Illustration
Falling Waters
Taxodium distichum 'Falling Waters'
Falling Waters is grown for its foliage rather than flowers, giving the garden structure and color all season long.
Months here are Northern Hemisphere months; in the Southern Hemisphere, shift them by six months.
Growing Falling Waters
Plant it in full sun. It prefers high water. It is hardy in USDA zones 4–9. Expect it to reach about 20 ft tall and 6.5 ft wide at maturity, in roughly 18 years (not yet checked).
No toxicity note is on file for Falling Waters. That is not a clearance: check its safety for people and pets before planting.
What was checked
Mature height and spread, hardiness zones, sun and the trait tags were checked against named botanical sources for this plant. The bloom months and water need on this page were not, and each fact above says which. The planting, spacing and size sections are derived from these checked facts by a fixed rule, not checked separately, and the plant type is the library's own classification.
When to plant Falling Waters
Plant Falling Waters in spring once the soil is workable, or by very early fall at the latest: an evergreen needs its roots down well before the ground freezes. In zone 6, the middle of its hardy zones 4 to 9, that is March to May, or August on the fall side.
Month-by-month timing for your zone is on the planting calendar; if you garden near zone 6, the middle of this plant's hardy range, start with zone 6 in March. Derived from the plant's category, zones and bloom months plus typical zone frost dates, not checked separately.
How big does Falling Waters get?
20 fttall5 ft 7 inan adult6.5 ftwideSee Falling Waters in a garden plan: the planner shows it in 3D beside everything else you add, growing toward this size over the years.
How far apart to plant Falling Waters
Derived from the mature spread above by a fixed rule, not checked separately: spacing is the spread, center to center.
Space Falling Waters about 6.5 ft apart, center to center, so each plant has room to reach its full width.
Add Falling Waters to a garden plan and the planner draws it at its full width, so you see the spacing before you buy.
Where these facts come from
Falling Waters' height, spread, hardiness zones, sun and trait tags were checked against 7 published sources on July 29, 2026. Each one is linked below with every fact it carried, which can include a fact this page still marks as not yet checked, because a source carrying a value is not the same as the value being held to the standard. Facts not in that list, and the planting, spacing and size sections, are not covered by these sources.
- Purdue ArboretumExplorerheight, spread, hardiness zones and sun
- singtree.comSinging Tree Gardens Nurseryheight, spread, hardiness zones and sun
- atlantabg.orgAtlanta Botanical Gardenheight, spread and sun
- NC State Extensionspecies page, zones and sun onlyhardiness zones, sun and trait tags
- Chicago Botanic GardenPlant Finderhardiness zones and sun
- Missouri Botanical Gardenspecies page, zones and sun onlyhardiness zones and sun
- mrmaple.comMr Maple (nursery cultivar spotlight)hardiness zones
How the checking works, and what each standard covers, is on the verified plants page.
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Drop this plant onto a 3D plan, see how it fills in, and watch your whole garden bloom across the year.