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Permanently uncombed, entirely on purpose 🧶
Family: Cupressaceae · Pot diameter: 15cm · Height: 30cm
Chamaecyparis ‘filifera nana’ looks as though it has allowed its green threads to fall freely — and that is precisely its charm. Fine cord-like tips hang from a dense woody base and gradually transform the young rounded crown into a low, broad form with natural movement. It remains green throughout the year and brings distinctive texture to a pot, rock garden or the front of a border.
Alone in a pot it resembles a small green sculpture; among stone, gravel and broad-leaved plants, it supplies the movement a static composition needs. The hanging tips soften strict lines, while the deep green connects easily with surrounding colours. It is a calm but distinctive presence that becomes more beautiful as its ‘threads’ gain length and character.
This long-established selection stands out for its genuine threadlike branching, rather than a shape imposed by surface clipping.
Elongated slender terminal branches hang into a corded texture that moves gently.
The young round cushion gradually opens into a lower, flatter and wider silhouette.
Evergreen foliage holds the structure when seasonal perennials recede.
Why you will love it: it gives the resilience and permanence of a conifer, but with relaxed movement that resembles a loosely knitted green textile.
Plant in a pot, rock garden or front border with clear space around the hanging tips. Give morning light and afternoon shelter in very hot regions, plus rapid drainage.
Choose lower companions with broad or strap-like foliage and avoid plants that will tangle through the hanging perimeter.
Sun or bright partial shade; morning light is preferable in very hot sites.
Water moderately and deeply when the upper layer dries, without permanent root saturation.
Very cold hardy in free-draining soil, but a hot pot and dry wind need attention.
For ornamental use only; discourage children and pets from chewing foliage or wood.
Give it enough light to keep the crown from becoming loose. In intense south-facing heat, morning sun is the safer choice.
Water thoroughly when the top few centimetres dry, then let surplus water drain away immediately. Check containers more often in summer.
It needs fertile, loose, slightly acidic to neutral soil with excellent drainage.
A small amount of slow-release fertiliser in spring is enough. Excess produces long, weak and sparser growth.
Keep the roots cool without burying the root collar, and protect the foliage from hot, dry air.
Remove individual dry threads and, only when necessary, shorten green tips. Do not cut back into bare old wood.
Gently lift the threads and remove dry debris by hand to improve airflow, taking care not to damage the living shoots.
When the roots fill the pot or water struggles to pass through, move it into a pot one size larger and keep the root collar at the same depth.
The woody framework is hidden and short thread tips make a rounded mass.
Outer branches lengthen, hang and reveal small windows into the inner skeleton.
The top becomes lower and flatter while long cords fall around a crown about 0.5–1m across.
The mature crown is broad and relatively flat rather than a perfect ball, with long cord-like terminal shoots falling around the edge.
The evergreen foliage does not adopt a different summer and winter architecture; the true visible change is development with age.
What to expect after planting: The young crown will remain fairly compact at first. As the plant roots in and the outer tips lengthen, its silhouette opens naturally; do not shear it into a perfect ball if you want the threads to show.
Known today as Chamaecyparis pisifera ‘Filifera Nana’, this dwarf threadleaf selection belongs to a Japanese species but followed a distinctly European horticultural journey.
During the 1880s the cultivar was associated with dendrological collections at Tharandt in Saxony. By 1897 the name ‘Filifera Nana’ had entered German literature linked with the eminent conifer specialist Ludwig Beissner, though the first selector and exact date were not recorded. Historical references give varying mature sizes, which is unsurprising for a slow-growing conifer whose dimensions change with age, climate and cultivation.
The thread-like effect does not come from long individual leaves. It is created by slender, elongated terminal branchlets that hang and move as complete green cords.
Tiny overlapping scale-like leaves lie closely against the slender branchlets, creating a continuous surface along every hanging tip.
Young plants are rounded, but the elongated terminal branchlets become increasingly pendulous with age, opening the crown into a low, broad mound.
Six answers about its true mature size, threadlike growth and long-term care.
No. With slow growth over many years it may reach roughly 0.5–1m in height and spread.
A broad, relatively flat and pendulous outline is correct; uneven threads are a feature, not a defect.
Yes for many years, with free drainage, moisture checks and gradual repotting as roots fill the space.
No. Shearing removes the characteristic thread-like movement.
Some interior shedding is normal; widespread browning may reflect drought, waterlogging, hot wind, salts or hard pruning.
It grows slowly. The young rounded crown opens gradually and its thread-like tips lengthen as the plant establishes, so it needs space around it but little routine shaping.
