The Italian Cypress, otherwise known as the Cupressus Sempervirens or Mediterranean Cypress, is a rather well known tree plant by gardening enthusiasts around the world.
Best known for its low maintenance and fast growth, this tree will likely liven up your house (or garden) with its green colored leaves. But, only if you learn how to take proper care of it for it to thrive.
Fortunately, taking care of your Italian Cypress is not too difficult – as long as you follow our guidelines in this Italian Cypress Care Guide. Now let’s get started.
The basic care guidelines you need to remember for your Italian Cypress are the following:
- Water: The Italian Cypress grows best in soil that is always moist.
- Light: Keep your Cupressus Sempervirens in an environment where it can receive full sun on a daily basis.
- Soil: Make sure to keep the Italian Cypress in soil with well-draining properties, so ideally, one that is made of clay, loam, chalk, and sand.
And that’s practically it! If you keep these three factors in check, your Italian Cypress will likely have all it needs for it to survive and even thrive.
Scientific / Botanical Aspects
In botanical terms, the Italian Cypress belongs to the Cupressaceae family, the genus Cupressus and the species Sempervirens, hence its scientific (or botanical) name Cupressus Sempervirens (ku-PRES-us sem-per-VY-renz).
Other members from the Cupressaceae family include Juniperus Chinensis ‘Hetzii Glauca’, Blue Chip Juniper, Blue Rug Juniper, Golden Mop Threadleaf False Cypress, Flaky Juniper ‘Blue Star’, Chamaecyparis Obtusa ‘Filicoides’, Californian White Cedar ‘Fluffy’, Japanese Cypress ‘Filifera Aurea’, Golden Dwarf Hinoki Cypress, Grey Owl Juniper, Chaenomeles X Superba ‘Jet Trail’, Juniperus Sabina ‘Monard’, Syringa Vulgaris ‘President Grévy’, Savin Juniper, Dwarf Japanese Garden Juniper and Swamp Cedar ‘Danica’.
As with other Cupressus’s, the Italian Cypress is an evergreen plant, which means it will be present year round in your garden.
Growing Region
The Italian Cypress is a plant native to the East Mediterranean to Iran.
You might be wondering why your Italian Cypress’s native region is important. Well, if you know where your plant originally came from, you’ll know which environment conditions it prefers, and with it, knowledge on how to replicate it at home.
With this in mind, the Cupressus Sempervirens will be most used to the heat zones in the 3 – 9 region, as the plant hardiness level falls between 7b, 7a, 8b, 8a, 9b, 9a and the ideal climate zone is between 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, H1, H2.
Growth and Size
Growth
In terms of size and growth, the Italian Cypress is a relatively fast grower, which makes things tricky for any plant enthusiast.
Size
But, what size of Italian Cypress are we talking about? What can you expect in terms of height, spread and spacing? Let’s dig in…
The Cupressus Sempervirens can grow up to 40′ – 70′ (12m – 21m) in 40′ – 70′ (12m – 21m) and 10′ – 20′ (3m – 6m) in 10′ – 20′ (3m – 6m).
These dimensions make the Italian Cypress a relatively large tree compared to others, so it’s best to keep this fact in mind since it will affect where you want to keep yours at home.
Also, expect it to grow in a wonderful columnar, and narrow shape, which is something worthwhile to remember when making your garden landscape plans.
This is why experts recommend keeping an area of approximately 240″ (600cm) free so the Italian Cypress can spread to its best extent.
Water
In terms of watering, the Italian Cypress is a fairly complicated plant to take care of.
This is mostly because it has a not so straightforward watering schedule and somewhat regular watering needs.
Specifically, most experts agree that the Cupressus Sempervirens grows best in soil that is always moist.
Which is why it is considered a plant with relatively average needs in terms of water.
Watering
As a rule of thumb, you should remember to keep your Italian Cypress in soil with well-draining characteristics, as these will guarantee the right conditions for your plant to grow and thrive.
When you consider this, this is why you should aim to choose soil that has good drainage, moist, and occasionally dry properties to keep the right moisture levels at all times.
But, if you want a ‘one-size-fits-all’ solution to watering your Italian Cypress then you should consider the famous ‘finger’ test. To perform this test, you just need to put your finger in your plant’s soil and determine if it’s moist or not. If it is, then don’t water; if it isn’t, then please do. In any case, this test will allow you to know if your Italian Cypress needs or does not need water, every time.
Soil Mix
As mentioned earlier, the Italian Cypress prefers to have soil with good drainage, moist, and occasionally dry properties at all times, reason why you need to make the soil mix out of clay, loam, chalk, and sand.
In addition to this, expert gardeners recommend having preferably alkaline, acid or neutral soil.
Light and Exposure
In terms of light & exposure, the Italian Cypress requires full sun in order for it to thrive under the right conditions.
Most experts agree that this tree will do well as long as you keep it in full sun, and it will be able to grow properly.
Specifically, we recommend that you place your Cupressus Sempervirens in full and direct sun (more than 6 hours of direct sunlight per day).
Season
Being an evergreen plant, the Italian Cypress will be present year round in your garden.
But, you can expect it to have its ‘prime-time’ during the spring (early, mid, late), the summer (early, mid, late), the fall, and during the winter.
Flowers
You can expect your Italian Cypress to flower around the spring months from April to June (spring).
The Italian Cypress produces some wonderful green flowers around this time of year.
Foliage
The leaves from the Italian Cypress have a beautiful green color during most of the year.
Attracts, Tolerance and Resistance
The Italian Cypress is well known for its tolerance to drought conditions, so don’t worry if any of these come along, your Cupressus Sempervirens will be fine.
Garden
Does your Italian Cypress have any garden recommendations? Does it serve any gardening purposes? Here’s how you can get the most out of your new plant.
Most Cupressus Sempervirens owners agree that this tree will look great in most contemporary and mediterranean gardens of all types.
Other owners consider that they complement well most gardens of coastal garden, and in mediterranean garden styles.
In particular, the Italian Cypress’s best use for landscaping within your garden is as mass planting, urban garden, coastal exposure, privacy screen, or a windbreak.
Companion Plants
Italian Cypress’s do well with some other plants beside it. One good companion plant is the Rosmarinus, which will pair up nicely with your leafy friend.
Others consider that a nice Lavandula will work well too, so choose whichever you find works best for you!
Conclusion
So that’s it! These are the main plant care requirements that you need to keep in mind in order to have a healthy Italian Cypress in your garden or home.
