Cedrus atlanticaAtlas cedar

Native to the Atlas Mountains of North Africa, it has a dominant upright trunk and a conical crown in youth. With age, the main branches extend horizontally, the upper part becomes more open and the tree acquires a broad, irregular and markedly monumental architecture. In favourable conditions it can reach approximately 20 to 30 metres in height and exceed 10 metres in spread.

The leaves are stiff, relatively short needles, gathered in dense tufts along the branches. Their colour ranges from green to grey-green, distinguishing the species from the forms selected for intensely blue foliage. The evergreen mass maintains structure, volume and colour in the garden through every season.

The female cones are ovoid to cylindrical in shape and develop upright on the branches. They ripen slowly and break up while still on the tree to release the seeds. On mature specimens, the cones add to the botanical interest and to the ancestral dimension characteristic of the genus Cedrus.

It grows best in full sun and in deep, well-drained soils, adapting to different textures and pH values. Once established, it withstands cold, summer heat and periods of drought. It needs open space to spread its crown and express the horizontal arrangement of its branches fully, and is suited to parks, large gardens, historic estates, monumental entrances and extensive green areas.

Diaplant’s mature specimens make it possible to introduce immediately the architecture that defines this species: an established trunk, tiers of branching already recognisable and an evergreen mass of true landscape scale. Used as a free-standing tree, it becomes a permanent focal point and a structural presence capable of organising the whole of the surrounding space.