Before I get discuss what cedar is, perhaps I'd better clarify what cedar isn't. Eastern red cedar isn't a Cedrus at all, it's a juniper - Juniperus virginiana (which, BTW, is the "cedar" used as fragrant red cedar woodwork). Eastern white cedar and Western red cedar aren't Cedrus either, they're arborvitae - Thuja occidentalis and Thuja plicata, respectively. Incense cedar, Calocedrus decurrens, is close, but no cigar. Japanese cedar is Cryptomeria japonica.
Confused yet? Now riddle me this.
When is a cedar not a cypress?
When it's a Chamaecyparis. Too add to all this wonderful mess, we have Chamaecyparis lawsoniana, the Port Orford cedar, and Chamaecyparis thyoides, the Western or Atlantic white cedar, which are actually considered false-cypresses (why not false-cedars?)
These distinctions, in the case of Cedrus, are mind-bogglingly important. You could probably confuse Chinese quince (Pseudocydonia sinensis) with Japanese quince (Chaenomeles japonica) for years with little mishap. But the watering requirements for Cedrus are very different than those for false- cypress. And confuse Cedrus with Thuja? Cedrus likes it warm and dry, and has a reputation for being a high-strung, finicky bonsai (although those that grow cedar in something close to its natural Mediterranean climate report great success). Thuja could probably be kicked the length of your yard and stuck in the freezer for a few days. Not, of course, that I recommend this:)
Probably the easiest way to keep things straight is to remember that Cedrus is a very small genera. There are only four kinds of cedar and they all have pointy needles like pines, spruces and firs (the Pinaceae). The impostors (except Cryptomeria) all have scaly, frondlike foliage when mature (family Cupressaceae). All true cedars originated in the Old World - the Mediterranean and the Himalayas. Cedars are large evergreen trees with grey bark - smooth at first, becoming rough with age - and erect, woody cones. Cedar wood has historically been important in commerce, and remains popular today for its fine scent.
Lighting: | Full sun. |
Temperature: | Most will need some frost protection. May need some protection from wind burn to prevent branch dieback in colder areas. |
Watering: | Moderate in summer, reducing as the weather gets colder. Allow the soil to dry somewhat between waterings. Needles turn yellow when overwatered. |
Feeding: | Every two weeks during spring and autumn. Stop feeding during the heat of midsummer. |
Repotting: | Every 3-5 years in spring, Preferably before new white roots appear in February-April, using a fast-draining soil mix. Cedars do not like root disturbance, so repot only when necessary. C. atlas glauca is especially sensitive and needs extra humidity to avoid shedding its needles. If needle loss occurs, buds should soon burst forth. According to the Samsons, cedars do not like to be bare-rooted when being repotted. |
Styling: |
Styling: Pinch back new shoots. Heavy pruning should be avoided,
as the cedar takes quite a long time to heal pruning scars. If it
is necessary, jinning branch stubs may be a more attractive option
than leaving a scarred trunk. Brent shared the following method of
producing large trunks on Cedrus:
>...decide how tall you want your tree to be, six times the >diameter of the trunk is ideal, you can give yourself some >leeway because it will increase in diameter while in >training. Then look for a likely spot to cut the top off, >I look for a set of close internodes around the height I >want, this will give a good apex. About six inches above >this point make a forty five degree angle cut on the BACK >of the tree about halfway through. Grab the top of the tree >and break it, pulling it down and ripping the wood and bark >on the front of the tree. You can pull it down as far as you >want exposed wood to show, all the way to the crown if you >like, but not into the roots or rot will result. When pulled >down to the right position twist and break it as much as >possible to get it free at this point, you may have to do >some cutting, but breaking it free looks more natural. >At the cut portion of the top, split the wood vertically with >branch cutters and pull down bundles of fibers with pliers until >no saw cut marks are visible. The effect that you want is that >of a lightening struck tree. I grab the fibers with the pliers >and roll the pliers down the trunk rather than give a >straight pull, you can exert much more force this way.The tree may be wired at any time, but the branches take a while to set, and the wire may need to be on for three months up to a year (if it's on that long, be sure to check it often to make sure it doesn't cut into the bark!) Dumb things NOT to do: leaf prune (doesn't work), cut new shoots instead of pinching (causes browning tips), catch needles between wire and bark by accident. (And, I might add, style your cedar like the Swamp Thing like the Samsons did, but everyone has a right to his/her own taste!) |
Propagation: |
Soak seeds for 48 hours, then one month cold pre-treatment
before sowing. In my experience, the seeds are suceptible to mold,
and soaking in a weak bleach solution before cold treatment may be
desired. Seeds should be sown in spring. preferably in May. Cedar
seedlings should be potted up and staked after their first year.
Brent posted extensive advice on cedar seed:
> Seed from all the cedars is very easy to germinate, but > extremely sensitive to water and will damp off in an > instant. Soak the seed overnite in warm water, pour off > the water and dry the seed just until the husks become > papery again, it should not be wet to the touch. I put > mine in the sun on paper towels and it takes about > fifteen minutes to reach this stage. Put it in a thin > plastic bag with no paper towels or other medium, just > the seed alone, it has adequate internal moisture. Fold > over the top of the bag do not seal. Put in the > refrigerator at forty degrees F for thirty days or less > if it begins to sprout. Take it out of the fridge. As the > radicals of seeds emerge remove them and plant in a > good well drained medium, regular bonsai soil works well, > lots of grit. Plant it by sticking the radical in the mix > leaving the bulk of the seed out of the soil, this will > help reduce damping off. Usually two or three planting > sessions is necessary to plant all the seed since the > radicals emerge over about 2 weeks. At the end you can > just stick the ungerminated seeds in the mix by pushing > them in point down with the seed sticking in the air. > Water very carefully, waiting for the surface of the mix > to dry before re-watering. Keep the humidity down, don't |