Chamaecyparis lawsoniana
Lawson's cypress
Common names: Lawson's cypress tree
At a glance
- Light
- Full sun
- Hardiness
- Hardy
- Pruning
- Mar–Apr
Photo: jonleebotany · CC0 · Source
This description was machine-translated.
Description
The Lawson's cypress (Chamaecyparis lawsoniana) is an evergreen coniferous shrub prized in gardens for its dense hedge form. It has scale‑like, tightly appressed needles and can grow in conical to columnar shapes depending on the cultivar. Color varieties range from deep dark green to blue‑green and gold‑yellow, such as the ‘Ellwoodii’ cultivar. The plant prefers a moist, well‑drained soil and does not tolerate drought or waterlogging well. All parts contain essential oils that can cause gastrointestinal upset if ingested; keep children and pets away from the foliage.
Care instructions
Water the Lawson's cypress regularly during its first year to keep the shallow roots from drying out. For hedge maintenance, prune twice a year, mid‑May (week 20) and late August (week 35), cutting only into the green new growth, as old wood rarely regrows. Apply a layer of bark humus mulch to keep the soil moist in summer and slightly warmer in winter. Avoid waterlogging by ensuring a well‑drained substrate.
The care notes were machine-translated from German.
Soil & site
Soil pH
Soil type
well-drained, humus-rich, moist, sandy, lime-avoiding
Lawson cypress likes loose, free-draining soil without waterlogging that at the same time stays fresh and humus-rich, because it tolerates permanent dryness poorly. On heavy, compacted loam the roots rot quickly, so drainage of sand or grit helps at planting. The pH may be slightly acidic to neutral; it likes strongly chalky soils less.
Feeding
Light feeder
Months
Apr
Once in spring, a thin layer of mature compost around the root zone is quite enough. Avoid frequent feeding, because too many nutrients make the shoots soft and prone to frost. A mulch layer of bark humus keeps the moisture in and incidentally releases nutrients slowly.
Pruning
A light shaping cut in spring keeps Lawson cypress dense and in shape, best done shortly before new growth begins. Cut only into green wood, because it hardly regrows from old, bare wood. For hedges, a second, shorter cut in late summer is usually enough to keep the shape over the season.
Overwintering
Once established, Lawson cypress is hardy and needs no special protection in the garden. Young or freshly planted specimens appreciate a mulch layer over the root zone in their first winter. If grown in a container, you should insulate the pot against frost from below so the root ball does not freeze through.
Propagation
Methods
- Cuttings
- Grafting
The most reliable way to propagate it is by semi-ripe cuttings in late summer, which you insert into free-draining seed compost. Keep the substrate evenly moist and choose a bright but shaded spot until roots have formed, which can take a few weeks. Special cultivars with striking growth habit or needle colour are usually grafted, so that the characteristics of the mother plant are reliably preserved. Sowing is possible, but with cultivars it does not give offspring that come true to variety.
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