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Pinpoint® Blue False Cypress Chamaecyparis lawsoniana

Flower Season
  • Early Spring
  • Spring
  • Summer
  • Fall
  • Winter
Mature Size
20' 6' 6.1m 1.8m
Height: 15' - 20'
Spread: 5' - 6'
Height: 4.6m - 6.1m
Spread: 1.5m - 1.8m
  • Details

    180 - 240 Inches
    60 - 72 Inches
    60 - 72 Inches
    4.6m - 6.1m
    1.5m - 1.8m
    1.5m - 1.8m

    Features

    Irresistible blue evergreen.

    One look at Pinpoint® Blue false cypress is all it takes to fall in love with its lush color and soft, feathery texture. It's a fantastic accent for any place in your landscape, but is particularly striking as a specimen. You'll love the way its unique color looks with your home - especially with tricky-to-match red or orange brick! Pinpoint Blue false cypress naturally grows as a narrow column, so it takes up little space in the landscape. A memorable choice for planting on either side of your front door! Available in garden centers in spring 2019.

    Top reasons to grow Pinpoint Blue false cypress:

    - Outstanding color looks good with just about any home style and color.

    - Soft, feathery texture.

    - Narrow habit takes up little space in the landscape, meaning you rarely, if ever, have to prune.

    Foliage Interest
    Winter Interest
    Salt Tolerant
    Resists: 
    Deer
    Native to North America

    Characteristics

    Plant Type: 
    Shrub
    Shrub Type: 
    Evergreen
    Height Category: 
    Tall
    Garden Height: 
    180 - 240 Inches 4.6m - 6.1m
    Spacing: 
    60 - 72 Inches 1.5m - 1.8m
    Spread: 
    60 - 72 Inches 1.5m - 1.8m
    Foliage Colors: 
    Blue
    Foliage Shade: 
    Blue
    Habit: 
    Upright
    Container Role: 
    Thriller

    Plant Needs

    Light Requirement: 
    Part Sun to Sun
    Light Requirement: 
    Sun

    The optimum amount of sun or shade each plant needs to thrive: Full Sun (6+ hours), Part Sun (4-6 hours), Full Shade (up to 4 hours).

    Maintenance Category: 
    Easy
    Bloom Time: 
    Grown for Foliage
    Hardiness Zones: 
    5a, 5b, 6a, 6b, 7a, 7b
    Water Category: 
    Average
    Needs Good Drainage
    Soil Fertility Requirement: 
    Average Soil
    Uses: 
    Border Plant
    Uses: 
    Edging Plant
    Uses: 
    Good for Screening
    Uses: 
    Landscape
    Uses: 
    Specimen or Focal Point
    Uses Notes: 

    Works well as a dramatic specimen or grouped together as a narrow hedge.

    Maintenance Notes: 

    This plant needs superb drainage - do not plant in low-lying area or anywhere that standing water occurs, even occasionally. Rarely requires pruning but may be trimmed in spring if desired. 

    Fun Facts: 

    This lovely evergreen grows native only in Oregon and California; it is frequently called by the common name, "Port Orford cedar."

    Pinpoint® Blue Chamaecyparis lawsoniana 'SMNCLBF' USPP 30,707
  • 11 Reviews

    5
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    1
    6
    Browse reviews from people who have grown this plant.
    • A local nursery had these, between 3-4 feet tall for a decent price. Bought one- within just 4 months of planting it has gone from blue to brown tipped throughout. It’s dying a slow death and I’ll likely pull it soon. What a shame- luckily it’s my only loss out of the 29 trees I’ve planted past-two years, including 3 other false cypress (they’re doing well!). This one- no idea- but other reviews share my experience, too. What does this small tree need to survive in zone 6a?

      Matt
      , Illinois
      , United States
      , 14 weeks ago
    • I felt slightly better after reading other reviews, as I have tried to grow this plant three times, with zero success. It is a positively beautiful conifer and I was so looking forward to growing it next to my house. Tried the first one, which slowly died, and I thought I must have done something wrong. So, I bought another, planted it in a different spot, and the same thing happened. Didn't want to give up, so I bought a third one, which made it through the first year, but this spring it, too, succumbed. It was just as others described, the plant just starts to brown all over and then dies. I am SO disappointed, but am not willing to try a fourth time -- now that I see I am not the only one, I have to assume the problem is with the plant, not the gardener.

      Lisa Mayer
      , Massachusetts
      , United States
      , 30 weeks ago
    • I felt slightly better after reading other reviews, as I have tried to grow this plant three times, with zero success. It is a positively beautiful conifer and I was so looking forward to growing it next to my house. Tried the first one, which slowly died, and I thought I must have done something wrong. So, I bought another, planted it in a different spot, and the same thing happened. Didn't want to give up, so I bought a third one, which made it through the first year, but this spring it, too, succumbed. It was just as others described, the plant just starts to brown all over and then dies. I am SO disappointed, but am not willing to try a fourth time -- now that I see I am not the only one, I have to assume the problem is with the plant, not the gardener.

      Lisa Mayer
      , Massachusetts
      , United States
      , 30 weeks ago
    • I bought 3 of these at a local nursery, and all 3 are dying, I have no idea why other than that when I lifted them out of the pot they are very root bound. The roots grew down and then back up to the top that is how bad it was. I paid full price for them, they were not on a clearance rack. I'm not sure what to do to care for them at this point.

      Carmen
      , Missouri
      , United States
      , 1 year ago
    • Bought 3 in early spring. Waited for better weather to put them out. 1 is browning, seemingly from the bottom, following up the spine of the plant. Will not buy again; hope the other 2 won't succumb. But wondering abt longevity even if it does make it thru this season.

      Karen
      , Ohio
      , United States
      , 1 year ago
    • I bought three of these plants in 2019 because I, too, was struck by the beautiful color. They did well for about two years, then one of them started browning from the ground up, just as others here have described. I did some reading and discovered it might be root rot caused by the pathogen Phytophthora lateralis, which affects the Lawson false cypress in particular. If my plant has died because of this pathogen, the others next to it are probably goners, too, according to this article: https://www.pacifichorticulture.org/articles/the-untimely-demise-of-the-lawson-cypress/

      Beth B
      , Massachusetts
      , United States
      , 2 years ago
    • I love this plant. It is stunning. I bought 10 of them. 6 have died with another 2 about to follow the same fate. Seems to be that is what a lot of people here have been experiencing.

      Jeffrey Chubb
      , Massachusetts
      , United States
      , 3 years ago
    • We purchased one of these about a year and a half to 2 years ago and it has been doing great, until 2 weeks ago! All of a sudden it started turning brown and nearly the entire plant is brown except for one small side offshoot of growth. It made it through a very hot and wet summer, yet with a bit milder temps in the last couple of weeks has for some reason started to die. Not sure of the cause.

      Christina Livingston
      , Georgia
      , United States
      , 3 years ago
    • I'm not giving up on these!! I purchased 6 plants last fall, planted them in a row, and I love them! They survived winter beautifully, and continued to do well through early summer. I bought 2 more this spring to add, and they are, so far, doing fine. Mid summer (average rainfall + slow, deep watering, blend of mulch & soil, should drain just fine), one shrub began browning at the base. The brown extended up the plant & it died in a few days. The next 2 plants in the row have grown exponentially this summer. Then, the 4th in the row recently suffered the same fate as #1. Now, #5 has started to brown at the base. #2,3,6,7, & 8 are, so far, doing fine...same area, soil, rainfall, sun, etc. Our landscape rep is stumped. I don't want to lose all of these, and local place had only one left yesterday. Help!

      Karen Mack
      , Pennsylvania
      , United States
      , 3 years ago
    • I am beyond disappointed with this plant. I saw them at my local garden center this year looking healthy and beautiful and I had never seen anything with a color quite like these. I had been eyeing them for a few months before I purchased two. Within weeks, one was completely crispy and the other is just not rooting in (despite using biotin starter fertilizer) and really needs to be staked badly. It is just falling over from any slight breeze. I took the dead one back to the store and when I went to see if I could just by a new one, all of the ones at the garden center looked just as dead as the one I had returned. This is the first shrub/tree I've had die on me yet and I am really sad. I wish these trees would live because they are the most beautiful color. I'm not quite sure what I could have done differently.... as far as I can tell, they got adequate water and they have full sun.

      Jacqueline
      , Ohio
      , United States
      , 3 years ago
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