We’ve all been there—you’re on vacation in Italy and you’re so tempted to bring a living cypress tree home as the ultimate souvenir. But here’s the catch: those sun-drenched Mediterranean trees usually aren’t hardy enough to survive colder winters. Your best bet is to choose a tree that has been raised locally from the start. And if you’ve got a bit of a patient streak, you can even try propagating your own!
Two Ways to Grow Your Own
You can grow cypresses either from cuttings or from seeds to expand your garden. Just a heads-up: both methods require some serious patience. It’ll take several years before your homegrown cypress reaches about 3 feet in height. Generally, starting from cuttings is a bit less work and usually has a higher success rate, making it the perfect choice for beginners.
Growing Cypress from Cuttings
The best time to take cuttings is on a frost-free day in the winter. But here’s a pro tip: don’t use shears! You actually want to “tear” them. Here’s the step-by-step:
- Gently tear off a side shoot. You want a little piece of the main branch’s bark (called a “heel”) to remain at the bottom of the tear.
- Strip off the bottom leaves and trim the remaining foliage back by about two-thirds.
- Snip off the very top so you’re left with a cutting about 4 inches long.
- Fill a pot with seed-starting mix and tuck the cutting in.
- Water it well and pop a clear plastic bag over the top to create a mini-greenhouse (just remember to air it out occasionally).
- Place the pot in a bright spot that stays cool but frost-free.
- Keep the soil consistently moist.
Starting from Seed
Every cypress tree produces both male and female cones, but those seeds can take up to two years to fully ripen. In nature, the cones often need the heat of a fire to open up and release the seeds! Luckily, you don’t need a forest fire—you can easily find cypress seeds online.
- Fill a seed tray with high-quality seed-starting soil.
- Sow the seeds thinly across the surface.
- Cover them with just a light dusting of substrate.
- Keep the soil moist at all times.
- Use a plastic cover to maintain high humidity.
- Keep them in a bright spot at a cool temperature (around 50°F).
Quick Tip:
Cypresses are evergreen and grow pretty fast once they get going. This makes them a fantastic choice for a privacy screen, whether you’re framing your patio or marking your property line.
Wait Before You Plant Outside
Don’t rush your young trees into the ground! You should wait several years until they are about 30 inches tall before planting them in the garden. Until then, they aren’t hardy enough to survive a freeze and need to spend their winters indoors in a frost-free area. Your potted cypresses can definitely enjoy the outdoors from spring through fall, just try to keep them out of the scorching midday sun. Remember to water them year-round, but only feed them with fertilizer from April through September.
