Illustration
Hinoki Cypress
Chamaecyparis obtusa
Also called hinoki falsecypress, hinoki false cypress and japanese cypress
Hinoki Cypress 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 Hinoki Cypress
Plant it in full sun. It prefers moderate water. It is hardy in USDA zones 4–8. Expect it to reach about 50 ft tall and 15 ft wide at maturity, in roughly 20 years (a house reading).
No toxicity note is on file for Hinoki Cypress. That is not a clearance: check its safety for people and pets before planting.
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.
When to plant Hinoki Cypress
Plant Hinoki 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 Hinoki Cypress get?
50 fttall5 ft 7 inan adult15 ftwideSee Hinoki 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 Hinoki Cypress
Derived from the mature spread above by a fixed rule, not checked separately: spacing is the spread, center to center.
Give Hinoki Cypress about 15 ft of clear ground in every direction, measured from its center. It is one plant with room around it, not a row, and a raised bed is too small for it.
Add Hinoki 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
Hinoki Cypress' height, spread, hardiness zones, sun, water, trait tags, soil, diseases, pests and toxicity were checked against 9 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: Hinoki Cypress bears no flowers, so there is no bloom window for a source to carry.
- Missouri Botanical GardenPlant Finderheight, spread, hardiness zones, sun, water, trait tags, soil, diseases and pests
- NC State ExtensionPlant Toolboxheight, spread, hardiness zones, sun, water, trait tags, soil, diseases and pests
- Plants For A Futureheight, hardiness zones, sun, water, soil, diseases, pests and toxicity
- The Morton Arboretumheight, spread, hardiness zones, sun, water, soil and diseases
- wasconursery.comWasco Nursery & Garden Center (St. Charles, Illinois)height, spread, sun, water, trait tags and diseases
- Oregon State UniversityLandscape Plantsheight, spread, hardiness zones and trait tags
- Utah State University ExtensionTreeBrowserhardiness zones, sun, water and trait tags
- Chicago Botanic GardenPlant Finderhardiness zones, trait tags and pests
- conifersociety.orgAmerican Conifer Society Conifer Databaseheight
How the checking works, and what each standard covers, is on the verified plants page.
4 more varieties in the Hinoki & False Cypress group
Same genus, similar care - pick the one you are growing.
Compare every variety in the Hinoki & False Cypress group
Every figure is the variety's own page fact. Tap a name to open it.
| Variety | Color | Blooms | Hardiness | Sun | Size (H × W) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Boulevard False | Foliage | Foliage plant | Zones 4–8 | Part shade | 5.5 ft × 3 ft |
| Golden Mop False | Foliage | Foliage plant | Zones 4–8 | Part shade | 2.5 ft × 2.5 ft |
| Hinokithis page | Foliage | Foliage plant | Zones 4–8 | Full sun | 50 ft × 15 ft |
| Nana Gracilis | Foliage | Foliage plant | Zones 4–8 | Full sun | 3.5 ft × 2.5 ft |
| Slender | Foliage | Foliage plant | Zones 4–8 | Full sun | 6 ft × 2.5 ft |
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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.