Best pick for a privacy hedge

Q. We have leyland cypresses bordering our backyard for privacy, and before we had red tips. The leylands are now diseased just as the red tips 14 years ago. What would be a good fast-growing replacement?

A. Your best choice for a privacy hedge is the Nellie R. Stevens holly. I suspect a lot will be planted over the next year to replace leylands decimated by drought and disease. Nellie has been around a long time and proved its worth in the Southern landscape, even during the stressful years of the past decade.

Bred by a cross of Chinese and English hollies, Nellie has a number of important assets: moderate to rapid growth, tolerance of sun or part shade, and beautiful dark green foliage with bright red berries.

The mature height is 15 to 25 feet, but this holly is amenable to pruning. The width, 10 to 15 feet at maturity, means you can space these plants farther apart than your leylands. I would set them at least 10 feet apart.

Nellie bears only female flowers so a male holly is required to pollinate the flowers to get the red berries. If there is a male Chinese holly in the vicinity, it will do the job because it blooms at the same time. If you have no Chinese holly, include Edward J. Stevens in your assembly.

Other choices to consider are the fall-flowering Camellia sasanquas, which grow at a moderate pace to about 10 feet and dwarf Burford Chinese holly, which reaches about 7 feet at a moderate pace.