Cypress Elwoodi

Coniferous crops are especially popular. Most of them do not lose their decorative effect in winter, have phytoncidal properties and improve the physical and psychological state of a person by their mere presence on the site. Among the conifers there are frost-resistant northern plants and gentle southerners. Home care for Elwoodi cypress, a native of California and Oregon, cannot be called simple. The plant is poorly adapted to life in a harsh climate, but if you try hard, you can grow it in Our Country.

Description of the cypress tree Lawsona Elwoodi

Lawson’s or Lawson’s cypress (Chamaecýparis lawsoniána) is an evergreen gymnosperm (coniferous) tree, a species from the genus Cypress, belonging to the Cypress family. The culture has survived in nature only in northwestern California and southwestern Oregon, where it grows at an altitude of 1500 m in coastal mountain valleys. In the rest of North America, Lawson’s cypress was destroyed due to total deforestation. Its wood is not subject to rotting, light and fragrant, yellowish in color.

Lawson’s species cypress looks attractive, but grows very large. To date, several compact varieties have been bred. One of the most popular in Our Country is the Lavson Elwoodi cypress, grown as a houseplant and in the open field.

The variety appeared in 1920, first described after 9 years. It was grown from the seed of Lawson’s cypress in Swanpark, UK.

Elwoodi is an evergreen, upright tree whose appearance differs between young and adult. At first, the plant forms a dense crown in the shape of a cone with vertical branches tightly pressed against each other. Thin pinnate needles of a bluish-green color, evenly colored, hard, needle-like.

When Elwoodi cypress grows up, the crown becomes loose, wide, without losing its conical shape. The ends of the shoots and the top hang. The scales on the needles become softer, the coloring becomes uneven. In the depths of the plant, green colors predominate, on the periphery – bluish, with a steel sheen. Lateral shoots on vertical branches of an adult tree sometimes grow parallel to the ground. They can even lay down on the ground, if you do not expose the lower part with pruning.

Often Elwoodi cypress grows in several trunks, which is why it forms 2-3 tops of different heights. This does not spoil the appearance of the plant, and the tree becomes like a bush. This is clearly seen in the photo of the cypress Lawson Elwoodi, who has reached three meters in height.

Elwoodi cypress is a monoecious plant, the tree has both male and female flowers that appear in spring. After pollination, round, scaly cones with a diameter of up to 1,2 cm are formed, greenish with a blue tint, ripening in one year.

The root system is superficial, well developed. The bark is reddish brown. With age, it cracks and delaminates into plates.

Frost resistance of cypress Lavson Elwoodi

The culture can grow without shelter in the climatic zone 6B, where the minimum winter temperature is in the range of -20,6-17,8⁰ C. But when planting Elwoodi cypress on the site, it must be taken into account that the young plant still needs protection for the first 3 years.

In other regions, the variety can tolerate warm winters well. But even a single drop in temperature below a critical point can destroy Elwoodi cypress. It should be noted that the needles suffer in winter and at temperatures that seem to be far from the critical mark. This comes from overdrying of the vegetative organs and sunburn, and not because of their freezing.

Cypress Elwoody White with creamy white tips has satisfactory frost resistance, not inferior to the original variety. But after winter, the light parts often turn brown. This is not a disease, just the white tips of the conifers are prone to freezing. To preserve the decorative effect, the affected parts are cut off in the spring.

In regions with a harsh climate, there are also warm winters. It happens that Elwoodi cypress grows on a site without shelter and problems for several seasons, and then suddenly dies. This development of events must be taken into account, and focus not on the expected weather forecast for the winter, but on climatic conditions. When the twenty-degree frost hits, it will be too late to cover the cypress.

Shelter for the winter cypress Elwoodi

Even in zone 6B, Elwoodi cypress must be covered if it grows in a windy area so that the plant does not die from drying out the needles. First, the crown is pulled together with twine or rope, then wrapped with lutrastil, agrofibre, white spandbond and tied. In this position, the needles will evaporate less moisture, which will somehow protect it from drying out. The white material reflects sunlight, and this will keep the Elwoodi cypress from overheating and damping out under cover if the temperature rises for a while.

The soil is covered with a layer of mulch with a thickness of at least 15 cm. The area of ​​​​soil coverage should be equal to the width of the Elwoodi cypress crown – this is how much space the root system occupies.

The dimensions of the cypress Lawson Elwoodi

Lawson’s cypress in the wild lives 600 years or more, grows up to 70 m, the trunk diameter can be 1,8 m. It is because of its gigantic size that the tree has not become widespread in culture. But the Lavson Elwoodi cypress variety, whose plant height does not reach more than 3,5 m, is often used in landscape design, especially in countries with a mild climate.

This tree develops very slowly. At the age of 10 years, the height of Elwoodi cypress is only 1,0-1,5 m. Often even a mature plant does not exceed 2 meters. The width of the crown is 0,6-1,2 m. To make the Elwoodi cypress more attractive, several cuttings are often planted close to each other. Then it becomes like a large bush, growing into several trunks and forming 2-3 peaks. The crown becomes thicker, and its width is greater.

Of course, Elwoodi cypress looks beautiful, but requires careful care. There are few branches inside the “bush”, but they still grow. Without access to sunlight, the shoots dry out over time, if they are not cleaned and cut, over time, spider mites and other pests will settle there. And it is difficult to remove small insects from conifers. So sanitary pruning and cleaning will have to be done several times per season.

Cypress Elwoodi can be grown as a houseplant. Indoors, it will reach a more modest size than on the street – 1-1,5 m.

Varieties of cypress Lawson Elwoodi

There are several forms of the Elwoodi cypress variety, differing in the size of the tree and the color of the needles. All of them can be grown outdoors and as a houseplant.

Lawson Cypress Elwoody Empire

The description of Lawson’s cypress Elwoody Empire differs from the original form primarily in compressed, compact needles and dense short branches raised up. It grows a little lower, even under the most favorable conditions it reaches no more than 3 m. The green cypress needles of this variety have not a blue, but a blue tint.

Grown in landscape groups as a hedgerow or single focal plant.

Lawson Cypress Elwoody Gold

This form of cypress is characterized by a compact size – no higher than 2,5 m, and golden needles. The growth of the current year is distinguished by a particularly bright color; with age, the color fades. Therefore, it seems that light green rhombuses are decorated with a gold border.

Cypress variety Elwoody Gold requires planting in a place more open to the sun than the original form. With a lack of light, the yellow color fades, and disappears altogether in a deaf shade.

Lawson Cypress Elwoody White

This form is even more compact in size than the original. Cypress tall Elwoody White (Snow White) at the age of 20 years – only 1 meter, width – 80 cm. The crown is compact, the shoots are erect, dense, but not as much as that of the Empire variety.

The needles are gray-green, at the tips – cream, as if touched by frost. This cypress requires planting in a bright place or light partial shade, otherwise the variegated vegetative organs will become monotonous. The variety is suitable for open ground, growing in containers outdoors and as a houseplant.

Cypress Elwoodi Pilar

Another compact variety of cypress, however, not as miniature as the previous one. Elwoodi Pilar reaches its maximum size at the age of 20 years, when its height is 100-150 cm. At 10 years old, the cypress tree grows to 70-80 cm. The crown is narrow, columnar, the shoots are straight, the needles of adult plants are blue-green, in young ones – bluish.

Planting Lawson Elwood Cypress

If you carefully choose a landing site for Elwoodi cypress, care will be easier. Before placing it on the site, you need to find out in what conditions the culture prefers to grow in order to recreate them with maximum accuracy.

Cypress requirements for growing conditions

This variety is generally quite shade-tolerant, but with a strong lack of sunlight, the needles lose their additional color and become just green. The greatest requirements for lighting are presented by the varieties Gold and Snow White.

It’s just not worth planting Elwoodi cypress in direct sunlight in the southern regions – this will dry out the needles already suffering from a lack of moisture in the air. It is enough that the tree is well lit for 6 hours a day, preferably in the morning.

The soil under Elwoodi cypress should be loose, moderately fertile, acidic. Humus and sand are added to the soil before planting, if necessary. To increase the acidity, riding (red) peat is used. Its structure is fibrous, it not only brings the pH of the soil in accordance with the requirements of the cypress, but also increases its permeability.

If there is a fountain or a pond on the site, the tree is planted as close as possible to them, since the air humidity there is higher than in other places.

Elwoodi cypress should not be grown on soils that are blocked or where groundwater comes close to the surface. Despite the increased requirements for moisture and spreading in breadth, and not deep into the root system, cypress may die.

The choice of seedlings or why cypress does not take root

Seedlings brought from local nurseries take root well – they are better adapted than Polish or Dutch ones. An additional danger for cypress is that it does not tolerate overdrying of the root system. From abroad, seedlings come in containers filled with peat.

Before the cypress trees reach their destination, there may be delays in transit or at customs. There is no guarantee that they will be watered, especially if small conifers are tightly stacked on racks and covered with foil. This, of course, increases the humidity of the air and reduces the evaporation of moisture, but not to infinity. And in retail chains, an earthen room of cypress will definitely be watered, and it will be difficult to notice overdrying.

Ephedra may die, but does not change color for several months. Inexperienced gardeners will not even understand when buying that the plant is already dead. That is why, most often, small cypress trees, bought as a Christmas tree, do not take root after landing on the site.

With age, when the prickly needle needles become soft scaly, it is much easier to notice overdrying. It is necessary to pay attention to the turgor and the condition of the rhombic plates. But the price of grown cypress trees is much higher than small ones.

Planting Elwood cypress

It is best to plant Elwoodi cypress in spring in all regions except the southern ones. In the warm climate of zones 6 and 7, the culture is placed on the site as soon as the heat subsides, so that the plant has time to take root before frost. You should not wait for low temperatures, as when planting other conifers. It is enough for 20⁰С to be established and the activity of the sun to fall.

A pit for Elwoodi cypress should be prepared in the fall, or at least 2 weeks before planting. It is made about 2 times more than the intended root. To calculate the size, you need to determine the age of the plant and find out the diameter of its crown. The same will be the size of the root system.

1. At the bottom, be sure to put a layer of broken bricks, gravel or crushed stone at least 20 cm thick, covered with sand.
2. Leaf humus, soddy soil, sand, sour peat and complex starter fertilizer for conifers are added to dense soils.
3. The pit is completely filled with water and allowed to soak.
4. A cypress tree is installed in the center, gradually covered with soil, carefully, but carefully tamping.
5. The root neck should be flush with the soil surface.
6. The cypress is watered abundantly, the trunk circle is mulched.

The first time after planting, the plant is sprayed daily, regularly moisten the soil, preventing it from drying out even once.

Elwoodi cypress care

It is important to care for Elwoodi cypress, observing all the requirements of the culture. In Europe and Asia, growing conditions differ from North American, and the plant is quite tender. If you treat the cypress tree without due attention, it will quickly lose its decorative effect. It will take several years to put the tree in order.

The culture can be grown as a houseplant. Caring for Elwoodi cypress at home is much easier than on the street. It needs to be watered regularly, not allowing even a one-time drying of an earthen coma, occasionally transplanted, fed with special fertilizers. The most difficult thing is to provide high humidity, especially in winter when the heaters are turned on. Cypress Elwoodi at home should be sprayed several times a day. But it is better to put a household air humidifier next to it.

Elwoodi cypress care in the garden

It is quite possible to grow a beautiful Elwoodi cypress in the Middle lane.

Watering and sprinkling

You need to water the tree regularly, avoiding the overdrying of the soil. This requirement is especially important for young plants, in which the needle needles did not have time to change into scaly ones, and in the first year after planting. Most often, mistakes are made when watering adult plants, which, it would seem, have already taken root well on the site.

In the Elwoodi variety and its forms, lateral shoots on erect branches often descend to the ground. It looks nice, but covers the trunk circle. In those areas where automatic watering is installed, over time, cypress may not get enough water, but the culture is moisture-loving.

Therefore, once a week (if there was no rain), you need to connect the hose, put it on the ground under a tree and leave it for 15-20 minutes. Then, if necessary, the hose is moved. The whole earthen lump should be well saturated. If the planting of the Elwoodi cypress is carried out correctly, and there is a drainage layer below, the roots are not threatened with jamming.

Coniferous crops need sprinkling in summer. Elwoodi cypress, which requires high air humidity, is thoroughly doused with water from a hose at least twice a week, spraying a jet. This is best done after the sun has stopped illuminating the tree, but only if there is no foreseeable difference between day and night temperatures.

Sprinkling is designed not only to increase humidity, but also serves as a prevention against spider mites, washes harmful insects from the middle of the plant and facilitates cleaning.

Additional fertilizing

Elwoodi cypress in Our Country suffers from unsuitable climate and low humidity in all regions except those located by the sea in the south. It is best to feed it with a quality fertilizer specifically designed for coniferous plants.

It is generally accepted that Kemira is the best fertilizer for gymnosperms, but you can choose cheaper mixtures from other manufacturers. It is important that they fit the season. On a quality product, it will definitely be written: “spring-summer”, “autumn” or other indications of when, how and in what quantities to use it.

Gymnosperms, especially those planted away from their natural habitats, often suffer from micronutrient deficiencies. And they are better absorbed with foliar top dressing. In order for the Elwoodi cypress to be beautiful and healthy, once every 2 weeks from May to August inclusive it is sprayed with a solution of special fertilizers, chelates and epin. And all this can be filled in one bottle by adding 1 tablespoon of liquid soap for sticking.

Soil mulching or loosening

The root system of cypress is superficial. Many thin sucking processes come directly to the surface of the soil. If you loosen the soil, they will certainly be damaged, it will take a long time to restore. The plant will not receive enough water, oxygen and nutrition.

It is much easier to mulch the trunk circle with acidic peat, needles or bark – this will not only protect the roots from overheating and drying out, but also acidify the soil and prevent weeds from developing.

Trimming

Cypress Elwoodi tolerates pruning well. If necessary, the crown can be safely formed. But she is so attractive. If the crop is not grown in a hedge, it is usually limited to sanitary pruning, and the removal or shortening of individual branches that climbed “in the wrong direction” or lay on the ground. The best time for work is autumn, before the construction of a shelter for the winter, and spring, after it is removed.

Sanitary pruning on cypress should be done twice a year. In autumn, all damaged, diseased and dry branches are cut out so that under the shelter there is no transfer of infection and pests to the rest of the plant. In the spring, it turns out that some of those who did not have time to ripen, who suffered from a lack of moisture or cracks in the protection of the Elwoodi cypress shoots dry up. They need to be removed.

Cleaning the cypress tree

Simultaneously with pruning, Elwoodi cypress is cleaned. Part of the needles dries up every year. This may be a natural process or a consequence of diseases, the work of pests. In any case, the dry parts must be removed. They not only reduce the decorative effect, but also serve as a breeding ground for any infection.

On gymnosperms with soft scaly needles – cypresses, junipers, thujas, only part of the plate often dries up. You should not completely cut the branch – this way you can leave the tree bare in general. Dry parts are usually easy to remove with your hands, sometimes helping yourself with secateurs.

To do this, you need to follow safety measures so as not to inhale dust. It is impossible to prick open areas of the body with prolonged contact with soft needles, but it is easy to get serious irritation, or even allergies. Therefore, before you start cleaning, you should put on a respirator, impenetrable sleeves, and remove your hair. It is easier to work with cloth gloves with rubber dots on the palms and fingers.

Cleaning takes a lot of time, but it is necessary to do it. Choose a dry windless day. At the end of the work with a broom or garden rake, plant residues are removed from the site and take a shower.

Reproduction

Cypress Elwoodi can be easily propagated independently. The easiest way is vegetative. It is long and troublesome to breed conifers with seeds, but the resulting plants live longer, are better adapted to local conditions, and are generally healthier than those grown from cuttings or layering.

At the beginning of summer, the tops of strong shoots are cut, the lower needles are removed. Then the cuttings are planted in perlite or a mixture of peat and sand, having treated the cut with root or heteroauxin. Put under a film or a plastic bottle cut off from below. Regularly water, spray, ventilate. When new shoots appear, the shelter is removed. The next spring they are transplanted into a school.

Low-lying branches can be dug up in spring to get a new plant. For this:

• part of the shoot, which will be sprinkled with soil, is freed from needles;
• an incision is made in the middle, a match is inserted into it;
• the wound surface is treated with a root formation stimulator, for example, heteroauxin;
• fix the escape with metal staples;
• sprinkled with soil;
• a year later they are planted in a permanent place.

Cypress grown from seeds may not inherit varietal characteristics, besides, seedlings need to create special conditions – these are not flowers or seedlings. They are looked after for 2-3 years, processed, culled. At home, it is difficult for a non-specialist to do everything right, and it is difficult to bring a conifer grown from seeds to landing in a permanent place.

Fighting diseases and pests

At home, cypress is a fairly resistant culture. In cool or cold climates, with low air humidity, it can get sick and is often affected by pests.

Of the diseases, it is necessary to single out the shute, which often affects conifers. The development of spores of this fungus causes blackening or browning of the needles, which eventually fall off. Schutte often develops on shoots that have wintered under the snow. Treatment and prevention – treatment with copper-containing preparations, pruning of needles that have changed color.

The main pest of cypress is the spider mite. Its spread is facilitated by dry air. Sprinkling should be carried out regularly as a preventive measure. If cobwebs appear on the lower part of the rhombic coniferous plates, and light spots appear on the upper part, 3 treatments with acaricides should be carried out with an interval of 14 days.

Shield lesions are often mentioned when they write about cypress, but it is more dangerous for indoor plants. On the street, this sedentary insect infects crops only if an infected specimen is brought to the site. The scale insect is difficult to remove, especially from gymnosperms – it can hide at the base of the needles or under its scales. A severely affected tree is removed from the site.

In order for the plants to be healthy, it is necessary to regularly carry out preventive treatments, sanitary pruning, sprinkling, cleaning and regularly inspect them.

What to do if Elwoodi cypress turned yellow

Cypress Elwoodi may turn yellow for various reasons, treatment depends on them. Most frequent:

1. The tree froze without shelter. The easiest way to remove cypress. If the plant has not died, and the owners are ready to endure it on the site for 2-3 years, until the decorative effect returns, you can try to save the conifer. He is looked after, as usual, only every 2 weeks they are treated with epin and shed with root. Particular attention is paid to regular sprinkling. In the middle of summer, new needles will appear, the old one will dry out, it needs to be cleaned and cut in several steps.
2. spider mite. This pest is easier to identify with a magnifying glass. If the plant turned yellow, it means that the colony has become large, three times treatment with acaricides is needed. It is better to regularly sprinkle and at least once every 2 weeks carefully examine the conifers than to treat them later. The needles, severely affected by the spider mite, will eventually fall off, and a new one will appear in its place. True, not immediately.
3. Drying needles or soil. About how to water and conduct sprinkling, it was written above. If there is no desire to mess with cypress, other crops should be grown.

What to do about Elwoodi cypress root rot

Root rot appears due to waterlogging of the soil and stagnant water. If the landing was carried out in accordance with all the rules, drainage was poured, groundwater is further than 1,5 m from the surface, there is no reason for it to appear in open ground. But if trouble happened, only small trees can be saved:

• cypress is dug up;
• the root system is cleared of soil;
• soak for at least 30 minutes in a solution of foundationol;
• cut out the affected areas;
• the wound surface is sprinkled with charcoal;
• plant the plant in a new place, after carefully selecting the site and arranging drainage.

All these operations are carried out on an emergency basis, regardless of the time of year. Kornu is treated with epin or Megafol every 2 weeks, watered with root or Ratiopharm. You can try to do the same with an adult plant.

Root rot in cypress is often found if it is grown in a container as a tub or houseplant.

Conclusion

Home care for the Elwoodi cypress tree cannot be called simple. The plant is demanding on soil, planting site and irrigation regime. But the result is worth it.