Italian Cypress Trees For Narrow Land Strip
Question from Nolanda:
1. I reside in Pasadena, CA. I have read alot of problems, mostly dust mites, killing italian cypresses after 3 yrs despite professional care & spraying. 2. Is the italian cypress too difficult to thrive in the CA valley now? 3.My alternate tree is the Skyrocket juniper due to its height, being taller than the Spartan juniper. 4. Which juniper do you prefer? 5. My land strip, full sun, is between a low retaiing wall and my garage. 6. Of course, I want the hardiest & fastest growing. My new neighbor is tragically cutting down all the mature & healthy boundary trees.
Answer from Pat:
Sorry about the loss of the trees next door!
I am very fond of Italian cypress (Cupressus sempervirens ‘Stricta’ , C. s.’Fastiigiata’). I know some people don’t like them, but I love the look of them and their atmospheric quality pleases me. They remind me of Italy, and fit in with the Mediterranean garden style. I have three in my own garden and have pruned off the lower branches so they look like the trees in Renaissance paintings. (But if this look is desired it should never be done until the trees are at least 10 or 15 feet tall.)
Italian cypress need good drainage. In general, since these trees are drought-resistant, deep infrequent watering is preferable to frequent and shallow watering. However, if you want them to grow fast you will need to fertilize and water for rapid growth. In heavy clay soil Italian cypress can die from root rot, so in this case they are not a good choice. Canker diseases have also been a problem in recent years and there is said to be no cure, but good health can help trees throw off problems. It used to be said that the best time to fertilize is in March, but those rules were for synthetic fertilizers. When fertilizing with organic fertilizers, earlier is better since it takes time for them to work. For example, applications of manure in fall before the rains are good, or apply adequate quantities of commercial organic fertilizer in late January and water in. Grow Power is not fully organic but plants thrive on it. If you choose that, I would apply it in mid-February.
Also, mulch the trees. Organic fertilizers and beneficial insects can help Italian cypress withstand attacks of spider mites. People who grow roses organically for example have no spider mites on their roses. My Italian cypress do not suffer from spider mites but I live near the coast so hot dry weather is not a problem. Cypress trees in the Hollywood hills are looking okay also. Strangely enough the smoke from last year’s fires probably smoked the trees in the hills and did them some good since they all got a big dose of carbon, and doubtless the smoke killed some of the pests also. Additionally flowering trees and plants doubtless benefitted from the ethylene gas in the smoke. (Nice to know that a fire that does so much harm also brings about some good.) When my town was filled with smoke for a whole week a couple of years ago, the growth and health of our trees and the number of flowers on flowering shrubs and trees were extraordinary for a whole year thereafter.
Though the problems with pests and diseases mentioned above have afflicted Italian cypress in recent years, I believe that good cultural practices (also explained above) can keep these problems under control so if these are the trees you love, why not have them? Other columnar type trees for a rapidly growing screen include several varieties of podocarpus, and as you suggested, junipers. You might not like x Cupressocyparis leylandii, but I’ve seen it growing in a narrow side yard and pruned to fit. (Their gardener did this job at regular intervals for 50 years.) It’s hard to choose between ‘Spartan’ and ‘Skyrocket’ junipers. I like the color of ‘Spartan’ Juniper better than ‘Skyrocket’, but ‘Skyrocket’ is a little faster growing, I think and it’s very narrow with the reputation of fitting into a narrow side yard with little problem. Monrovia Nursery grows both these varieties. ‘Spartan’ might be better adapted to growing in California since it’s said to grow even in Zone 10. Is there any chance you can view these varieties growing in a landscape near you? That is often a good way to make a choice.
Thanks for the tips & info. Unfortunately, none of my neighbors are growing any new italain cypresses, and the ones lucky to have mature ones spray them. They are growing Thuja giants and other large junipers but not the 2 types I’m interested in ( I have done so much research I can ID all the plants now). I am the only one stuck with a crazy “tree cutting” neighbor which is why I cannot even grow a narrow tree – she’ll cut off anything growing on her side. She has replaced her entire large yard with ugly concrete. I’ll check out Monrovia nursery – they do have lovely photos on their website.
Deep sympathy on having a neighbor who plants concrete instead of trees and flowers. I think you had better plant the narrow ‘Skyrocket’ juniper cultivar in that case. Best of luck! (With Italian cypress, however, you could put in tall ones and have a screen right away.)
Another idea: Have you considered planting bamboo? Since your neighbor is installing concrete, it wouldn’t invade and it certainly could make a fast, dense, leafy screen.
What does a canker look like on an Italian cypress tree? I have several on one tree that are almost round and rough. Any help would be appreciated.
Canker on Italian cypress tree is similar to the appearance of canker on any other species of cypress. Cracks in the bark or wounds become infected with spores of the fungus that causes cypress canker and then these cracks ooze sap. Dark sunken cancers, like cracks are found on branches. Resin flows copiously from these sunken areas. Small black spots may be found on some of these cankers. Entire branches or portions of branches wilt and die back. In severe cases sunken, oozing areas appear on the trunk of the tree. If the cankers girdle the tree, then the whole tree dies and should be removed as soon as possible so it doesn’t infect other trees.
There is no known cure for canker disease. Cut out infected branches or portions of branches, dipping tools in alcohol between cuts. Do all you can to improve the health of the tree. Spraying cankers with a natural fungicide like Serenade® might help but I don’t know that for a fact. Increasing the health of a tree can help the trees to throw off canker. I have several Monterey cypress trees (Cupressus macrocarpa) on my property and they have been able to withstand attacks for years because I keep them clean and they make enough sap to ward off beetles and canker. Cleaning out an Italian cypress is not an option, however, because of their shape. I also have several of these and luckily they have not succumbed to canker. Smoke from the wildfires actually helped many trees in my area because it fed them and the robust health they gained helped them toss of beetles and canker.
Round rough growths on cypress trees are not a sign of canker disease. If rough round growths occur on the bark of the trunk of a cypress tree, these likely are immature, undeveloped seed pods that grew in the early life of the tree at the base of a young branch and developed on the trunk of a tree after the branch was gone. They result from stress in the early life of a cypress tree and sometimes persist on the bark of the mature tree where there was once a knot hole (base of branch, now covered over with mature bark.) If these round shapes occur on branches, they are just the cones of the cypress. If there is a whole line of cypress trees and one tree has many more cones than any other in the row this is a sign the tree is under some kind of stress, perhaps lack of water, perhaps some damage to roots. When conifers fear they are going to die they grow an inordinate number of cones.They put all their energy into making cones and seeds in order to assure survival of the species. But Italian cypress always bear quite a lot of cones. If too many, their weight sometimes pulls the branch away from the rest of the foliage and should be wired back in. I have seen some large Italian cypress pruned so that the entire exterior is smooth and even, but this was in a very expensively maintained landscape. Usually all that is necessary is to tie or wire the branch back in place. Clipping off the heavy cones can help, but the tree might simply replace them.