Threadleaf false cypress 'Golden Mop'
Chamaecyparis pisifera 'Golden Mop' · Cupressaceae Popular
A shaggy, weeping mound of golden-yellow, thread-like foliage that keeps its colour all year. It grows slowly and needs no pruning.
- Size
- 3½ ft tall, 4 ft wide
- Zones
- 4 to 8
- Light
- Full sun
- Flowers
- Grown for its leaves
- Pets
- No toxicity recorded
- Job in a bed
- Specimen
A bed built around threadleaf false cypress 'Golden Mop'
The planner designed this bed around threadleaf false cypress 'Golden Mop' when this page was made: a 16 × 8 ft (4.9 × 2.4 m) English border in zone 6, full sun. It chose the other plants from the 966 that suit those conditions, and says below why threadleaf false cypress 'Golden Mop' stands where it does.
The plants
- 1 Threadleaf false cypress 'Golden Mop' × 1, chartreuse leaves
- 2 Bloody cranesbill 'Max Frei' × 11, pink
- 3 Leadwort × 24, blue
- 4 Sweet coneflower 'Henry Eilers' × 3, yellow
- 5 Tatarian aster 'Jindai' × 3, purple
- 6 Gray's sedge × 3, green
- 7 Scarlet coral bells × 8, white
- 8 Daffodil × 7, orange
- 9 Camassia × 5, blue
- 10 Red spider lily × 3, red
Why this plant
- The only plant grown for its leaves. Leaf lasts all season, where a flower lasts a few weeks.
- Part of the bed's structure. Shrubs and grasses keep their shape when the perennials die down. So does Gray's sedge.
Why here
- At the back. At 3½ ft it is seen over leadwort (10 in) in front of it, and has nothing behind it to hide.
- A step in the back row. Next to Gray's sedge (2½ ft) and Tatarian aster 'Jindai' (4 ft): no two neighbours there are the same height, so the back steps up and down like a skyline.
- One plant, alone. A shrub is seen as an object, and needs clear ground around it.
Why now
- Here for its leaves, all year. They cover the 9 weeks between early March and late November when nothing on the plan is in flower.
- The only leaves in winter. From November to March it is what there is to look at.
Planned as an English border: 9 of the 11 groups (82%) are drifts, longer along the bed than they are deep. The bed is balanced: the left half carries 52% of the visual weight and the right half 48%. The flowering is at its height in late May, with 4 kinds out together.
The planner's own design check: 14 Excellent, 3 Good. It flags one thing to watch: Nothing on this plan is highly poisonous or an aggressive spreader.
Open this bed in the planner Change its size, the sun or the style, move plants about, or swap one for another.
Where threadleaf false cypress 'Golden Mop' goes in a border
At 3½ ft it belongs at the back of a bed. In the planner's ten height classes it is moderately tall (3 to 4 ft).
Its job: specimen. A feature plant with a shape of its own. It stands alone with room around it, and repeats only at a distance.
A bright gold mop is a strong accent, so use it once or twice and not in a row. It is brightest in full sun, and at its best beside blue junipers.
- Gold evergreen colour
- Contrast with blue and dark green conifers
- Winter interest
What to plant with threadleaf false cypress 'Golden Mop'
Plants recorded as good partners for it, and what each pairing does:
- Juniper 'Blue Star': low enough (24 in) to stand in front of it.
- Sedum 'Autumn Joy': adds the flowers, mid August to mid October; bold leaves against its fine ones; low enough (24 in) to stand in front of it.
- Blue fescue: low enough (10 in) to stand in front of it.
Questions about threadleaf false cypress 'Golden Mop'
Does threadleaf false cypress 'Golden Mop' need sun or shade?
Threadleaf false cypress 'Golden Mop' grows in full sun (6 or more hours of direct sun a day).
It wants ordinary well-drained soil, of average fertility, and a good soak in dry spells. Once settled in, it stands drought.
What zones does threadleaf false cypress 'Golden Mop' grow in?
USDA zones 4 to 8. It is hardy to zone 4, which means it survives winter nights down to about −20 °F (−29 °C).
Above zone 8 it struggles: the zones measure winter cold, but a plant's top zone usually means the summers are too hot or the winters too mild for it to rest.
Gardening in Canada? Use the USDA zone for your town: Canada's own zone map uses different numbers.
How far apart should threadleaf false cypress 'Golden Mop' be planted?
3½ ft (100 cm) apart, from the middle of one plant to the middle of the next. That is a little closer than its full width of 4 ft (120 cm), so a group knits into one patch.
It grows 3½ ft (100 cm) tall. Give it the full distance from anything taller, or it will lean out towards the light.
How many threadleaf false cypress 'Golden Mop' plants do I need?
At 3½ ft apart, set out in staggered rows:
- 1 to fill 10 square feet (about 1 m²)
- 4 for a single row 10 ft (3 m) long
- 3 to fill a 4 × 8 ft bed on its own
In a mixed border, plant it as one, with clear ground around it: a feature plant is seen as an object, and a group of them is a thicket.
In the bed above, the planner used one in one group.
Is threadleaf false cypress 'Golden Mop' poisonous to dogs and cats?
No toxicity is recorded for dogs, cats, horses or people, according to NC State Extension.
"Not toxic" is not "edible": a pet that eats a lot of any plant can be sick.
Is there a native plant like threadleaf false cypress 'Golden Mop'?
Threadleaf false cypress 'Golden Mop' comes from Japan. These North American natives come closest to doing its job:
- Dwarf balsam fir: the same job in a bed; belongs in the middle, not at the back, 16 in shorter.
- Dwarf blue spruce: the same job in a bed; 8 in taller, 20 in wider.
- Deer grass: the same job in a bed; 8 in taller, flowers early August to early October.
Matched the way the planner's Swap button matches plants: the same job in a bed, then size, then flowering time.
Do deer eat threadleaf false cypress 'Golden Mop'?
They may. NC State does not list it as resistant to deer or rabbits. Where they visit, protect it, or plant it among ones they avoid.
What does threadleaf false cypress 'Golden Mop' look like in winter?
Threadleaf false cypress 'Golden Mop' keeps its chartreuse leaves all winter, so it is one of the plants that hold a bed together from November to March, when the perennials have gone. It is grown for winter interest as well.
More Chamaecyparis
- Dwarf Hinoki cypress Chamaecyparis obtusa 'Nana Gracilis'
- Sawara cypress 'Boulevard' Chamaecyparis pisifera 'Boulevard'
In these guides
Every fact on record
- Type
- Shrub
- Size
- 3½ ft (100 cm) tall, 4 ft (120 cm) wide
- Plant
- 3½ ft (100 cm) apart
- Height class
- Moderately tall (3 to 4 ft)
- Place in the bed
- Back
- Flowers
- None: grown for its foliage
- Leaves
- Fine texture, evergreen; chartreuse
- Shape
- Mounding, clumping
- Hardy in
- USDA zones 4 to 8
- Light
- Full sun
- Soil
- Average, well-drained
- Water
- Moderate
- Feeding
- Light, in spring
- Family
- Cupressaceae
- Comes from
- Japan
- Stands up to
- Drought
Checked against NC State Extension. Flowering times are for zone 5: later in colder zones, earlier in warmer ones. Toxicity and spread information is a general gardening guide, not veterinary or medical advice, and invasive status varies by region. If a person or pet eats a plant, contact poison control or a vet. Check your local invasive species list before planting anything with a spread warning.