Episode 100 – Gardentopia

One of the most important elements of creating a garden escape is a sense of enclosure – using plants and/or structures to make areas more private. A garden needs vistas, for sure, whether they are epic or modest, but it needs enclosure and privacy just as much. It’s the combination of these two types of spaces that create the experience and lead you through the garden, and it’s central to the concept of “garden rooms,” which I think is one of the easiest ways to approach designing a garden.

Whether you are planting a privacy hedge, screening off a less than desirable view, or enclosing a garden room, the classic choice for many of us, especially in cooler climates, has always been arborvitae like Green Giant or Emerald Green. And those are great plants: lush evergreen foliage, a delicious fragrance from the foliage, and overall quite easy to grow and fast growing enough that you won’t spend your entire life waiting for them to grow in and provide that privacy or enclosure.

But for all their great qualities, arborvitae have two main liabilities: one, they are relished by deer so aren’t even a remote possibility for those of us who struggle with deer in our yards, and two, they’re not usually especially heat tolerant. If either – or both – of those issues apply to you, we’re happy to introduce you to an alternative: Cedar Rapids chamaecyparis, aka false cypress.

False cypress plants are actually pretty common out there in the real world. They’re sometimes referred to generally as Hinoki cypress, though this refers to a specific species, Chamaecyparis obtusa, an evergreen with distinctive fans of foliage that make the whole plant look like it came from a coral reef rather than a Japanese forest. This type is slow-growing, though, and best used as a specimen – as such, false cypress doesn’t usually come to mind as a hedging option. Cedar Rapids false cypress changes that. It’s a selection of Chamaecyparis pisifera, also known as Sawara false cypress (sensing a theme here? Most of the chamaecyparis we grow in our gardens are indeed native to Japan, where they have been selecting them for unique foliage and growth habits for centuries. That said, we do have native chamaecyparis here in the US, they just aren’t widely available or used for landscaping). That scientific name, pisifera, is from the Latin for “pea-bearing,” describing the small cones it bears – though it isn’t remotely related to peas.

Cedar Rapids false cypress is a large evergreen, reaching 30’ tall and 12-15’ wide – so, it’s a big plant, but that narrower base means it takes up less ground space than others. It naturally grows with a lush, dense, pyramidal habit. The branchlets naturally grow with this beautiful flat feathery shape and they aren’t prickly at all. However, chamaecyparis in general are very deer resistant. They’re also tolerant of a wide range of light conditions, from full to part sun, though I wouldn’t recommend them for shade, particularly if coverage is a consideration, as they will be sparse and open if there’s too little light. They aren’t especially finicky about soil, though well-drained so is preferred. They are fairly drought tolerant once they are established. Ideal planted as a hedge or specimen, or group them together to screen off an air conditioner or other unsightly view.

If you’d like to add Cedar Rapids false cypress – or any of the 320+ Proven Winners ColorChoice Shrubs – to your garden or landscape, you’ll find a list of local retailers here.