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Genus Tsuga (Hemlock)

Tsuga Tsuga canadensis 'Pendula' Photo/Illustration: Michelle Gervais
SOO-gah Common Name: Hemlock
Most Tsuga species are native to forests of Southeast Asia and North America. They have short, flat needles with white bands of stomata on the undersides. They make excellent specimens in natural or formal settings alike, for example, planted in the lawn or a wooded site. Many species are suitable for hedging and screening, and dwarf varieties do well in rock gardens or mixed borders. Hemlocks can tolerate a considerable amount of shade, particularly when young. They are notably at risk of infestation by woolly adelgids, scale, and mites.
 Noteworthy characteristics: These small-needled conifers are the aristocrats of evergreens, and have a wide variety of uses in the landscape.
 Care: Grow in moist, but well-drained (acidic to slightly alkaline) soil in full sun to full shade. Prune hedges in late summer or early fall.
 Propagation: Sow seed in a cold frame in spring; root semi-ripe cuttings in late summer or early fall.
 Problems: Botrytis (gray mold), rust, needle blights, butt rot, snow blight, weevils, mites, aphids, woolly adelgid, scale.

Species, varieties and cultivars for genus Tsuga

Tsuga canadensis Tsuga canadensis
(Canada hemlock) Be the first to rate this plant
Hardiness Zones: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11

This North American native grows to 70 feet tall, with a broadly pyramidal outline. It has deeply furrowed bark, small, oval cones, and slightly drooping branchlets with finely textured needles. It is suitable to a wide variety of uses, such as hedging or screening, and group or specimen plantings. It has given rise to a number of notable cultivars.
Tsuga canadensis 'Pendula' Tsuga canadensis 'Pendula'
(Sargent's weeping hemlock, Eastern hemlock) Be the first to rate this plant
Hardiness Zones: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11

This hemlock cultivar makes a very beautiful specimen, slowly forming a 10- to 15-foot-tall and 30-foot-wide, multi-layered mound of greenery. Its horizontally speading branches are covered with smaller weeping branches clothed in short, dark green needles. It looks great growing over a rock wall, in a rock garden, or by water. Its size may be controlled by regular clipping.