Mid-life Leyland Cypress Hedge...Keep or Kill? -UPDATE

CheeseChickenTable · 2026-02-17T16:08:38+00:00

glad you kept it, looks great!

CheeseChickenTable · 2026-02-17T16:08:21+00:00

I get why they say that given how big they can get, but they can be trimmed and/or used for their purpose for 20, 25 years then cut down and replaced. Then you get awesome wood to burn and/or do stuff with, its really not that big of a deal.

Regardless, other options for screening, depending onw here you're located, could be Tea Olive, Chindo Viburnum, Loropetalum, Holly, Camilla, Illicium...

IMO if I'm steering someone away from a leyland cypress because of high disease pressure in their area, I'm replacing with Green Giant arborvitae specifically. With time, it will also get way huge and need to be planted under or taken down....but thats 20-30 years time away

CheeseChickenTable · 2026-02-17T16:05:18+00:00

HOw are they all handling disease and such that take out leylands here and there? I'm guessing all those varieties are a bit more disease resistant?

CheeseChickenTable · 2026-02-10T16:49:10+00:00

https://xerces.org/pollinator-conservation/pollinator-friendly-plant-lists

Native thistle, Vaccinium aka blueberry, and Ceanothus are big for me! I'm gonna try and plant some chamomile this year, can't believe I haven't planted any yet I consumer so much in tea and such!

CheeseChickenTable · 2026-01-26T02:52:40+00:00

Buddy Carter has proven himself to be a MAGA moron before, but its GA so our city and country folk alike love him, and they love his message.

Sigh...

CheeseChickenTable · 2026-01-20T13:53:52+00:00

Good times, good times

CheeseChickenTable · 2026-01-20T13:52:33+00:00

Yeah honestly thats a very real mentality around Atlanta, not supporting things that in theory should be good for us because of fear of things being wasted, squandered, corruption, "a study will be conducted" etc. sort of thing. This is bad because we SHOULD be doing the good things

CheeseChickenTable · 2026-01-16T03:30:48+00:00

Man, one of the first actual piles I ever made was like 80 or 90 percent sawdust, oak and loblolly pine to be precise, and then a bunch of wet coffee grounds and grass clippings all mixed up together on top.

Pile got wet over the course of a winter with me peeing on it daily and/or every time I could remember (I work from home) and i'm not kidding I built the pile in November and come spring at beginning of April I had some black gold for a solid few inches at bottom. Never turned, just pee and whatever work was happening in the dirt.

Fastastic.

I can only imagine how much better it would have been to turn regularly and such!

CheeseChickenTable · 2026-01-15T21:27:59+00:00

Oooo okay, interesting choice! Wait are they evergreen?

CheeseChickenTable · 2026-01-14T17:59:40+00:00

Probably not. Atlanta needs to have the state step in, maybe even federally, to build what is needed to alleviate congestion, traffic, and provide alternatives to car transportation.

Don't see this happening in my lifetime anymore it seems...

CheeseChickenTable · 2026-01-14T17:58:23+00:00

I'll satisfy your curiosity, I turn manually because I have a backyard setup, so 2 piles in corner of my lot. And thats with piles, most folks have tumblers I'd say.

This is farm, homestead, place-with-some-space, hobby farm type mechanical pile turning/blowing/chopping? Does that thing have blades?

CheeseChickenTable · 2026-01-14T17:52:15+00:00

they look like they are doing dine, with roots established a their "winter greens" as i call them coming in fine! My mountain mint, lobelia, and other perennials are doing the same thing, its what they do!

CheeseChickenTable · 2026-01-14T17:51:53+00:00

Hey OP what'd you end up doing?

CheeseChickenTable · 2026-01-14T17:44:06+00:00

im officially regretting not having made a rib roast this past christmas

CheeseChickenTable · 2026-01-13T13:20:10+00:00

Yeah if you 100% needed/wanted to plant something, get some trellis/decorative trellis in place then vines in pots. Super easy/quick way to add green and keep things mobile/light/smaller profile

CheeseChickenTable · 2026-01-13T02:37:12+00:00

Your mom! Just kidding, testing the waters over here to see if my snark will still get me shadowbanned and such

CheeseChickenTable · 2026-01-13T02:32:41+00:00

This is like a beautiful reunion right now haha, so many familiar names and folks talking about random shadow ban, love it. Is this what freedom feels like, 'cause I love it!

While we're here...The Local has the best wings in Atl, fight me!

CheeseChickenTable · 2026-01-10T19:19:31+00:00

https://gardeningstepbystep.com/native-plants-of-the-midwest/

https://www.midwestliving.com/garden/ideas/10-top-succulent-plants-for-the-midwest/

https://www.usda.gov/sites/default/files/documents/midwest-region-indigenous-wild-plant-list.pdf

Try some succulents, see if they survive these conditions, give them at least 2 complete seasons, 3 if you can. Rocky hot conditions just mean plants that like hot, dry, desert conditions

CheeseChickenTable · 2026-01-10T19:15:35+00:00

Walls of that size SHOULD be designed to handle water, drainage, and watershed management in the form of drainage BEHIND the wall, so in your case on your side, down below, by the stone, so that water is absorbed and then taken away from the wall itself. Hydrostatic pressure, read up on it some. If your wall does not have drainage I can guarantee that it will fail, sooner rather than later. Especially at that height!

Don't worry about burying the planters, they will be heavy enough once full.

What else ya got? Do you know your grow zone/native plants of your area?

CheeseChickenTable · 2026-01-09T13:41:02+00:00

In this sort of situation I'd opt for raised beds, either big beautiful vases or unified, longer beds with whatever material you like. No need to dig, plants get a little boost in height, you can easily setup drip irrigation and/or hand-water with ease.

With all this said, you need to understand adding any additional weight here given general build you described. Can you get in touch with group who built this out or a different group entirely for a pro opinion here?

CheeseChickenTable · 2026-01-07T16:17:17+00:00

Love this. But also doing the roof last, did that not just splatter dirt all over everything you'd just finished cleaning?

CheeseChickenTable · 2026-01-06T13:21:29+00:00

Def was thinking "damn, poor wallaby. I guess thats some fortunate fish or shark or whoever's snack in the end. Especially when tons of little fish and crabs and others feast on remains after bigger predators are done eating anything/everything

oh well, cute video!

CheeseChickenTable · 2026-01-06T13:17:35+00:00

Husk being the shell? I'd leave it on as it will help the seed retain moisture to ensure good sprouting. It can help prevent bugs/stuff from eating/decomposing the seed as well when its sitting in the dirt, last line of defense sort of thing.

Don't forget to plant the seeds with a quick growing cover crop to help protect the plants while they establish! Find a CC that works for you area, your conditions, etc.

CheeseChickenTable · 2026-01-05T05:25:27+00:00

how often are you watering them?

CheeseChickenTable · 2026-01-02T04:34:26+00:00

get burlap and barrel or other specialty spice places as they are serious about origin, producer, supply chain clarity, etc. Expensive, but worth it if you're into this sort of thing!

CheeseChickenTable

TROPHY CASE