Tends to be a bit ratty here. Presumably like other east Asian plants it wants a copiously rainy summer. For an attractive specimen keep well watered and mulched, in a good soil.

Produces a dramatically fuller tree in the cloud forest near Volcano, Hawaii - showing what kind of environment it really likes.

Although often sparse, with spent dead foliage visible has grown over 90' tall here, as one on Vashon Island was during 1993 (since cut down). More than one in Seattle are currently 81'-84' tall. See Jacobson, Trees of Seattle - Second Edition for more information.

The spent dead foliage can be a problem for the tidy gardener. The brown branchlets are too large for most groundcovers to 'eat up'.
At last count I have 15, with the majority over 20 ft. tall. They are easy to root from cuttings in the fall and early winter. I like their exotic look and the blue foliage is a plus.
They are not suited to thin, dry, sandy soil.
Here's a picture I took yesterday of some in my garden.
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Thanks guys, that's great information. Botann that looks like you may have the cultivar 'Glauca'. I believe mine is the basic species.
Sounds like it may be a good candidate for my mixed wall of foliage.
Thanks!
- Tom

Yep, I have the 'Glauca'. I prefer it over the species. They can be sheared into a wall quite easily. They also sprout from the stump when cut down, like a Coast Redwood.