Golden Mop False Cypress (Chamaecyparis pisifera 'Golden Mop') - foliage plant, illustrated plant cardIllustration

Golden Mop False Cypress

Chamaecyparis pisifera 'Golden Mop'

Also called gold mop false cypress, golden mop sawara cypress, golden mop threadbranch cypress, golden mop chamaecyparis and filifera nana aurea

Golden Mop False Cypress is grown for its foliage rather than flowers, giving the garden structure and color all season long.

Bloom time
Foliage plant
checked
Hardiness
Zones 4–8
checked
Sun
Part shade
checked
Water
Moderate water
checked
Mature size
2.5 ft × 2.5 ft
checked
Type
Conifer
house classification

Months here are Northern Hemisphere months; in the Southern Hemisphere, shift them by six months.

Growing Golden Mop False Cypress

Plant it in part shade. It prefers moderate water. It is hardy in USDA zones 4–8. Expect it to reach about 2.5 ft tall and 2.5 ft wide at maturity, in roughly 10 years (checked).

No toxicity note is on file for Golden Mop False Cypress. That is not a clearance: check its safety for people and pets before planting.

Verification
What was checked

Mature height and spread, hardiness zones, sun, water, bloom months and color and the trait tags were checked against named botanical sources for this plant, with what the sources could not settle written down; years to mature size rests on a recorded house rule where no publisher states one, and is marked so; its common name and alternate names have not been checked yet. Each fact above carries its own mark. 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.

See the 10 sources it was checked against

When to plant Golden Mop False Cypress

Plant Golden Mop False Cypress 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 8, 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 Golden Mop False Cypress get?

Illustration of Golden Mop False Cypress drawn to scale beside an adult2.5 fttall5 ft 7 inan adult2.5 ftwide
About 2.5 ft tall and 2.5 ft wide at maturity: thigh-high beside an adult.

See Golden Mop False Cypress 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 Golden Mop False Cypress

Derived from the mature spread above by a fixed rule, not checked separately: spacing is the spread, center to center.

Space Golden Mop False Cypress about 2.5 ft apart, center to center, so each plant has room to reach its full width.

Plant them
2.5 ft apart
Per 10 sq ft
about 2
4 by 8 ft bed
about 3

Add Golden Mop False Cypress 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

Golden Mop False Cypress' height, spread, hardiness zones, sun, water, years to mature size, trait tags, soil, diseases, pests and toxicity were checked against 10 published sources on September 26, 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. Bloom was checked as well: Golden Mop False Cypress bears no flowers, so there is no bloom window for a source to carry.

  • Missouri Botanical GardenPlant Finderheight, spread, hardiness zones, sun, water, years to mature size, trait tags, soil, diseases and pests
  • NC State ExtensionPlant Toolboxheight, spread, hardiness zones, sun, water, years to mature size, trait tags, soil, diseases and pests
  • Plant Addictsheight, spread, hardiness zones, sun, water, trait tags, soil and pests
  • Chicago Botanic GardenPlant Finderheight, spread, hardiness zones, sun, years to mature size, trait tags and pests
  • Purdue ArboretumPurdue University Arboretum Explorerheight, spread, hardiness zones, sun, water, trait tags and soil
  • RHSRoyal Horticultural Societyheight, spread, sun, water, trait tags and soil
  • iselinursery.comIseli Nurseryheight, spread, hardiness zones, sun and trait tags
  • conifersociety.orgAmerican Conifer Society Conifer Databaseheight, spread and years to mature size
  • Plant Addictspests and toxicity
  • iselinursery.comIseli Nurseryheight

How the checking works, and what each standard covers, is on the verified plants page.

The Hinoki & False Cypress group

One of 5 in the Hinoki & False Cypress group. Same genus, similar care.

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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.

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