Today we are going to talk about the Arizona cypress. Its scientific name is Cupressus arizonica and it is used in some gardens for decoration and to give a arboreal appearance. It is evergreen and fast growing, so you don't have to worry too much about making it grow fast. Despite what is thought, it is not toxic at all nor does it generate any berry that is continuously staining the ground.
If you want to learn to take care of the Cupressus arizonica So that you can have it in your garden, here we are going to explain everything about it.
Key features
It is an evergreen tree that has a fairly rapid growth rate. It has the advantage that it helps a lot to regenerate soils in a way similar to pine. There is a variety of this tree better known as glauc. As it does not have too much maintenance, it is very good to have it in the garden and give it a arboreal appearance without having to worry too much about its care.
It is resistant to both medium and mild frosts. It supports medium drought, especially in times with more temperatures. It is also good at supporting large gusts of wind and alkaline soil, despite preferring neutrals. The shape of the tree is conical and serves to decorate the garden at any time of the year.
The color of its leaves is silvery-bluish or dark green. Flowering takes place in spring. It is capable of surviving more than 100 years if you have the conditions and care you need. When it reaches adulthood it is capable of measuring more than 25 meters in height and between 2 and 3 meters in width.
Its crown is usually of the piriform type and the foliage with gray and bluish tones, as we have mentioned before. The bark of the trunk has a reddish brown color and, being so showy, it can offer a good combination of colors with other species. The branches are quite thick and less dense than that of the common cypress. You can find an ooze of resin on the leaves. The male flowers can be seen in yellow and visible from autumn. As for the fruit, it is a sphere-shaped pineapple with a variable color. They can be bluish-gray to reddish-brown, like bark.
Distribution
This species can be found naturally in the mountains of Arizona, New Mexico and Texas. Hence, it has the name of Arizona cypress. In these areas they are distributed and acclimatized to the climate and altitudes between 1000 and 2000 meters. It is usually cultivated very frequently as hedges and park trees. Thanks to the fact that it hardly needs care, it grows fast and its maintenance is not cumbersome, it makes it an excellent plant for the decoration of public places such as parks and gardens.
It is quite resistant to drought, which helps even more in their care. Although not too much, it tolerates eventual frosts well. It is able to survive well on almost any type of soil, even those with some plaster on it. What it really does not tolerate is the puddling of the ground. We will see this better when we talk about your care.
Apart from being planted as a hedge in the decoration of parks and gardens, it is also an excellent windbreaker. This is because it has a fairly thick and dense bearing, so it does not let the wind pass between its branches. In addition, the wind does not harm it because it has very good resistance. All this makes it a perfect tree to place on urban roads not only as a wind screen to attenuate it in cities, but also as a noise screen.
By having thicker and dense branches, it will not allow the noise of road traffic to pass through. In this way, we save ourselves from having to place artificial screens that may involve a larger budget and break the urban aesthetic. A tree with a good bearing, little care and that helps purify the air in the city can be a very good option.
Caring for the Cupressus arizonica
We are now going to analyze step by step the care and maintenance that this species needs in order to fully enjoy it. The first thing is to know the location it requires in the garden. It needs full sun exposure, although it can also live in semi-shade. The organization of the plants in your garden should be ordered by priority of each plant. Some are more tolerant of shade than others. In this case, the ideal is to have it in full sun, although they can also live in semi-shade that nothing will happen to them.
They are resistant to cold and high temperatures, so you do not have to worry too much, unless it is clear that your climate is too cold and the frosts are strong and frequent. It is not advisable to go above 0 degrees.
Although in the type of soil they are not demanding at all, yes it is necessary that the drainage is very good. That is, do not allow irrigation water to accumulate continuously. This could cause the tree to die from root rot. Therefore, we must avoid at all costs that the soil gets flooded when we water it.
Regarding irrigation, you only have to water once a week if we see it very dry or every 10 days if it keeps the soil somewhat moist. The first two years of newly planted we will have to water it a little more frequently, although this is almost negligible.
Maintenance
Although it is a tree that, as you have seen, hardly needs care, some maintenance does require if we want to have it well. The Cupressus arizonica It needs pruning to be able to shape them into a hedge. This pruning is done mostly for aesthetics. It is advisable to do it at the end of winter, when growth is faster and can resist common garden pests and diseases well.
If you want to multiply it, you can do it by seeds, layering or grafting. The most advisable thing is to buy them already grown in nurseries and continue taking care of them.
I hope that with this information you can enjoy the Cupressus arizonica in good conditions.