Cryptomeria japonica ‘Globosa Nana’ (The Green Poodle)

An obscure variant of a variant of a large Japanese conifer. It's dense, round, slow growing, extremely fluffy and everyone wants one. You can grow it in sun or shade but light shade is ideal as the foliage remains dark green. This, as with many conifers, can get slightly bleached in full sun. They might reach 6 ft x 6 ft after 15 years or more but can be trimmed with shears in the spring. They'll look a bit odd immediately after clipping but the new growth will soon mask the cut ends. These plants can be problematic and watering seems to be the trouble. Sometimes they'll go a bronzey colour. Sometimes they recover, sometimes they don't. As we never lose them on the nursery (where they are connected to an automatic watering system) we have to assume this problem is associated with watering. Too little and they will wilt and die quite quickly but will often recover if given a drink in time. Too much (boggy conditions) and they'll wilt and won't recover. They need a good soil - water retentive with a high organic content. These plants are grafted in Italy.

Bon chance!

N.B. When clipping several plants with the same tool, have a bucket containing a 5% bleach solution and swish your blades around for 30 seconds between plants to sterilise them. This will help avoid the chance of cross contamination of disease.

As with all woody plants, plant high, exposing as much of the taper at the base of the trunk as possible. Allowing soil to accumulate round the base of a tree can be fatal. Keep very well watered when first planted.

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