Dwarf Hinoki cypress ‘Nana Gracilis’

* Common name: Dwarf Hinoki cypress ‘Nana Gracilis’

* Botanical name: Chamaecyparis obtusa ‘Nana Gracilis’

* What it is: A compact, slow-growing, upright, soft-needled green evergreen with a loose pyramidal form. ‘Gracilis Compacta’ is very similar and may be the same.

* Size: About 6 feet tall and 5 feet wide in 15 years.

* Where to use: Superb specimen by front door, next to patio, at house corner or backdropping the falls of a water garden. Full sun or part shade.

* Care: Virtually none after watering enough to establish roots over first season. Scattering of Holly-tone or similar organic, acidifying granular fertilizer is helpful each spring but not absolutely necessary. Pruning not needed if you allow for 5 to 6 feet of width. Bug-, drought- and disease-resistant.

* Great partner: Any gold or yellow perennial, such as dwarf goldenrod, coreopsis, dwarf daylilies, mums or black-eyed susans.