I have some more pics of the Cunninghamia in my town: From garden From garden From garden They look great when young, but as they mature they lose some of the perfect conical shape. Best thing is that they sprout after being cut. But people should avoid multi stemmed trees in my opinion and select one leader, not often the case here... From garden Resin, thanks for the advice. I've tried Abies firma with no success so far, probably not a good seed source, or it took them to long to get to Brazil. Seeds from other Abies are hard to get. Keteleeria fortunei looks awesome, could maybe order from Sheffields. I'd also love to try Pseudotsuga sinensis, P. macrocarpa and P. sinensis. It would be nice if someone had these seeds self harvested here.

This place has it. Woodlanders & Forestfarm sometimes have it, and might be a bit less expensive. Here is a link that might be useful: http://www.tinytreasuresnursery.com/Prices.htm

Don't stake it. Cunninghamia will form a new leader on its own soon. If you stake a branch to "choose" a leader, it will be floppy and the tree will still create a new one on its own and it won't be the one you chose. I have experienced this several times with Cunninghamia. The same is true of Taiwania. Personally, I would let one of the new suckers dominate and prune away the rest. It will quickly grow into the pyramidal form you seek. I also wouldn't prune it, let it grow naturally. It will quickly get too big to prune anyway. As for propagation, if you take a sucker shoot and treat it with some rooting hormones and stick it into some perlite or sand during the winter (and keep moist - mist chamber is best), they will root quickly.

Spacing matters not so much as does STERILE mix. I just started some two months ago, doing really well now, but the ones that I planted in the non-sterile mix took a hit from damping off. This species is more susceptible to it than you would think. But as with most, after the three month mark or so they become a lot more sturdy. Just don't overwater. I used a mix that the Strybing Arboretum had, a sterile seed mix. Large grains of well-rounded sand mixed with peat and bark, I believe. The important part though, is that it was sterilized, of course.