What Grows Well With an Italian Cypress?

Cultural Requirements

• Evergreen Italian cypresses are noted for their tall, columnar growth habit and dark-green foliage. Mature trees reach 20 to 60 feet high and 3 to 5 feet wide, with a moderate growth rate. They require full sun and tolerate a range of soil types. Italian cypress trees are suited to United States Department of Agriculture Plant Hardiness Zones 7 to 11, or in Sunset Western Garden zones 4 through 24, and H1 and H2. They do not tolerate winter temperatures below 0 degrees F. Choose companion plants with similar cultural requirements for a garden featuring Italian cypress trees.

Trees

• Magnolia trees thrive in low-frost regions, producing large, showy pink, red, purple, yellow or white flowers in spring or summer. Trees range from 10 to 50 feet high and 10 to 35 feet wide. Spreading or upright canopies contrast attractively with vertical Italian cypresses. Crape myrtle trees are colorful summer-blooming trees reaching 10 to 30 feet tall, depending on the variety. Flowers in shades of white, cream, pink, red or purple through the summer give way to brilliant fall foliage for long-season contrast in front of or among Italian cypress trees. Deciduous trees such as willows or flowering plum or pear trees are excellent choices for some areas.

Shrubs

• Photina shrubs are related to hawthorn. Brightly colored red, burgundy or orange new growth matures to dark-green. Spreading, rounded shrubs grow 6 to 20 feet high and wide, and can be trained as small multi-trunked trees. White spring flowers produce colorful berries lasting into winter. Birds are attracted to the fruit. Photina shrubs offer a dramatic contrast in color and shape to Italian cypress trees. Bright evergreen boxwood shrubs trained formally or as topiary complement a stately backdrop of Italian cypress trees. Informal boxwood borders offer a pleasing contrast.

Garden Plants

• Flowerbeds filled with colorful, long-season plants visually excite the area in front of an Italian cypress backdrop. Plant a formal rose garden bordered with boxwood for a serious statement. Lavender, yarrow, coneflowers, phlox and various salvias in any combination create an informal cottage garden. Agaves, yuccas and other succulent plants lend a Mediterranean feel to the garden featuring Italian cypresses.

Italian Cypress Varieties

• Tiny Tower is a slow-growing variety to 8 feet high and 2 feet wide. Swane's Golden is an especially narrow grower with new growth in bright, golden-yellow. Glauca and Wichita Blue have blue-green foliage. Horizontalis is a horizontal branching variety. Select Italian cypress trees in color, growth habit and expected size at maturity for your landscape requirements.