Cryptomeria Japonica Sekkan Sugi Japanese Cedar

Cryptomeria Japonica Sekkan Sugi is an RHS AGM-winning evergreen Japanese cedar conifer with semi-pendulous yellow-green foliage that emerges almost cream. It’s a sturdy but beautiful small to medium-sized conifer for urban and country gardens.

Cryptomeria Japonica is the Japanese cedar. It’s native to Japan where it’s been cultivated and crossbred for centuries. The cultivar Cryptomeria Japonica Sekkan Sugi was raised there in the 1900s. It retains Japanese cedar’s tough and attractive characteristics, but it’s a more manageable size for gardens with the addition of colour-changing foliage and unusual cockscombs.

Its semi-pendulous branches hold soft awl-shaped leaves that emerge creamy-yellow and mature to dark green with yellow highlights in winter, hence its name Sekken, which is Japanese for yellow. In autumn, dark brown cones dangle from the branch tips.

Cryptomeria Japonica Sekkan Sugi is also called Cryptomeria Japonica Sekkan and Cryptomeria Japonica Cristata.

Height and Spread of Cryptomeria Japonica Sekkan Sugi
Cryptomeria Japonica Cristata is slow growing, eventually maturing into a cone shape. It reaches four by two metres over 10 years.

How Hardy Is Cryptomeria Japonica Sekkan Sugi
This is a hardy conifer in well-drained but moist soil. It copes with some drought and pollution, but it’s best grown in a sheltered spot because harsh winds damage its soft new foliage.

How To Use Cryptomeria Japonica Sekkan Sugi
This interesting evergreen conifer suits both urban and country planting, architectural spaces and low-maintenance gardens where its dependable cream, green, and yellow foliage with brown rigid cockscombs creates year-round interest
Plant it in a mixed border, rockery, foliage garden, low maintenance wildlife-friendly space or an as a specimen tree in an architectural courtyard and it’ll bring years of colour for very little maintenance.

How To Care For Cryptomeria Japonica Sekkan Sugi
Cryptomeria Japonica Cristata needs a sunny, sheltered area with protection from strong wind. Any free-draining fertile soil is suitable. Pruning isn’t required, but as with all plants, a thick layer of well-rotted organic mulch around its root in spring provides nutrients for the growing season and traps moisture.
Be sure to water Japanese Cedar Sekkan Sugi well until you see new growth.