Among the world’s most stately of evergreen conifers, cedar of Lebanon carries much historical and religious regard. This eastern Mediterranean native tree, from Turkey to Lebanon, has slow growth and eventually develops a broad, spreading and beautifully imposing habit. When younger it is more pyramidal in shape with brighter green foliage. Its horizonatal branches are covered in gray-green to dark green needles when older. With time, the trunks and branches become very picturesque, especially when viewed from under the canopy, being fissured and brown to black in tone. The female cones are held upright on the tree branches and are large, egg-shaped and ripen to dull green to brown, while the smaller male cones are elongate and shed copious amounts of gold-tan pollen in spring.
This large tree should have full sun and ample room to attain its fullest and most beautiful growth. Cedar of Lebanon is extremely adaptable, growing well on a wide range of soil pH and types although it will not tolerate soggy soils. This is regarded as the most cold hardy of the true cedars, perhaps even good in warmer parts of USDA zone 4 if the natural variety stenocoma is used. Use it as a majestic, fatherly specimen tree for park or campus lawn.
Information source: Learn2Grow.com.
Genus - Cedrus
Species - Libani
Common name - Cedar of Lebanon
Pre-Treatment - Not-required, but recommended
Hardiness zones - 6 - 9
Height - 80'-100' / 24 - 30(40) m
Spread - 50'-85' / 15 - 25 m
Plant type - Tree
Vegetation type - Evergreen
Exposure - Full Sun, Partial Sun
Growth rate - Slow
Soil PH - Acidic, Neutral, Alkaline
Soil type - Clay, loam, well drained
Water requirements - Drought tolerant, average water
Landscape uses - Feature Plant, Shade Trees
|Germination||Soak in water. Let stand in water for 24 hours.|
Cold stratify for 30 days (not required, but recommended).
Sow seed 5-7 mm (1/4") deep, tamp the soil, mulch the seed bed.
NOTE: can be fall sown without stratification.