Sanders Blue Himalayan Cedar

The true cedars are remarkable and incredibly beautiful trees. Fast-growing, they add a foot a year when young, so they soon become striking specimens in your garden. Silvery blue is an incredibly desirable color in the garden, and if you love the look of blue evergreens, then Sanders Blue Himalayan Cedar is for you. It is widely considered the bluest of all the cedars, and its perfect upright form, with dense branching and pendulous branch tips, combined with rapid growth, means you will soon have an outstanding specimen in your garden. The grace and elegance of this tree must be seen to be believed, and it certainly isn’t hard to grow – in fact it’s easy. Give yourself the lawn specimen you always wanted, and drive your neighbors wild with envy, because this wonderful tree is so much more beautiful than you can even imagine.

Growing Sanders Blue Himalayan Cedar

Size and Appearance

‘Sander’s Blue’ Himalayan Cedar is an upright conifer evergreen, with a tall central trunk and radiating branches. The side branches are dense along the trunk, and grow out almost horizontal, with weeping tips, creating a wonderful and graceful look. It grow rapidly, adding 12 inches or more each year, so that within 10 years it will be 12 feet tall and about 4 feet wide. It will continue to grow, of course, and could reach 50 feet in height with a spread of 30 feet, in time. Young trees have a neat pyramidal form, becoming more open with age. Mature trees often develop a rounded, flat top, with several major branches. The bark is very dark gray-brown to near-black. The stems are clothed in clusters of needles, and these are between 1 and 2 inches long, and more or less circular. New growth is an amazing bright powder-blue, changing gradually into a rich, silvery steel-blue for the rest of the year. The silvery look is remarkable and incredibly beautiful. Older trees can develop attractive cones, which stand upright on the branches and are about 4 inches tall. It is almost like they put on their own Holiday decorations.

Using Sanders Blue Himalayan Cedar in Your Garden

This tree is a wonderful specimen to plant on a lawn, or grow in a row for screening. Consider the mature size when choosing a location, and don’t plant beneath overhead wires. Plant 12 to 15 feet away from buildings, walls, fences and property boundaries. It is attractive planted alone, and also in groups of three, spacing plants about 10 feet apart. For screening, space plants 6 feet apart. Grow it in the angle between two walls, or in a corner of your yard. It can also be grown for some years in a large tub or box, as a specimen on a terrace.

Hardiness

Sanders Blue Himalayan Cedar is one of the most cold-resistant varieties of cedar, and it grows well even in zone 6. It could even survive in warmer parts of zone 5, with shelter. It also grows in all warmer zones of course, but may not do so well in areas with very humid summers.

Sun Exposure and Soil Conditions

Plant Sanders Blue Himalayan Cedar in full sun for good growth and foliage color. It grows well in any well-drained soil, of all types, from sand to clay, and acid to alkaline. It will grow in urban gardens too, and is generally undemanding. Established plants are very drought resistant, and enjoy hot, exposed places. Water young plants deeply from time to time during dry summer conditions. It has moderate resistance to salt, so it can be planted in coastal areas, but not right on the beach.

Maintenance and Pruning

Pests and diseases are rare, and usually this plant grows well with little attention. Don’t trim or use shears, which will destroy the weeping form, but you can remove any over-crowded branches, and keep an eye on the growing point, which should be only one stem – cut the more outside one in half if you see two developing.

History and Origin of Sanders Blue Himalayan Cedar

The Himalayan Cedar, Cedrus deodara, grows in Afghanistan and through northern India and into Tibet. It is the eastern equivalent to the famous Cedar of Lebanon, Cedrus libani, which is of course mentioned in the Bible. These are the ‘true’ cedars, and very different from the green ‘cedar’ often grown for hedges and specimens in colder zones. The variety called Sanders Blue began as a seedling selected for its intense blue coloring at the Iseli Nursery in Boring, Oregon. We don’t know exactly when, but it must have been after 1975, because that is when Jean Iseli left his career as a designer of missile guidance systems to open a conifer nursery in the Willamette Valley with his brother. It remains today America’s most famous conifer nursery.

Buying Sanders Blue Himalayan Cedar at the Tree Center

We have sourced some beautiful specimens of Sanders BlueHimalayan Cedar, and we would love to share them with you. This gorgeous tree must be seen to be believed, so order now and it will be on it’s way. Stand back and watch it grow, soon becoming the pride of your garden, but order now – good things don’t stick around for long.