AS MANY BEGINNERS DO, I CREATED MY GARDEN BACKWARDS: planting herbaceous things first and trees and shrubs later, when their different time to maturity would have made the opposite strategy smarter. Worst of all, I forgot conifers almost entirely in those first years. I’ve stayed put long enough to outgrow my early mishaps, and have some favorite evergreens to share including the weeping Alaska Cedar cedar, Chamaecyparis nootkatensis ‘Pendula’ (above, in my far borders to the west of the house). The first in a series on beloved conifers.
Two weeping Alaska cedars grow here now, the first a 40th birthday present from my garden mentor; the other (shown) a few years younger. Each one is about 20 feet; though they are said to reach 60 or even 90 feet in the wild (Alaska to Oregon), half that is the expectation in cultivation. A Zone 4-7 or 8 creature, it’s happy here because I have the moisture it craves. It has become somewhat popular (though not commonplace) in the Northeast in recent years.
Speaking of moisture: What distinguishes Chamaecyparis nootkatensis ‘Pendula’ from other conifers is that it seems to drip. Despite a vertical trunk, its pendulous branches are made even further fluid-seeming by the way the rich green foliage positively hangs from them (above).
There isn’t a time of year when I don’t love this conifer…well, perhaps just on my mowing days each week in summer, when its shaggy built-in tree skirt requires special treatment to get around and up under. Not much of it to ask, really, for such persistent, year-round grace.
Please say it isn’t so…a few months ago we had a freak snow storm and I lost one branch from my beloved Alaskan cedar. I wrote a post and you, as usual, provided good advise. I don’t go out to the driveway every day and therefore don’t look at my tree so often in the winter. A few weeks ago, I thought it was looking lean. This week when I pulled into the drive way and glanced over to look at my tree, I saw a skeleton. I think the deer have eaten my cedar along with my arborvitae. I’m in a stste of shock…grieving the damage actually. Do you know if deer do this and what is my prognosis? Thanks much.
Hi, Judith. Oh, my. Yes, they will do this (especially tip growth I think — but if they are hungry enough, they’ll eat anything). If the damage is only tips then it may be OK, but if it’s severe…hmmm…
My Alaskan cypress get full sun on one side and a lot of shade on the other. The side with full sun looks healthy and the branches are full the opposite side the branches are spare and are turning a rust color and dying. Is this lack of sun? Also the yard has a rock fault going through it and I have wondered if the roots are competing with the rocks.
Him Pam. Hard to say for certain, but I can say that if it’s really getting very little light on the one side it will get sparse. I have another Chamaecyparis (different species/variety) that as it has agreed has its back in the shade and that side is skimpy.
Is it normal that during the winter foliage in my two Alaska cedars turns red/brown somehow?! On April 2007, I purchased here in Kosovo (Europe) two Alaska cedars each 1.5 feet tall . This year, both are 7 feet tall.
Hi, Valdet. I am never worried if the late-season foliage on the INSIDE of the branches (closer to the trunk than the tips of the limbs) turns brown. Conifers shed their oldest inner foliage to literally “lighten the load” in winter snows, and of course oldest/brown foliage isn’t photosynthesizing any longer, so why hold on to it? Tip burn I worry about much more, or wide-ranging brown. In an exposed and windy spot in cold winters, some conifers get winterburn (brown, dried out) and that is another matter — sometimes just all over the windy side of the plant. Not sure which you have?
I am so happy that my new Weeping Alaskan Cypress has survived the winter , or should I say Deer. I did check on it after receiving your email and all is well, however I did spray it again with deer-off just to be on the safe side. You can’t trust those 4 legged animals
I hope someone can help solve a debate my wife and I have regarding a weeping alaskan cedar. We purchased our home 10 years ago and we were told the tree planted in front was a weeping Alaskan Cedar (it seems to match pictures on the web). At the time the tree was maybe 14 feet, today it is easily 35 feet. my concern is that the tree is planted maybe 6 feet from the foundation of our home. What kind of rooting system does these this tree have? Should I be concerned? My wife would love it if you can save her tree, I’m less optimistic.
Good question, Larry, but I don’t have an answer, and none of my reference books that include the tree really go into detail on its root system in such a circumstance. I do, however, think that any 35-foot tree in place for a decade already has a substantial root system by now — but assume you have seen no evidence of issues (leaks in the foundation, etc., or heaving, or …)? If it were out in a more open spot you could have an arborist root-prune it to sort of keep it in check (the way they trench around big trees before doing construction, for instance) but it sounds like a very tight spot. I’m afraid I don’t have x-ray vision to see beneath the ground, either — though I have read about what amounts to MRIs or x-rays of trees and their roots that are used in some circumstances for such analysis, like this project at U. of Maryland.
Hi there,
The foliage on the inner part of the branches – closest to the trunk – turns yellow every spring-summer. I give it plenty of water but it doesn’t seem to help.
The yellow branches eventually fall off and the tree seems to rebound well. Should I be concerned? Is there anything I can do. I do not fertilize; will that help?
THANK YOU.
Hi, Larry. Here’s your answer. That’s how conifers shed foliage that isn’t doing any photosynthesizing any longer. Usually no worry.
My Alaskan Cedar is about 18 feet tall and was planted in a sunny location in our front yard before be purchased our home. For the first three years it was doing fine, then last summer it began loosing foliage on the ends of the branches and more recently, on the top. It’s a beautiful tree and a showpiece but I’m at a loss as to what is happening to it.
We have a weeping cedar (Chamaecyparis ) that was planted at least 20yrs ago. It isn’t as “thin” looking as the ones I see on your site. It is drapey but very full like a more traditional shaped xmas tree. I am concerned about how large (wide) it has gotten over the yrs….does it ever stop getting wider and wider…I don’t mind the height. Also, is this tree one that an arborist could prune back in any way without jeopardizing the tree. Thanks so much.
Hi, Psayli. I think at about 20 feet wide at the base is will be pretty mature for a garden setting (I’d say 15-20 but it sounds like yours, like one of mine, is of the boarder habit). If absolutely needed you could go in a one branch at a time sort of head back the worst offenders — this is a very tedious and careful type of pruning, not shearing the overall tree! I explain it here. And remember, with the weeping form we’re talking about, even these careful cuts will be more noticeable that in a bushier form of Chamaecyparis. Careful!
Hi, Roger. Not sure how your comment got lost in the mailbox here for a bit, so sorry. They are prone to burn as many Chamaecyparis can if they get dry, or windswept in a sunny but cold/windy winter, or baked too long in a hot season. Is the issue progressing?
I just picked up 4 Weeping Alaska Cedar (Chamaecyparis Nootkatensis ‘Pendula’) trees from a Kmart in Olathe Kansas where these were very dry, brown foliage and parts of roots were exposed in buckets. I am trying to save them and any advice you could give me would help. I added some potting soil to them and water them every few hours. It’s been over 100 degrees here for over a week or two and will be for at least another week or so. I have them in some shade and also water the whole tree, not just the bottom in the bucket……Can these be saved?
Hi, Keith. Sounds like all you can do for such stressed-out and damaged plants with watering. Hard to say without seeing (and without the trees telling us by starting to perk up!) whether they can be saved. Fingers crossed.
Oh Margaret I do like this one . . . we live in northern NJ, 40 minutes from Midtown Manhattan and my husband is an Arborist (42 yrs!) . . .conifers are his favorite tree . . .we have 10 norwegian spruces, 7 colorado blue spruces (seedlings left over as favors from our wedding!) , 6 hemlocks and 3 aromatic red cedars around the perimeter of our corner suburban lot . . .great privacy fence . . .:-) . . .I wish we had been a little more adventurous in varying the species . . .I think I want to find a spot to tuck at least 1 Weeping Alaskan Cedar . . .it is so beautiful . .. thanks for sharing it!
You are welcome, Wendy. What a beautiful story about your former wedding favors! Love that. Sounds like you live in a magical forest! See you soon, I hope.
This tree reminds me so much of our Deodoras in California. I love the beautiful hanging branches. The Alaskan Cedar has those beautiful berries, tho, our Deodoras do not.
Hi, Jacqui. Yes, both are beautiful trees indeed. Graceful and distinctive.