Garden Scheme
Plant library · Conifers & Evergreens
Chamaecyparis obtusa
Hinoki Cypress is a slow-growing evergreen conifer with layered, fan-like sprays that holds its presence through every season. Reaching about 50 feet tall and 15 feet wide, it is best treated as a permanent structural tree rather than a filler between faster-changing plantings. Its tall, narrow footprint suits a lawn specimen, the back of a broad border, or a substantial evergreen boundary.
Space Hinoki Cypress 15 ft apart, measured center to center (4.6 m).
The mature spread is about 15 ft (4.6 m), so neighboring plants just meet at maturity without crowding.
Treat 15 ft as a planning baseline — cultivar and local growing conditions shift the final footprint.
Give Hinoki Cypress an open position where its eventual height will not crowd rooflines, overhead wires, or smaller trees. Use one as a focal point with clear viewing space around its lower branches, or repeat plants along a large property edge where the mature canopy can read as a continuous evergreen screen. Keep it well back from narrow walks and entries so its branch spread does not reduce circulation as the tree fills out.
Space plants 15 feet apart, center to center, for a row that can develop into a close evergreen boundary. A mature plant can spread about 15 feet wide, so leave that same clearance from walls, fences, paths, and neighboring woody plants when an individual tree needs room to show its form. In a mixed bed, reserve the foreground for plantings that can be reached without working beneath the expanding canopy.
Place it in full sun and plan for regular watering, particularly while it is becoming established. Moist, well-drained ground supports the intended use; avoid low spots or compacted sites that remain wet, and favor a location with some shelter from strong wind. Build irrigation access into the layout before surrounding the tree with permanent planting.[1][2]
Evergreen foliage keeps Hinoki Cypress visually active in winter, making it useful where a bed or boundary would otherwise look bare. Its slow growth means the initial planting can appear more open than the long-term plan. Preserve its allotted space instead of filling gaps with shrubs that will later compete for light and root room.
This is a tree for a large, settled space within USDA Zones 5 through 8. Do not site it where future widening of a drive, path, or foundation bed is likely, or where its mature shade would conflict with sun-dependent planting nearby. Leave a clear maintenance route around the planting area while the tree is young.