Chamaecyparis lawsoniana Elwoodii - Lawson Cypress

Chamaecyparis lawsoniana 'Elwoodii' is a beautiful variety of Lawson false cypress with a narrow, upright, compact, and regular habit. Its evergreen foliage is a lovely bluish green with grey highlights. Its moderate, rather slow growth, its tolerance to light and repeated pruning, and its excellent screening power make it a perfect hedge tree. Elegant and refined, it is also suitable for planting as a specimen in the garden. While not difficult to grow, this conifer appreciates the sun and cool, fertile, deep, but well-drained soil.

The Lawson Cypress, sometimes called false cypress, is a majestic conifer from the Cupressaceae family native to the moist coastal forests of the northwest United States. In its natural environment, it often reaches over 30 m (98.4 ft) in height, with a trunk approaching 1.2 m (3.9 ft) in diameter. Its habit is straight and conical, and its drooping branches form soft curtains adorned with fairly dark, bluish-green foliage. It has given rise to numerous cultivars, among which there is a wide choice of plants of more modest stature, better suited to the size of our gardens.

The 'Elwoodii' variety is a very beautiful form of this species that will not exceed 3 m (9.8 ft) in height and 1.5 m (4.9 ft) in spread. From a young age, it exhibits a narrow, conical habit that is both slender and very dense, supported by upright branches that emerge from the base of the trunk. Its slender, flattened branches are densely covered with scale-like leaves, initially light blue and gradually taking on grey highlights and eventually a greener hue.

Chamaecyparis lawsoniana 'Elwoodii' is used as a hedge, as a standalone specimen, or planted in a grove in a medium to large garden. It does not require pruning, but can tolerate light pruning. It is quite difficult to plant with other large shrubs but it works perfectly as a neutral-coloured backdrop to shrub or perennial beds. The visual qualities of conifers deserve to be invited more often into our gardens, where they provide a permanent structure. While their presence is rather subtle in summer, they assert themselves in winter, when flowering has deserted our gardens.