Tsuga heterophylla Thorsen's Weeping - Western Hemlock

Tsuga, or <strong>hemlocks are fairly rare and unusual trees or shrubs</strong> that have borrowed characters from nearly every genus of conifer. From a distance, they can resemble a Deodar cedar (Cedrus deodara) with a trailing leading shoot, a pyramidal habit bearing long, slightly trailing branches. However, <strong>the flat, flexible needles with blunt tips are inserted singly all around the twig</strong>, unlike <a href="https://www.promessedefleurs.ie/shrubs/conifers/conifers-by-variety/cedar.html">cedars</a>, which bear clustered needles <strong>inserted on a small cushion</strong> as in <a href="https://www.promessedefleurs.ie/shrubs/conifers/conifers-by-variety/picea.html">spruces</a>. They are <strong>sometimes flattened into a plane</strong> as in the Canadian hemlock, thus resembling the twig of a <a href="https://www.promessedefleurs.ie/shrubs/conifers/conifers-by-variety/abies.html">fir</a> (Abies) or of a <a href="https://www.promessedefleurs.ie/shrubs/conifers/conifers-by-variety/taxus-yew.html">yew</a> (Taxus), which has similarly short needles but with pale green undersides instead of white. They <strong>produce small woody pendulous cones</strong> reminiscent of those of Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii), but the absence of three-toothed bracts between the cone scales allows them to be distinguished, as does their characteristic smell resembling poison hemlock, in contrast to the lemony scent of Douglas-fir foliage. Hemlock, as the name is used in English, are evergreen conifers of the family Pinaceae like firs, spruces and cedars, but they are <strong>endowed with slow growth and a somewhat untidy, flexible habit</strong> that sets them apart from other conifers and <strong>gives them a particular charm</strong>. They appreciate <strong>shade or semi-shade, fresh to moist soils, acidic to slightly calcareous</strong>. They can grow alongside leafy trees and even under their shade, spread across the ground to provide shelter for wildlife, act as groundcover on a bank, or trail gracefully over a low wall or a planter. <strong>They fit perfectly into Japanese gardens</strong> featuring miniature trees such as bonsai with ground carpeted in moss. [caption id="attachment_61533" align="aligncenter" width="1024"]<img class="size-large wp-image-61533" src="https://www.promessedefleurs.com/blogwp/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/tsuga2-1024x682.jpg" alt="hemlock" width="1024" height="682" /> Tsuga canadensis[/caption]