On 2014-01-30 02:31:44 +0000, Indigo said:

"Bob Hobden" wrote
"Pam Moore" wrote ...

Does anyone grow an Italian Cyprus (cupressus sempervirens)?
I had one once, grown from seed, but at about 18 inches. It was moved
by a gardener friend and it didn't survive. Nor did he!
You may remember I was asking last year about what to plant to hide
the lamp-post which has been put up outside my garden.
[...]

I think there is an article in this months, well it's next months but
you know what I mean, The Garden mentioning tall straight conifers,
Skyrocket and the like.

I've got a fastigiate form of Taxus baccata called 'Robusta' which is a
tall, slender, dark green variety and I've often thought it'd be a good
alternative for the Italian cypress look but better suited to our
climate. Mine's about 10' or so high now and still only about 2' across
at it's widest. Very tough, can cope with lots of different soil types
and situations, takes whatever trimming you throw at it (although you
wouldn't really need to) and gives that same dark columnar effect.

I suppose the only problem is it's fairly slow growing to begin with,
but I think yew can be a lot faster than many people give it credit,
specially if given enough watering and attention when young.

I agree with this, Sue. Ray planted fastigiate yews at either end of a
long border as sort of punctuation points. They took a couple of years
to get going but after that grew steadily and at a reasonable rate.
They make a very acceptable substitute for the 'Italian cypress' and
keep a good shape. The only thing to watch out for with yew is that
they don't stand around in water, which will make them very unhappy!
--

Sacha
www.hillhousenursery.com
South Devon
www.helpforheroes.org.uk