Karl Fuchs Himalayan Cedar

The Himalayan Cedar is already known for beauty, but the Karl Fuchs Himalayan Cedar easily surpasses the wild tree. It has exceptionally long needles – 1½ inches long – which gives it a softer, more graceful look, and the silvery blue coloring is simply gorgeous. Young needles are a striking blue, highlighted by the greener blue of the older branches deeper inside the tree. It has a more pendulous habit than the wild tree too, especially noticeable as it matures, with the horizontal branches developing pendulous, weeping tips. The central trunk also has a more weeping leading tip, adding to the grace and beauty of this outstanding tree. Young trees grow as much as 18 inches a year, so within 10 years your tree will easily be 10 feet tall and 6 feet wide. After that growth slows to perhaps 8 inches a year, but in time it will reach 30 feet or more, and be 20 feet across, so allow plenty of room when planting. It is ideal as a lawn specimen, but also great at the back of shrub beds, along a fence or in the angle between walls as part of your foundation planting.

• Soft look with longer needles than normally seen in this species
• Graceful central stem surrounded by horizontal branches weeping towards their ends
• A wonderful specimen out on a lawn, or against your home
• More cold resistant than others, hardy in zone 6
• More adaptable to damper soils, but still needs good drainage

The Karl Fuchs Himalayan Cedar is cold resistant, growing well even in zone 6. It should be planted in full sun for the best foliage coloring, and grows in most types of soil, as long as they are well-drained. This variety is more adaptable to moist soil than other varieties, and is also drought tolerant once well-established. It isn’t bothered by deer and remains generally free of pests or diseases, making this a very easy and rewarding tree to grow. Don’t trim, as this easily destroys the graceful weeping form, but watch that only one central stem develops, removing any competing stems if necessary, as multiple trunks can lead to splitting in the future. Side branches can be pruned by hand to keep a narrower profile, but always cut just in front of a top branch, so that the cut is hidden and the natural form preserved.