Ooooo! Errrrr! Hope you dont have close neighbours as they will need a lot of looking after, we had a load and in the end they had to come down as they grow before our eyes and in the end they got too tall, you will have to keep up the cutting of them also they take goodness from the ground, glad I'm not a neighbour, sorry if I've put a damper on things for you but the thought of them made me shudder. :o((

Isn't there a new statutory limit on the hight of a leylandii hedge? I know that our council can demand that they are cut and fine the owner £1k if they fail do do so.

Is it 6ft? for the height they have to be kept at, I think if you have acres of land they make a good hedge but, if you have a normal size garden with neighbours, they are a no-no, sorry Supersuzy but they suck the moisture out the soil, your neighbours included! and not to mention the shade they cast. we had to dig out 4 of them in our garden, and yes, i planted them and regreted the day i did, i was a novice gardener then..

Did you see Hedge Wars on the box a few nights ago? They cause horrendous problems with neighbours and I personally think they should be banned altogether. Hateful things. There is no statutory height but you can be made to lop them by the council. Only trouble is it costs about £500 to get the council to write to the offender and they only need to lop about 1 foot off and thats it!! There was a specialist from Bedgbury Pinetum talking about them and nobody knows how high they can grow - he said 200 ft or more.

I think a much better choice would be Yew - this is the classic hedge you see with archways cut into it. Leylandii get out of hand so quickly, and unless you cut them every 2 years, you'll end up with 130 feet trees with what looks like an unimpressive, miniscule archway in comparison. Not to mention they tend to develop bare trunks at the base if not kept topped and pruned frequently.
I have no idea how to achieve an archway though - I'd be inclined to talk to Bedgebury, they are sometimes quite helpful, sometimes not, depends who you talk to. Or research via Google, or contact the RHS.

I clicked on your profile to have a look at the size of your garden but you dont have any photos there yet.

As another member said the word leylandii makes many gardeners shudder.

My advice would be to investigate alternatives. Your local garden centre will be happy to offer advice and let you see the plants

Yew, yew, yew... (Taxus baccata)

I have a very large garden and will not be planting them on the boundary between me and my neighbour. I intend to prune them twice a year and am looking to end up with a dense hedge to reduce noise and to regain privacy from my inconsiderate neighbours. I don't want them to be any more than 15 foot high. There will be no other plants around them and they will be planted in an existing large lawn. I need access to the other side as I intend to use it for a storage area. I agree that everyone flinches when you say leylandii but I will be looking after mine and expect to end up with a lovely well looked after hedge. I also live in a rural area which is full of very large trees and conifers so they will not look unusual in my area. I agree that they are not suitable for smaller gardens or if planted on boundaries.
Thank you for your comments and I will look at Bedgebury.

I'm still recommending Yew, specially now you've described how high you want the hedge to be. Check it out before you buy any plants, please.

I agree - you will never have a decent garden if you plant a leylandii hedge and the law now says it has to be kept to 2 meters which means trimming it 2-3 times per year and it will suck all the moisture and goodness from your garden.
Also when the bottom dies off as it does it doesnot grow back.

I have looked at yew and agree that yew would be a great alternative but would take years to grow to the height required or if bought fairly well grown now would cost much much more than leylandii. (I will be planting 22 metres in width and would like to start at about 1.5m in height). The law does not automatically require you to keep them at 2metres especially if they are in your own garden at least 2 metres from any boundary which these will be.

If anyone has any other faster growing alternatives I'd be happy to consider them :)

You're absolutely correct re the 2 metre height rule. I'd advise that you're probably being over optimistic in thinking that cutting twice a year will be sufficient to keep them at 15 feet, but its your choice, of course.

Ha! On your head be it, look forward from hearing the out come in years to come.
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!! Keep it pruned :)

lol, Thank you all, I'll let you all know what I decide on. Am looking at other options!! Cherry laurel or western red cedar, yew will not grow quick enough for me. Also considering golden leylandii - not quite as fast growing but still big!

I did plant 20 hornbeam in another area of the garden but they don't cover enough and some of them are in a wind tunnel so there are no brown leaves left by the end of the year!! Should have planted 40 of them. Lesson learned. I might just plant another line of smaller plants and wait until they reach the height of the others. My neighbour loves them and they are about 12 foot high.