The slender, elegant Italian cypress (Cupressus sempervirens) can grow 40 to 60 feet tall, with a typical width not exceeding 3 to 6 feet. Italian cypress trees grow 12 to 24 inches a year, what horticulturalists define as a medium rate of growth. They can be grown in U.S. Department of Agriculture plant hardiness zones 7b through 11.
Italian Cypress Growth Rate
Italian cypress trees grow from the middle of spring through the middle of fall. Their growth rate varies with age. Young trees can grow 24 inches a year, but that rate slows by almost half when they get from 40 to 50 feet tall. The rate of growth is also affected by climate and conditions. The Italian cypress grows especially well in a Mediterranean climate and at a slower rate in colder climates. It grows best in well-drained sandy loams with lots of sun.
The tall, slender profile of the Italian cypress makes it most appropriate to a large, formal landscape that can accommodate its height and it can also be grown to frame a large building. It has fine, blue-green foliage and upright branches that rarely need pruning. Planted 3 feet apart, Italian cypress trees will form a dense screen.
Slow, Medium and Fast Growing Trees
Rates of growth vary both among trees that belong to different genera and among species of one genus. A low rate of growth is under 12 inches a year. Trees growing at a high rate add 24 or more inches each year. American holly, American beech, Joshua tree and Japanese maple are examples of trees that grow slowly. Scotch pine, European white birch, Douglas fir, European ash and blue spruce grow at a medium rate, similar to the Italian cypress. Silver maple, river birch, European larch and American sycamore are fast growers.
An Alternate Form
When you consider the growth rate of an Italian cypress, you are likely thinking about how fast the tree grows up, not out. However, in its native habitat, this sypress grows in a spreading horizontal form. The botanical name for the horizontal form, rarely available in nurseries, is C. sempervirens var. horizontalis. The tall, columnar form is sometimes listed as C. sempervirens var. sempervirens or C. sempervirens “Stricta.”
- University of Florida Extension: Cupressus Sempervirens: Italian Cypress
- U.S. Forest Service: Cupressus Sempervirens “Glaucua”
- Utah State University Extension: Horticulture Growth Rate
- Floridata: Cypressus Sempervirens
- Missouri Botanical Gardens: Cupressus Sempervirens
- Plants for a Future: Cupressus sempervirens
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