Forum home Plants
This Forum will close on Wednesday 27 March, 2024. Please refer to the announcement on the Discussions page for further detail.

CYPRESS

Help! I have a very tall CYPRESS which I want to shape nicely or do topiary, it was never ever shaped before.  The bottom of this tree is narrower than the top slightl( there is damage on one side from drought) what shape/topiary style would suit it best?  Can I add to give it nice cone shape I will need to take a third of the tree of on top.  Will the tree respond well? 

Posts

  • Hi 😃 
    Can you post some photos of your tree please?

    Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.






  • will it be good idea to expose lower trunk completely and leave the top of the tree which has a better shape maybe? A tear drop shape i think its called

  • Hostafan1Hostafan1 Posts: 34,889
    first thought was cupressus macrocarpa Goldcrest.
    Devon.
  • NollieNollie Posts: 7,529
    I was thinking ‘champagne flute’ but teardrop works too. Unless the lower half is shading out the other plants around it, I wouldn’t reveal the trunk at the bottom, just follow its natural shape.
    Mountainous Northern Catalunya, Spain. Hot summers, cold winters.
  • Lily PillyLily Pilly Posts: 3,845
    Lollipop 
    Weeds are flowers, too, once you get to know them.”
    A A Milne
  • How about a spiral?  You may be able to hide the damaged area as part of the spiral.  Whatever you decide to do, remember that conifers don't grow new shoots from brown wood so don't cut back past green growth unless you actually want a permanent 'hole' in that area.
    A trowel in the hand is worth a thousand lost under a bush.
  • Liz.S.Liz.S. Posts: 55
    Is the trunk on your side of the fence?
    "Life returns. Life prevails. Resistance is futile" Rusty the dalek
  • Yes it is , branches stick out through the wire on the other side 
  • Liz.S.Liz.S. Posts: 55
    I only asked because at a past house we had a similar tree and it was only as we were trimming it we discovered it was growing through from the neighbours 
    "Life returns. Life prevails. Resistance is futile" Rusty the dalek
Sign In or Register to comment.