(1/5) Blue Ice Cypress is my all time favorite evergreen. There are four specimens in my yard. Blue Ice Cypress is a type of Arizona Cypress known as Cupressus arizonica glabra ‘Blue Ice’. This tree is a conifer with very pretty silvery blue-gray foliage in dense sprays. The needles are spirally arranged and retain their frosty blue-gray color all year. Male and female flowers occur on the same tree in spring. Dime-sized cones shaped like tiny blue soccer balls occur along with the yellow-tipped pollen bearing spikes. See photos.
I first discovered this lovely evergreen when I attended the Chambersburg Garden Club’s Christmas greens sale. Spikes of this gorgeous blue foliage were interlaced in evergreen holiday wreaths. Their contrast was very striking, and I knew I had to have that tree in my yard. Luckily I found my first quite by accident at a nursery near Hagerstown. Since then I added three more from Ashcombe Nursery in Mechanicsburg who seems to have them every year. A five-foot tree is not very expensive.
Blue Ice trees have a rather fast growth rate of 1.5 to 2.5 feet per year. Consequently they make a very good tree to use as a screen in addition to being specimen trees. They can reach a mature height of 30-50 feet with a mature width of 8-10 feet. Spacing for a screen should be six to eight feet. The trees prefer full sun and are good for zones 6-8. If planted any further south, the trees are susceptible to spider mites from the hotter and drier zones. They are relatively disease resistant. My trees get an annual preventative treatment for needle cast fungus that causes needle browning on interior needles. One tree had it once, so now I just have them all treated as insurance that they maintain their beautiful blue-grey foliage.
Deer are supposed to resist these trees. However, no one mentioned this to the deer that relentlessly attack my plantings. If hungry enough, the deer go after them during winter when food is scarce, especially if snow is on the ground. I keep my trees fenced; otherwise the deer will eat the bottom two to three feet of foliage.
When first planted, monitor the tree for adequate moisture its first year. Keep the tree base elevated in well draining soil. Spread a two to three inch layer of wood chip or shredded bark mulch out to drip line. Do not mound up mulch around the tree trunk. The mulch should be kept away from the trunk to prevent disease and rot. Blue Ice does not need pruning and never cut the top leader. This causes a new double leader to form, rendering the treetop vulnerable to splitting.
Fertilizing the Blue Ice Cypress produces growth results only while the tree is young. A mature specimen does not need the extra nutrients to stimulate growth. Apply a fertilizer once in the middle of spring and then again at end of summer. Avoid applying fertilizer during hot summer months. Use an acid loving shrub and tree fertilizer and follow the recommendations on the package.
These lovely blue-grey trees are just really striking evergreens. Their faster growth is a bonus plus their foliage is dense. Mine are home to birds that both nest and roost in them. A Chambersburg Garden Club member told me she planted nine of them so their Club could harvest the foliage for evergreen wreaths. I cannot bear to trim my trees for wreaths or other holiday decorating. They are just too pretty!
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