10 Beautiful Companion Plants That Grow Well With False Cypress

False cypress (Chamaecyparis spp.) is a genus that includes six species of evergreen trees. You can use them as specimen plants to add vertical interest in the landscape. And since they are evergreen, they can also be used to create hedges and to provide winter interest. What's special about these trees is that they are low-maintenance, drought-tolerant, and resistant to browsing by rabbits and deer. But they are not resistant to insect pests. And that is where beautiful companion plants that grow well with false cypress, like autumn fern, sedum, coleus, and petunias, can help.

Companion plants can keep away the pests while also attracting pest predators. Similarly, they can also help suppress weeds and improve soil. All of this together can help your false cypress tree really thrive in an outdoor space. Furthermore, companion plants add diversity in color and texture to your space, and the combination of different sizes makes the most of your landscape. And, if you want to maximize the benefits of your companion plants, you can try to plant these companions in a tree guild. It is a centuries-old planting technique that can boost your fruit tree's health and is based on ancient permaculture practices.

Autumn fern (Dryopteris erythrosora) is one of the most popular evergreen ferns in USDA Plant Hardiness Zones 6 to 12. It gets its name because of its eye-catching green and bronze leaves that resemble the color of fall. You can use these plants as accent plants or in mass planting as groundcover with your false cypress trees to help suppress weeds and retain soil moisture. Also, it will create a fantastic contrast with the leaves of false cypress and create a natural, woodland feel.

Petunias (Petunia x hybrida) are mostly grown as annuals, but in zones 10 to 11, they and can be grown as perennials. You can use them to add interest around false cypress tree in the garden. The tree acts as the focal point, while petunias are used as fillers to bring bright colors around it. Petunias also act as trap crops, luring pests away from the desired plants while also deterring beetles, worms, bugs, and aphids.

Weigelia (Weigela florida) is a plant that pulls a double duty. It produces a ton of beautiful flowers in spring and summer, and its foliage provides seasonal interest in spring, summer, and fall. You can add them to create a backdrop behind your large false cypress trees. Their companion plant benefits come from their ability to attract beneficial insects, which can help control the population of insect pests in the garden. For best results, grow them in moist and well-drained soil in zones 4 to 8.

If you are planting a slow-growing or dwarf cultivar of false cypress, you can use sedum as a companion plant with it. This works well, especially in rock gardens. The sedum genus has over 300 types that grow in zones 3 to 9, so you can choose the best one for your space based on your garden's conditions or the look you are aiming for. They also make a good groundcover solution to help suppress weeds and preserve soil moisture, especially in sunny and hot locations where other groundcovers might not thrive.

Coneflower (Echinacea spp.) is another great option to plant as a companion with false cypress trees if you aim to attract beneficial insects like soldier beetles and lady beetles to your garden. They create a beautiful contrast and add season-long color, and they make especially wonderful choices as middle-layer plants with false cypress in the background. You can grow them reliably anywhere in zones 3 to 9. They have good tolerance to drought once established; however, they won't grow well in salty soils.

Coleus (Coleus scutellarioides) is well-known for its stunning foliage that pairs well with evergreens like false cypress. And if you choose the low-growing varieties, they make good groundcovers too. What's great about coleus is that it thrives in full shade. Coleus is generally grown it as an annual, although it is winter hardy in zones 10 and 11. Also, coleus blooms late in the year when many others have stopped, attracting late-season pollinators.

Fountain grass (Cenchrus alopecuroides) has bright-colored, strongly arching leaves that turn yellow in fall, and it can also be used in the landscape to highlight false cypress, especially the dwarf cultivars. Besides visual interest, it can also help attract beneficial insects like ladybugs to help control pests, as well as help hold moisture in the soil and prevent soil erosion, thanks to its fibrous root system. It is hardy in zones 5 to 9 and thrives in full sun with moist soil.

Even though false cypress is low-maintenance, nutrients in the soil will definitely help it thrive. That is where false indigo (Baptisia) can help. It is one of those plants that naturally enrich the soil. They are leguminous plants that have nitrogen-fixing bacteria in their roots, which can help fertilize the soil over time. You can grow it as a perennial in zones 3 to 9, bringing bold colors that work wonderfully with the character and height of the false cypress to the landscape .

Rosemary (Salvia rosmarinus) is another beautiful plant you can grow with false cypress to create a more traditional landscape look. Its benefits as a companion plant come from its aromatic foliage that has long-lasting oils. These can help keep away plant pests like slugs, snails, and beetles. It thrives in zones 8 to 10, and for best results, you should propagate it from cuttings in slightly acidic, well-drained soils in full sun to part shade as they establish slowly from seeds.

Bushes like fragrant sumac (Rhus aromatica) have beautiful fall colors in shades of orange, red, or reddish-purple. When planted with the deep green and yellow shades of false cypress, they create a stunning contrast in the garden. And as its name suggests, fragrant sumac smells fantastic too, producing a lemon-like scent when crushed. You can grow it reliably in zones 3 to 9 in acidic and dry soils. Fragrant sumac makes a dense groundcover which can help stabilize the soil and suppress weeds.