Sawara cypress 'Boulevard'

Synonyms: cypress Boulevard, Sawara cypress 'Boulevard', Bulevar.

Sawara cypress «Boulevard» – a widely distributed cultivar of Sawara cypress. It originated as a shoot mutation of the Squarrosa cultivar. It began to be sold in 1934 from the «Boulevard» nursery (Kempenaar, Canada). Can live more than 15 years.

It is a shrub or small tree, reaching 5 m or more in height and 1.2–2 m in width, with a barrel- or cone-shaped symmetrical form. Slow-growing when young, later moderate. Annual increment reaches 10 cm. At 10 years it reaches 2 m in height. Shoot tips are typically slightly raised. Bark reddish-brown.

Needles awl-shaped, dense, soft, pointed, 5–6 mm in length, bent inward. In summer the foliage is silvery-blue, in winter it becomes gray-blue.

Hardiness zone: 4-8 (to -21°C). In severe winters it may occasionally suffer some frost damage.

Location: the plant prefers light but can tolerate light partial shade (for rich foliage color it is recommended to plant in open sunny sites). Ideal sites are gently sloping west- and south-facing locations protected from strong winds. Prefers fresh, moist, well-drained, fertile neutral or strongly alkaline soil (pH 4.5 - 5.5). Does not tolerate drought in the air and soil well. Optimal summer precipitation amount – 400 mm.

Planting: Dig a hole at least 50 cm deep and in diameter. Soil mix: humus, turf soil, peat, sand in the ratio 3:2:1:2. When planting, add mineral fertilizer - 5-6 kg of peat compost, mixing it with the soil.

Pruning: tolerates light pruning well.

Care: in spring you can feed with Kemira (100-150 g), scattering it around the root circle and then watering the plant thoroughly. In April-May you can apply nitroammophoska (30-40 g). It is also recommended to add top peat – top up the surface several times during the season. In the first years after planting it needs protection from spring sun.

Diseases and pests: practically not affected by diseases and pests.

Uses: looks good as a specimen planting and in groups. Combines well with shrubs and perennials that have a dense, geometrically correct form, such as boxwood, thuja, spruce 'Konica', hostas. Looks good with mat-forming perennials: sedum, ajuga, turf-forming saxifrage, moneywort 'Aurea'. In rock gardens it pairs well with rounded boulders of reddish-brown color. Pairs with junipers 'Hibernica' and 'Skyrocket', thuja 'Smaragd'. Can be used in rockeries and conifer gravel gardens. In conifer groups good partners are conifers with globular crown forms – thuja 'Danica' and 'Globosa Nana', groundcover juniper cultivars – 'Wiltoni' and 'Green Carpet', Tsuga 'Jeddeloh', pyramidal forms – thuja 'Smaragd' and Norway spruce 'Will Zweig', conical spruce 'Konica', as well as columnar thujas and junipers.