Plant Library

Other Names:  Japanese Falsecypress, Sawara Falsecypress

Description:

A conical shaped garden evergreen with soft and mossy, pale silver-gray foliage which turns bronze in fall; holds a globe shape without pruning; a great choice for adding texture to a garden, also used for bonsai; prefers humid environments

Ornamental Features

Curly Tops Moss Falsecypress is a dwarf conifer which is primarily valued in the landscape or garden for its ornamental upright and spreading habit of growth. It has attractive silvery blue evergreen foliage. The recurved scale-like sprays of foliage are highly ornamental and turn coppery-bronze in the fall, which persists throughout the winter.

Landscape Attributes

Curly Tops Moss Falsecypress is a dense multi-stemmed evergreen shrub with an upright spreading habit of growth. It lends an extremely fine and delicate texture to the landscape composition which can make it a great accent feature on this basis alone.

This is a relatively low maintenance shrub. When pruning is necessary, it is recommended to only trim back the new growth of the current season, other than to remove any dieback. It has no significant negative characteristics.

Curly Tops Moss Falsecypress is recommended for the following landscape applications;

• Accent
• Vertical Accent
• Hedges/Screening
• Rock/Alpine Gardens
• General Garden Use
• Container Planting

Planting & Growing

Curly Tops Moss Falsecypress will grow to be about 5 feet tall at maturity, with a spread of 5 feet. It tends to fill out right to the ground and therefore doesn't necessarily require facer plants in front, and is suitable for planting under power lines. It grows at a slow rate, and under ideal conditions can be expected to live for 60 years or more.

This shrub does best in full sun to partial shade. It prefers to grow in average to moist conditions, and shouldn't be allowed to dry out. It is not particular as to soil type, but has a definite preference for acidic soils. It is highly tolerant of urban pollution and will even thrive in inner city environments. Consider applying a thick mulch around the root zone in winter to protect it in exposed locations or colder microclimates. This is a selected variety of a species not originally from North America.

Curly Tops Moss Falsecypress makes a fine choice for the outdoor landscape, but it is also well-suited for use in outdoor pots and containers. With its upright habit of growth, it is best suited for use as a 'thriller' in the 'spiller-thriller-filler' container combination; plant it near the center of the pot, surrounded by smaller plants and those that spill over the edges. It is even sizeable enough that it can be grown alone in a suitable container. Note that when grown in a container, it may not perform exactly as indicated on the tag - this is to be expected. Also note that when growing plants in outdoor containers and baskets, they may require more frequent waterings than they would in the yard or garden.