The Swane’s Golden Italian Cypress, otherwise known as the Cupressus Sempervirens ‘Swane’S Golden’ or Papyrus ‘King Tut’, Egyptian Paper Reed ‘King Tut’, Egyptian Paper Rush ‘King Tut’, Paper Reed ‘King Tut’, Indian Matting Plant ‘King Tut’, Nile Grass ‘King Tut’, Giant Papyrus ‘King Tut’, is a rather well known ornamental grass plant by gardening enthusiasts around the world.
Best known for its average maintenance and slow growth, this ornamental grass will likely liven up your house (or garden) with its yellow colored leaves. But, only if you learn how to take proper care of it for it to thrive.
Fortunately, taking care of your Swane’s Golden Italian Cypress is not too difficult – as long as you follow our guidelines in this Swane’s Golden Italian Cypress Care Guide. Now let’s get started.
The fundamental caring guidelines for every Swane’s Golden Italian Cypress can be summed up into the following:
- Water: The Swane’s Golden Italian Cypress needs at least weekly watering, or more in extreme heat, preferably with regular water.
- Light: Keep your Cupressus Sempervirens ‘Swane’S Golden’ in an environment where it can receive full sun on a daily basis.
- Soil: Make sure to keep the Swane’s Golden Italian Cypress in soil with poorly draining properties, so ideally, one that is made of clay, loam, chalk, and sand.
That’s it – sunlight, water and soil! The basic 3 fundamentals for all plant care, and with the Swane’s Golden Italian Cypress this is no exception. With these three elements, your leafy friend will live healthy and happy.
Scientific / Botanical Aspects
In botanical terms, the Swane’s Golden Italian Cypress belongs to the Cyperaceae family, the genus Cyperus and the species Papyrus, hence its scientific (or botanical) name Cupressus Sempervirens ‘Swane’S Golden’ (ku-PRES-us sem-per-VY-renz).
As with other Cyperus’s, the Swane’s Golden Italian Cypress is an evergreen plant, which means it will be present year round in your garden.
Growing Region
The Swane’s Golden Italian Cypress is a plant native to the Africa.
Knowing your plant’s native region is very useful, as it can give you tips on which environment is best for your Swane’s Golden Italian Cypress. If you keep it in mind, you can try to replicate these conditions at home, and you’ll likely end with a healthier plant.
With this in mind, the Cupressus Sempervirens ‘Swane’S Golden’ will be most used to the heat zones in the 6 – 12 region, as the plant hardiness level falls between 9b, 9a, 10b, 10a and the ideal climate zone is between 16, 17, 23, 24, H1, H2.
Growth and Size
Growth
In terms of size and growth, the Swane’s Golden Italian Cypress is a relatively slow grower, which makes things easy for any plant enthusiast.
Size
But what exactly does this mean for your Swane’s Golden Italian Cypress? How large a pot should you consider, how tall, how wide can it get? Let’s jump in…
The Cupressus Sempervirens ‘Swane’S Golden’ can grow up to 4′ – 6′ (120cm – 180cm) in 4′ – 6′ (120cm – 180cm) and 3′ – 4′ (90cm – 120cm) in 3′ – 4′ (90cm – 120cm).
These dimensions make the Swane’s Golden Italian Cypress a relatively medium ornamental grass 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 36″ – 48″ (90cm – 120cm) free so the Swane’s Golden Italian Cypress can spread to its best extent.
Water
In terms of watering, the Swane’s Golden Italian Cypress is a fairly simple plant to take care of.
This is mostly because it has a straightforward watering schedule and somewhat regular watering needs.
Specifically, most experts agree that the Cupressus Sempervirens ‘Swane’S Golden’ needs at least weekly watering, or more in extreme heat, preferably with regular water.
Which is why it is considered a plant with relatively high needs in terms of water.
Watering
As a rule of thumb, you should remember to keep your Swane’s Golden Italian Cypress in soil with poorly 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 frequent standing water, and moist properties to keep the right moisture levels at all times.
But, if you want a ‘one-size-fits-all’ solution to watering your Swane’s Golden 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 Swane’s Golden Italian Cypress needs or does not need water, every time.
Soil Mix
As mentioned earlier, the Swane’s Golden Italian Cypress prefers to have soil with frequent standing water, and moist properties at all times, reason why you need to make the soil mix out of clay, loam, chalk, and sand.
This is why most experts agree that the Swane’s Golden Italian Cypress requires soil with loam (silt), which will give you the right conditions it needs.
In addition to this, expert gardeners recommend having preferably alkaline, acid or neutral soil.
Light and Exposure
In terms of light & exposure, the Swane’s Golden Italian Cypress requires full sun in order for it to thrive under the right conditions.
Most experts agree that this ornamental grass will do well as long as you keep it in partial to full sun, and it will be able to grow properly.
Specifically, we recommend that you place your Cupressus Sempervirens ‘Swane’S Golden’ in little to partial shade (only 2-6 hours of direct sunlight a day), to full and direct sun (more 6 hours of direct sunlight per day).
Season
Being an evergreen plant, the Swane’s Golden 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
The Swane’s Golden Italian Cypress produces some wonderful brown/copper and green flowers around this time of year.
Foliage
The leaves from the Swane’s Golden Italian Cypress have a beautiful yellow color during most of the year.
Attracts, Tolerance and Resistance
The Swane’s Golden Italian Cypress is well known for its tolerance to wet soil, so don’t worry if any of these come along, your Cupressus Sempervirens ‘Swane’S Golden’ will be fine.
Garden
Does your Swane’s Golden 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 ‘Swane’S Golden’ owners agree that this ornamental grass will look great in most contemporary and mediterranean gardens of all types.
Other owners consider that they complement well most gardens of mediterranean garden styles.
In particular, the Swane’s Golden Italian Cypress’s best location within your garden is in patio and containers, and in ponds and streams, others use it for landscaping in a container, topiary, wildlife garden, coastal exposure, privacy screen, windbreak, mass planting, hedge, specimen, or a woodland garden.
Companion Plants
Swane’s Golden Italian Cypress’s do well with some other plants beside it. One good companion plant is the Cotinus, which will pair up nicely with your leafy friend.
Others consider that a nice Rosmarinus will work well too, so choose whichever you find works best for you!
Conclusion
Even though we covered a lot of care information for your Swane’s Golden Italian Cypress, remember the basics: sunlight, soil and water, as these should be enough to grow a healthy plant at home.
