Chamaecyparis lawsoniana Columnaris - Lawson Cypress

Chamaecyparis lawsoniana 'Columnaris' is a beautiful variety of Lawson's cypress, sometimes called blue thuja, due to its narrow columnar habit and its superb evergreen foliage with a soft blue-grey colour. Its moderate size, fast growth rate, tolerance to light and repeated pruning, and its excellent screening power make it an excellent tree for a tall hedge. Elegant and refined, it is also suitable for planting in isolation in the garden. While not difficult to grow, this conifer appreciates sun and moist, fertile, deep and well-drained soils.

Lawson's 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 meters (98 feet 5 inches) in height, with a trunk approaching 1.2 meters (3 feet 11 inches) in diameter. Its habit is straight and conical, and its trailing 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 'Columnaris' variety is a very beautiful form of this species that will reach about 7 meters (23 feet) in height and 2 meters (6 feet 7 inches) in width in a few years if not pruned. From a young age, it exhibits a columnar habit, slender, narrow and very dense, supported by upright branches emerging from the base of the trunk. Its slender and flattened branches are densely covered with scale-like leaves, initially light blue, gradually turning grey over time, and eventually taking on a greener hue.

The Chamaecyparis lawsonia 'Columnaris' can be used as a hedge, planted in isolation, or in a grove in a large garden. It does not require pruning, but can tolerate light pruning. With a strong presence and a distinct personality, it is quite difficult to associate with other large shrubs, but it plays its role perfectly as a neutral-coloured screen at the back of shrub or perennial borders. The architectural qualities of conifers deserve to be invited more often into our gardens, as they provide a permanent structure. These plants are rather discreet plants and become prominent again in winter, when flowering has deserted our gardens.