Boulevard Cypress Shrub Light Trimming in Fall

In this video, I show you how to give your Boulevard Cypress shrub a light trimming in Fall, or whenever you need to remove a few small stems to shape up this beautiful blue evergreen. Chamaecyparis pisifera ‘Boulevard’ is a perfect shrub or tree for home gardens!
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[@Carl-iw9sy]

It is hard to stop once you start! 😁 This is exactly what I do with my Green Giant arborvitae in order to control its width at the bottom, to prevent it from taking over my driveway.

[@GardenSanity]

Hi Carl -- it IS hard to stop! Maybe because I was filming this I was able to keep myself accountable! 😂 I love that trick of keeping the width in bounds at the bottom of our evergreen shrubs and trees -- it also fools the eye that our shrubs aren't that large! Well...sometimes!

[@jeangurnee]

Wonderful restraint! I have to really resist cutting too much at the wrong time. ;) Missed my window on the evergreens this year. So spring it is :D

[@GardenSanity]

Thanks for the compliment on my restraint Jean! 😀It wasn't easy! I missed my window on pruning several evergreens as well. Will I ever prune my boxwoods again? (That's what the boxwoods are wondering!) 😂

[@annak3015]

I share your love of the boulevard cypress! Is your boulevard cypress in full sun? I got one this past spring and I think it was too shady where I had it. The poor little shrub had lots of browning this fall and I want it to thrive and grow to look just like yours!

[@GardenSanity]

Hi Anna -- Glad to meet a fellow gardener who loves this shrub! Yes, mine is in full sun -- but does get a bit of afternoon shade which is fine. For any browning, you can gently remove those browning needles. Wear garden gloves, so you don't irritate your fingers while doing this. Browning needles in the Fall is actually a natural part of the growing process of evergreens, so no worries! Here's a video I made that explains what happens in the Fall: kzbin.info/www/bejne/rnSqdnp9nppmpJIsi=_doFBPkXaRmINJ9U 🌲 I hope this helps!

[@SandiManuel-k3u]

Hi Laura, thank you for your videos. I am a beginner gardener. Not only don’t I see many of these C. Pisiferas, but it’s hard to find info about their care and their issues. I have a newish C. Pisifera Curly Tops that I bought because of the fabulous blue-green texture but it has had a lot of browning at the bottom and inside. I’m in southern Ohio, zone 6b and the shrub is in a west-facing front yard that is full sun. I did trim out some brown yesterday and I’m trying not to panic about the future of this fine specimen, but I am worried about it. Any recommendations?

[@toocool7202]

I appreciate how detailed you are with your love of cypress! I see you have a golden mop. My neighbor gave me 5-year old Japanese golden mop false cypress a few weeks ago. Zone 6, full sun. We have had unusually humid weather with lots of rain... my beautiful cypress is now crunchy brown on the tips. Is there anything I can do to revive it? #GreenThumbTurnedBrown

[@GardenSanity]

Hmmm.... humid weather with lots of rain should prevent your cypress from having crunchy brown on the tips. So what I think it actually happening is your recently planted gold mop is still adjusting to its new home. You didn't do anything wrong, but when evergreen shrubs are planted during the Summer - especially in the "icky" weather - it's best to make sure they are getting enough water. I know that sounds crazy with the fact you've had lots of rain, but if the tips are getting brown, it means the plant needs more water than it's receiving. 💦 You can clip off those brown tips, it won't harm the shrub. When it rains on a shrub, the water mostly falls to the "drip line" in the soil, which is where the shrubs limbs go out width-wise around the shrub. And that's usually fine, because the roots underground have already traveled that far as well. But with newly planted shrubs, sometimes their leaves or needles will be out "farther" than the roots are, so those roots may not be getting as much water as they need initially. Give your gold mop a few good waterings at the base of the shrub, underneath all of the stems, and that should help the shrub better take in water. I hope this helps! Keep me posted.

[@sunabubus]

9:50-9:54 it seems like you have 2 competing leaders? Is that "safe"? Rain and snow often splays evergreens that have competing leaders.

[@GardenSanity]

You're right -- I saw that too! 👍And you're also right about the rain and snow. I'll wait to deal with that competing leader in the Springtime but yes, I think that will just add to the shrub being wider than I want if I keep it there. A little research project for me during the winter! Thanks for mentioning it! 🌲🙂

[@earthchavez8032]

I live in New York and now I notice that inside foliage is turning yellow. Is it normal? or should I trim it because it's too dense?

[@willaerley7140]

Laura, you did good! I would leave six inches of that lower branch, too. Just so people know, these do not like being sheared. I visited my neighbors house just to get a look at their Pom Pom BC. It was miserable. It had burnt spots and it totally loses that soft mossy texture.

[@GardenSanity]

Thanks Will! 😊 And thanks for giving me the idea to do this, too. Great point about shearing - and I’ll definitely say this when I do a video on pruning next Spring. What did you say to your neighbor? 🫣🤥🫢 If an evergreen shrub is purchased for it’s beautiful texture, why would the purchaser then want to shear it? I’ve never understood this. And if Pom Pom BC is done correctly, it is hand pruned, little by little - almost like a large version of bonsai. Of course you know this already. 🙂 And I’ll leave 6” on that stem. 👍 It will be the first thing I prune so I can stop obsessing about it.

[@willaerley7140]

@@GardenSanity I kept quiet. I think my neighbor bought the house with it like that. Not fixable. I saw some BC for sale locally. $20 for these tiny little starts. Crazy. Maybe, because they grow slow, the nurseries don’t stock them.

[@GardenSanity]

@@willaerley7140 It's a shame that shrub isn't fixable -- and what's also a shame is how many videos I see where these shrubs -- and similar -- are being sheared. For me, it's the equivalent of watching a horror movie! 😮🤣

[@QueenGail]

Love your channel and the interaction between your subscribers that brings even more information to those of us (me) that are still learning Blessings to all 💜💚

[@GardenSanity]

Thank you so much Gail -- I agree that we all learn from each other. 💡📚 I'm still learning too -- gardening is a lifelong learning adventure! 😃