Cypresses and false cypresses

Best-known cypress

The best-known cypress is the fast-growing Leyland cypress (× Cupressocyparis leylandii), a cross between Cupressus macrocarpa and Chamaecyparis nootkatensis, can easily grow at a metre a year and can form a dense hedge which needs to be pruned several times a year. The golden ‘Castlewellan Gold’ grows even faster than the basic green form.

Other cypresses

What we think of as a ‘real’ cypress is the Mediterranean cypress (Cupressus sempervirens) with its green columns that can extend up to fifty metres high. Also species from America like the ‘cedar of Goa’ (Cupressus lusitanica) – (neither a cedar nor from Goa, but originates from Mexico). The scented Bhutan cypress (Cupressus torulosa) from the Himalayas.

The incense cedar (Calocedrus decurrens) has a very strong scent and grows in a very narrow column. The false cypresses (Chamaecyparis) are scaled types. Best-known is C. lawsoniana, the Lawson cypress, an important source of wood in the west of North America, but is also widely used as a fast-growing hedging plant. The male flowers are an eye-catching red.

Sawara cypress (C. pisifera) with pendulous branches with golden foliage and a host of attractive cultivars.The heavily-scented nootka cypress (C. nootkatensis), of which the cultivar ‘Pendula’ has yellow-green foliage.

There are also cultivars which are suitable for use in a pot on the patio or balcony: Chamaecyparis lawsoniana ‘Gnome’, ‘Ellwood’s Pillar’ and ‘Minima Aurea’, Chamaecyapris obtusa ‘Nana’ and ‘Nana Lutea’, Chamaecyparis pisifera ‘Nana’ and ‘Nana Aureovariegata’. And there are cultivars which are suitable for hedges: (see Hedging List)