Leylandii help

Hello,
I bought and planted 85 pot grown 90-100cm Golden Leylandii in September and they have slowly been turning brown over the winter, from top to bottom. There is no new growth and when I snap the leaves at the top they’re yellow inside, when I snap the ones at the bottom they’re green inside. We watered them every few days when first planted but over winter they were only watered a few times. Has anyone got any advice how I can stop them dying?
Just to add: we live in the country and have no neighbours and it was planted at the bottom of the garden to hide a road.

 

Until I read your last sentence I was thinking it was a blessing but I can understand the need to shield from the road.

Has all of the row died ? Was anything growing there before you planted the hedge ?

I'd dig one of the crispy plants up and have a look at the roots - see if they started to grow away from the root ball.

Cant offer any real help as I've not grown leylandii. Id be looking for clues as to why the hedge is dying.

 

Just to add, too little water is the most common cause, but its the same symptoms if sat in boggy soil for too long.
If too dry, put a dustbin a couple of feet from each tree, fill with water and kick it over, then do it again tomorrow, with a high nitrogen feed.
If the ground is too wet, keep your fingers crossed.
As @andrews said, you can check to make sure the roots have started to grow out, if when you dig them up, its easy to lift them, and the rootball is still the shape of the pot, then you planted trees that were pot bound, and did not tease the roots out enough before planting.

 

Thanks, I’ll dig one up and have a look, all 80 Golden Leylandii are all exactly the same, the 5 green Leylandii seem to be fine with no browning? They were all bought from the same garden centre, all pot grown.

 

Hi @Katie.mac if all the golden leylandii have died, would it be worth considering a mixed country hedge since you live in the country? A mix of hawthorn, blackthorn, bullace, spindle, holly etc would give an interesting view. Leylandii becomes a bit of an ogre and you have to control it very tightly. Whereas the plants I suggested tend to look fine even if not pruned very often.

 

Have they died though? Or do they need more or less water? Or fertiliser? Or can I do anything to help them? After spending £850 on them in September I don’t really want to dig all 85 up and replace them

 

If you do as @andrews and @Cuttings suggest, sample trees from far apart. If they both show no new roots, then also inspect the soil. Is it soggy? Do other things grow well nearby? You need to know what caused the problems - were you just unlucky with our very wet winter?