylandii, to give it a proper name. It’s the quickest growing conifer, growing as much 4 feet (that’s over a meter in Catholic) a year. At Bedgebury Pinetum in the UK the Leylandii are 130 ft tall and still growing strong.

The Leyland Cypress has been cast in the role of the villain, thank to a number of disputes between neighbours over boundary hedges. Back in the mother country, the Government is expected to shortly ban them, following the Department of Environment study 'High Hedges: possible solutions'. And a Consultation Paper on the topic. There’s even a telephone hotline to report urgent hedge problems –Hedgeline.

And yet in “A hedge too far” it is made clear that this is a noble breed. The Leyland Cypress is not found in the wild. It came about because man brought together two species from distinct genera of plants from different regions that would otherwise never have met. The parent trees came from opposite ends of the Pacific coast of N. America - the resulting cross between a Monterey Cypress (Cupressus macrocarpa) from California and the Nootka or Alaska Cypress (Chamaecyparis nootkatensis). The original progenitors were growing close together in a tree collection in Park Wood, Leighton Hall near Welshpool, in Powys.

The hybrid was named after Christopher John Naylor (1849-1926), the eldest son of John Naylor (1813-1889) of Leighton Hall; Christopher John changed his surname to Leyland in 1891 on inheriting the Leyland Entailed Estates. 20 years later, a cross occurred at Leighton Estate when the cones of the Monterey Cypress were fertilised with pollen from the Nootka. The result of that cross was baptised "Leighton Green" in 1911 – when my house was already half a century old. As a hybrid, Leyland Cypress are sterile so all the trees in Australia have resulted from cuttings originating in Welshpool.

And these Leighton Greens are what I bought down at Parklea Markets this weekend, at $10 a tree – a pricey sum considering I need about 20 of the blighters to screen off the road from the house. Odd though it may sound, this is actually an environmentally sensitive way of reducing the quite horrific road noise: a thick bushy green barrier is much better than high brick wall. It looks better too.

However I can’t help feeling that I'm living life on the hedge, and the neighbours, when they see the cute, wee, little trees, are going to form a ravenous hoard with pitchforks, axes, and the obligatory chain saw.

Mind you, you can't run around with your head stuck in the sand sitting on the fence. And it may take a while – the plants I put in are all of 18 inches high.