Cypress Trees Enhance The Landcape

I talked about how cypress trees meant mean Italy to me in an earlier blog. Not only do they make great ornamental features but they also enhance the landscape. I enjoy including them in my artwork.

Cypress Trees Enhance The Landscape

One of my favorite images involves a lone cypress tree which stands with Lago di Chiusi as a backdrop.

Lago di Chiusi sits on the border of Umbria and Tuscany and this picture was taken on the Umbria side. This is a large lake with rolling hillsides behind it. I have used the cypress tree to frame the shot and contain the view of the lake. Past the edge of the olive tree on the left you can see a row of cypress trees descending the hill. It makes a pleasing image.

Cypresses in a Row

Having cypresses in a row is a very traditional way of using them here in Central Italy. Cypress trees are used to line the roads to houses (I have some leading down to my house). Sometimes they are punctuated by the planting of a smaller tree, shrub or conifer in between each tree. There is a house that I really enjoy seeing because the entrance has rows of cypress trees punctuated with light green round conifers that look like balls. It is a very pretty effect.

In this picture, ‘Cypresses in Autumn’, we see a traditional approach to lining a driveway with cypresses. And they look incredible, dark and almost a little intimidating, against the soft autumn colors of the woodland behind them.

Cypress Trees and Farmhouses

In this view of a farmhouse in Tuscany, nestling happily in the landscape, the cypress trees can just be seen grouped around the buildings. The farmhouse is sitting on a hillside looking down onto farmland. It is surrounded by its cypress trees under a moody autumnal sky. Cypresses and people go together.

Cypress Trees and Vineyards

In an earlier blog I used an image ‘Berries in Autumn’ which showed a Tuscan vineyard with wild berries in the foreground but on the hillside above an isolated group of cypresses.

This illustrates the impact of an isolated group of cypress trees in the landscape.

Cypress Trees Making The Landscape

But. what if the trees are really part of that landscape? ‘Cypress Landscape Umbria’ shows a scene near the border with Tuscany. A vineyard sits on the hillside above a farmhouse but the roads above are lined by cypresses (you can clearly see the line of the roads). There are also generalized groupings of cypress trees. Here, the cypress trees enhance the landscape. I love the way the sun highlights them one side compared to the darkness of the other side in the shadow.

This was originally published on 13 November 2017 and updated and republished 23 February 2022.

Before you go

My name is Dorothy Berry-Lound an artist and writer. You can find out more about my art and writing at https://dorothyberryloundart.com.

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