Illustration
Leyland Cypress
Cupressus × leylandii
Leyland Cypress is grown for its foliage rather than flowers, giving the garden structure and color all season long.
Months here are Northern Hemisphere months; in the Southern Hemisphere, shift them by six months.
Growing Leyland Cypress
Plant it in full sun. It prefers moderate water. It is hardy in USDA zones 6–10. Expect it to reach about 50 ft tall and 17 ft wide at maturity, in roughly 15 years (checked).
Is Leyland Cypress toxic to dogs?
- Listed as toxic to dogs by Royal Horticultural Society.
- Not yet checked for cats.
Lists differ and none is complete. If a pet eats a plant and seems unwell, call a veterinarian or a pet poison helpline.
What was checked
Nine facts were checked against named botanical sources, each recorded beside the sources that carried it: mature height and spread, hardiness zones, sun, water, bloom months and color, the trait tags, and years to mature size, which rests on a recorded house rule where no publisher states one and is marked so. Soil, diseases, pests, toxicity and the plant's own names have not yet been read for this plant, and its trait tags are the ones a feature uses rather than every word a page prints. Each fact above carries its own mark. The planting, spacing and size sections are derived from these checked facts by a fixed rule, not checked separately, and the plant type is the library's own classification.
When to plant Leyland Cypress
Plant Leyland Cypress in spring once the soil is workable, or by very early fall at the latest: an evergreen needs its roots down well before the ground freezes. In zone 8, the middle of its hardy zones 6 to 10, that is February to April, or September on the fall side.
Month-by-month timing for your zone is on the planting calendar; if you garden near zone 8, the middle of this plant's hardy range, start with zone 8 in February. Derived from the plant's category, zones and bloom months plus typical zone frost dates, not checked separately.
How big does Leyland Cypress get?
50 fttall5 ft 7 inan adult17 ftwideSee Leyland Cypress in a garden plan: the planner shows it in 3D beside everything else you add, growing toward this size over the years.
How far apart to plant Leyland Cypress
Derived from the mature spread above by a fixed rule, not checked separately: spacing is the spread, center to center.
Give Leyland Cypress about 17 ft of clear ground in every direction, measured from its center. It is one plant with room around it, not a row, and a raised bed is too small for it.
Add Leyland Cypress to a garden plan and the planner draws it at its full width, so you see the spacing before you buy.
Where these facts come from
Leyland Cypress' height, spread, hardiness zones, sun, water, years to mature size and trait tags were checked against 8 published sources on October 19, 2026. Each one is linked below with every fact it carried, which can include a fact this page still marks as not yet checked, because a source carrying a value is not the same as the value being held to the standard. Facts not in that list, and the planting, spacing and size sections, are not covered by these sources. Bloom was checked as well: Leyland Cypress bears no flowers, so there is no bloom window for a source to carry.
- Missouri Botanical Gardenheight, spread, hardiness zones, sun, water and trait tags
- NC State ExtensionPlant Toolboxheight, spread, hardiness zones, sun, water and years to mature size
- Plant Addictsheight, spread, hardiness zones, sun and water
- University of Florida IFASExtensionheight, spread, hardiness zones, water and trait tags
- shop.arborday.orgArbor Day Foundationheight, spread, hardiness zones and sun
- checkout.trees.comTrees.com (formerly FastGrowingTrees.com)height, spread and hardiness zones
- content.ces.ncsu.eduNC State Extension, Christmas Tree Notesheight, hardiness zones and sun
- RHSRoyal Horticultural Societyheight
How the checking works, and what each standard covers, is on the verified plants page.
Featured in these guides
Explore similar plants
You might also like
Foliage
Foliage
Foliage
Foliage
Foliage
FoliageDesign a garden with this
Drop this plant onto a 3D plan, see how it fills in, and watch your whole garden bloom across the year.