Weeping Canadian hemlock
Tsuga canadensis 'Pendula' · Pinaceae
A broad mound of overlapping, weeping branches, like a green waterfall, wider than tall. Also called Sargent's weeping hemlock.
- Size
- 5 ft tall, 10 ft wide
- Zones
- 4 to 7
- Light
- Part sun to shade
- Flowers
- Grown for its leaves
- Pets
- No toxicity recorded
- Job in a bed
- Specimen
A bed built around weeping Canadian hemlock
The planner designed this bed around weeping Canadian hemlock when this page was made: a 30 × 14 ft (9.1 × 4.3 m) English border in zone 6, part shade. It chose the other plants from the 513 that suit those conditions, and says below why weeping Canadian hemlock stands where it does.
The plants
- 1 Weeping Canadian hemlock × 1, dark green leaves
- 2 Leadwort × 35, blue
- 3 Green-and-gold × 24, yellow
- 4 Korean rhododendron 'Cornell Pink' × 1, pink
- 5 Japanese anemone 'Honorine Jobert' × 11, white
- 6 Astilbe × 8, red
- 7 Astilbe 'Fanal' × 21, red
- 8 Jacob's ladder 'Stairway to Heaven' × 10, blue
- 9 Siberian bugloss × 8, blue
- 10 Woodland phlox × 21, lavender
- 11 Rose turtlehead × 21, pink
- 12 Winter aconite × 29, yellow
- 13 Snowdrop × 27, white
- 14 Giant snowdrop × 24, white
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 Korean rhododendron 'Cornell Pink'.
Why here
- Anchors a back corner. At 5 ft it is one of the taller plants here, and the tallest close the ends of the bed, where they stand in front of nothing.
- A step in the back row. Next to Japanese anemone 'Honorine Jobert' (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 8 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: 34 of the 38 groups (89%) are drifts, longer along the bed than they are deep. The bed is balanced: the left half carries 49% of the visual weight and the right half 51%. In winter there is still weeping Canadian hemlock to look at.
The planner's own design check: 13 Excellent, 4 Good.
Open this bed in the planner Change its size, the sun or the style, move plants about, or swap one for another.
Where weeping Canadian hemlock goes in a border
At 5 ft it belongs at the back of a bed. In the planner's ten height classes it is tall (4 to 5 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.
One of the finest evergreen specimens for shade, and beautiful under snow. It needs cool, moist, acid soil and shelter. Where the woolly adelgid is present it needs treatment.
- A weeping evergreen specimen
- Beside water or rocks
- Shade
What to plant with weeping Canadian hemlock
Plants recorded as good partners for it, and what each pairing does:
- Japanese forest grass: low enough (18 in) to stand in front of it; happy in the same moist soil.
- Hosta: bold leaves against its fine ones; low enough (18 in) to stand in front of it; happy in the same moist soil.
- Christmas fern: low enough (20 in) to stand in front of it.
Questions about weeping Canadian hemlock
Does weeping Canadian hemlock need sun or shade?
Weeping Canadian hemlock grows in part sun (4 to 6 hours of sun, including some afternoon sun), part shade (2 to 4 hours of sun, mostly in the morning) and shade (less than 2 hours of direct sun, or bright dappled light). It is one of the few that also put up with deep shade.
It wants soil that stays evenly moist, rich in organic matter, and a good soak in dry spells.
What zones does weeping Canadian hemlock grow in?
USDA zones 4 to 7. It is hardy to zone 4, which means it survives winter nights down to about −20 °F (−29 °C).
Above zone 7 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 weeping Canadian hemlock be planted?
8 ft (250 cm) apart, from the middle of one plant to the middle of the next. That is a little closer than its full width of 10 ft (300 cm), so a group knits into one patch.
It grows 5 ft (150 cm) tall. Give it the full distance from anything taller, or it will lean out towards the light.
How many weeping Canadian hemlock plants do I need?
Usually one. At 8 ft (250 cm) across, it is a plant you place, not one you mass. For a hedge or screen, set them 8 ft apart: two plants for a 10 ft run.
In the bed above, the planner used one in one group.
Is weeping Canadian hemlock poisonous to dogs and cats?
No toxicity is recorded for dogs, cats, horses or people, according to NC State Extension and the ASPCA.
"Not toxic" is not "edible": a pet that eats a lot of any plant can be sick.
Do deer eat weeping Canadian hemlock?
Mostly not. NC State lists it as resistant to deer. No plant is proof against a hungry deer in a hard winter, but this one is low on the menu.
What does weeping Canadian hemlock look like in winter?
Weeping Canadian hemlock keeps its dark green leaves all winter, so it is one of the plants that hold a bed together from November to March, when the perennials have gone.
Is weeping Canadian hemlock good for bees and butterflies?
Weeping Canadian hemlock is visited by moths and songbirds.
It is native to the United States and Canada (this is a named variety of the native plant).
More Tsuga
- Dwarf hemlock 'Jeddeloh' Tsuga canadensis 'Jeddeloh'
In these guides
Every fact on record
- Type
- Shrub
- Size
- 5 ft (150 cm) tall, 10 ft (300 cm) wide
- Plant
- 8 ft (250 cm) apart
- Height class
- Tall (4 to 5 ft)
- Place in the bed
- Back
- Flowers
- None: grown for its foliage
- Leaves
- Fine texture, evergreen; dark green
- Shape
- Arching, clumping
- Hardy in
- USDA zones 4 to 7
- Light
- Part sun, part shade, shade
- Soil
- Rich, evenly moist
- Water
- Moderate
- Feeding
- None needed
- Family
- Pinaceae
- Comes from
- North Central and Eastern U.S.A., Eastern Canada
- Attracts
- Moths, songbirds
- Stands up to
- Deer, deep shade, black walnut
Checked against NC State Extension, ASPCA poison lists and VASCAN (plants of Canada). 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.