Farm Forestry New ZealandCypress timber is generally identified as "macrocarpa" in New Zealand. Cypress species require free draining soils with moderate fertility.
Regimes for growing cypress include shorter rotations with higher stockings targetting higher grades of knotty timber that include sapwood, clearwood regimes where clear heart/sapwood is targeted and regimes for clear heartwood production.
If cypress are to be pruned for clear heartwood production it must be understood that diameter over stubs (DOS) should be kept to a minimum, final crop stocking should be low (200-400 stems per hectare) and rotation length should be a minimum of 35 years to maximise tree diameters and therefore clear heartwood production. The grower must understand if clear heartwood is the goal, pruned log diameters must be large.
NZFFA on facebook