Italian Cypress (Cupressus sempervirens)

We recommend growing them in large terracotta pots – at least 12”/30cm in diameter and depth at first – for maximum impact; planting up with 50% our Premium Professional Compost and 50% John Innes #3 compost, with some Fish Blood & Bone fertiliser too. They need to be well drained so they don’t get waterlogged in winter, so some stones or old bits of broken pot at the bottom of each pot is advised. 

Make sure that you're watering them regularly – at least daily when the weather is warm and breezy – and ideally give them a feed every 6 weeks or so in summer. Young plants will definitely need daily watering while they establish – morning and evening for the first four weeks if it’s hot.

 They're totally winter hardy and will easily withstand UK winters. The only thing you need to be wary of is waterlogging or wind damage. We recommend that you plant using tree stakes and leave them there for the first two years.

Normally, we’d advise to let them grow, not cutting tips of the leading stems. This will cause the trees to branch at the top and you’ll lose that elegant pencil shape. However, if they are the size you need now, you can keep them in check by cutting them annually. 

They will keep bushing out if you do this and over 5-10 years will not be “pencil thin” any more, as more side branches will develop if you behead them annually, so keep pruning them into shape as below. Cut any branches that are out of shape right back and give each tree a general prune – like this:

The red line is the shape you want. Depends how thin you want them really, but don’t be afraid to cut them back fairly severely, as they will thicken out nicely each time you prune. For best results, remove fir-cones as they form - this will keep the plant in best shape.