Thinking about the garage idea. Do you know if/how much your friend waters them in the garage?

I just had another thought. I over-winter my geraniums in a basement window well. My window wells have plexi-glass covers so there is some sunlight. The window wells stay at about 45-50 degrees all winter. The geraniums seem to do well. I don't want to encourage growth (although they do anyway), so I only water them once a month down there. I get some die-off. New growth, including blooms does happen. When it does, it's very stretched as they reach for the sun. But they do fine. When I take them out in the Spring, I give them a pretty severe prune and they bounce right back all summer outside. I've been doing this for years. Maybe it would work for my cypress. I'd have to repot it in a larger pot and may have to water it more than once a month, but that may be a good place for it. Then again, I could be totally off.

Tell me more about this garage idea....

Oh and I think everyone should have at least one tiny tree! I lucked out and bought several at a 50% off sale at a local independent garden center. I got the Hinoki cypress, plus a really adorable dwarf cotoneaster in a standard form (it has subsequently passed from some infestation), a dwarf variegated boxwood, and two Loowit Japanese hemlocks (one of which is not doing well ). I displayed them all in containers this summer and want to try to keep some of them alive if I can. That garden center has subsequently gone out of business.

i would never cover anything with plastic ...

my attached garage was at least 1 or 2 zones warmer ... getting you the right zone ...

plus.. its out of screaming blistering winter winds.. which desiccates the leaf tissue ...

i had a lot of luck in the pole barn ... just forgot about them ... if a dry winter.. maybe a snowball.. or a couple ice cubes once a month ... never a watering can ... a dormant plant doesnt need much water.. but you dont want the opt media to go bone dry.. and suck moisture out of roots ...

some hinoki are very z5 tolerant.. some arent.. i have no idea which you have ...

if you put it on the north side of the house.. under a box ... and it all got covered with snow... you'd probably win ... no winter sun on pot or plant ...

it is a tree.. but more specifically a conifer ... most those peeps show up here ... but if you are researching.. tend toward conifer info... as compared to trees ..

i think it would have a hard time as a houseplant... mostly because of the forced air furnace.. and wonky winter humidity indoors in winter ...

an unheated florida room might work ....

the key is.. get it dormant.. and keep it dormant.. as late in winter as possible ... so in the florida room.. you might open windows like a greenhouse might ... to reduce accumulated daytime heat ...

ken

Thanks, Ken. North side of house is my other idea as well.

So I have some choices:

- garage: I guess they don't care that they don't get any light there?

- my window wells which are not at all like treating something as a houseplant. There is no heat in them. They act a bit like a cold frame.

- North side of house, possibly under a box. A box? What kind of box? Maybe a pot? But that would also inhibit sun altogether like the garage.

The tree is fully hardy for your zone. And will not stay "tiny" indefinitely :-) I collect dwarf hinokis and have a number of them in containers but in my climate, they winter over outdoors without issue.

Since they are an evergreen conifer, they never go fully dormant like a deciduous tree would. Although growth will slow significantly in winter, the tree will continue to photosynthesize so a dark location will not be to their liking. They will continue to need some light.

I'd go ahead and plant. Or at the very least, pot into a nursery container that you can sink into the ground. Avoid strong winds and make sure the tree stays properly hydrated.

If the hinoki came with a cultivar name, we can tell you (or you can research) how big it will get and how rapidly.

I have the tag from the tiny tree. It reports itself to be "Chamaecyparis obtusa 'Thoweil' Iseli Introduction.

If you search you should find a few posts about problems with dwarf hinoki like these overwintering in our Zone 5, even though they’re tagged as hardy to that zone. I lost one or two and other posters had the same experience. My advice would be to not fall plant and keep it in the warmer window box, then plant in the spring. Or if you plant in the ground pick a spot that is well sheltered out of the wind and I’d also wrap it in burlap for extra wind protection every winter.

I decided to put it in my raised bed in the corner where hopefully it would be sheltered from a lot of wind. The raised bed has high sides so the tree will sit down below and have some shelter. I can put a wire basket over it with some leaves as well. I also decided to put my tiny variegated boxwood there too. The raised bed has worked extremely well for over-wintering my mini and other potted hostas. We'll see how it goes.

Update April 2020. It survived in the corner of my raised bed! It looks pretty good too. Looks like it may need some pruning for shape.

Other than it is too close to the wood fence/wall behind, it looks very good. And NO pruning!! Hinokis rarely ever require any "shaping", as their natural growth habit is one of their best features. 'Thoweil' has a very irregular habit or form to begin with and any shaping or pruning will just spoil that.

Please, no shearing or shaping into rounded mounds!!

Oh I'm not planning to leave it there. It will go back in its cute container garden for the season (see above). I just put it there to try to over-winter it. I'll try to refrain from shaping.

I would try to avoid any consistent digging and replanting. If you wish it to be a container plant, then grow it on in its own container that can be sunk or heeled into the ground in winter. Otherwise, just pick a suitable spot and plant it in the ground. Routinely transferring from pot to ground and back again is not doing it any favors.

I’m in zone 6a and wondering if I can overwinter dwarf hinoki cypress in a pot on our covered, west facing front porch? Has anyone had experience. I’m getting mixed advice from people at local nurseries

Our "dwarf" hinoke cypress here in santa clara county, CA, is over 10 feet tall after 30 years in the ground. When I bought it in a 5 gal can it was less than 2.5' tall.

"dwarf" is relative...

-Babka