I moved into a new place with a very small 'yard'. I would like to plant a Hinoki cypress, but there is no direct access to the earth because the whole yard is covered with deck or porch.

There is a fairly large planter, ~6'x3' right triangle, about 3' tall. The walls are concrete block (2 blocks thick, except the top ~10"), and the bottom is 'lined' with additional concrete block/rubble, then filled with about 18" of soil.

Question: If I plant a dwarf Hinoki Cypress (nana gracilis) in the wide end, can it thrive? What can I do to improve its chances?

Some other info about the planter:

• It is on the south-facing part of the building, so gets a decent amount of sun.
• Climate-wise, I live in the Boston, MA area.
• I could remove the concrete blocks in the bottom to double the depth of the planter, which would then be contiguous with the soil below.
• I haven't found any draining holes in the side of the planter, but I'm not sure if that matters given the way it's built (open to the earth below).

I moved into a new place with a very small 'yard'. I would like to plant a Hinoki cypress, but there is no direct access to the earth because the whole yard is covered with deck or porch.

There is a fairly large planter adjacent to the porch, ~6'x3' right triangle, about 3' tall. The walls are concrete block (most of the exposed face is two blocks thick), and the bottom is 'lined' with additional concrete block/rubble, then filled with about 18" of soil.

Question: If I plant a dwarf Hinoki Cypress (nana gracilis) in the wide end, can it thrive? What can I do to improve its chances?

Some other info about the planter:

• It is on the south-facing part of the building, so gets a decent amount of sun.
• Climate-wise, I live in the Boston, MA area.
• I could remove the concrete blocks in the bottom to double the depth of the planter, which would then be contiguous with the soil below.
• I haven't found any draining holes in the side of the planter, but I'm not sure if that matters given the way it's built (open to the earth below).

I moved into a new place with a very small 'yard'. I would like to plant a Hinoki cypress, but there is no direct access to the earth because the whole yard is covered with deck or porch.

There is a fairly large planter, ~6'x3' right triangle, about 3' tall. The walls are concrete block (2 blocks thick, except the top ~10"), and the bottom is 'lined' with additional concrete block/rubble, then filled with about 18" of soil.

Question: If I plant a dwarf Hinoki Cypress (nana gracilis) in the wide end, can it thrive? What can I do to improve its chances?

Some other info about the planter:

• It is on the south-facing part of the building, so gets a decent amount of sun.
• Climate-wise, I live in the Boston, MA area.
• I could remove the concrete blocks in the bottom to double the depth of the planter, which would then be contiguous with the soil below.
• I haven't found any draining holes in the side of the planter, but I'm not sure if that matters given the way it's built (open to the earth below).

I moved into a new place with a very small 'yard'. I would like to plant a Hinoki cypress, but there is no direct access to the earth because the whole yard is covered with deck or porch.

There is a fairly large planter, ~6'x3' right triangle, about 3' tall. The walls are concrete block (2 blocks thick, except the top ~10"), and the bottom is 'lined' with additional concrete block/rubble, then filled with about 18" of soil.

Question: If I plant a dwarf Hinoki Cypress (nana gracilis) in the wide end, can it thrive? What can I do to improve its chances?

Some other info about the planter:

• It is on the south-facing part of the building, so gets a decent amount of sun.
• Climate-wise, I live in the Boston, MA area.
• I could remove the concrete blocks in the bottom to double the depth of the planter, which would then be contiguous with the soil below.
• I haven't found any draining holes in the side of the planter, but I'm not sure if that matters given the way it's built (open to the earth below).