The tall, very, very thin cupressus trees that are everywhere in Italy

PS I'm sure that's not how I should spell that

They're a type of cypress broomsticks. Aren't they gorgeous?

Sorry, typed it but got distracted by the phone - cupressus sempervirens!

I cannot imagine that they would survive or even thrive well in a British garden. ? ?? Wherabouts do you live?

There is a probably a very good reason they are seen more often in Italy than in Britain. I would research them very thoughly before buying.

I see from your profile you are in the North of England!
Are you always this much of an optimist broomsticks

Thanks - sempervirens. I'll definitely look them up for hardiness! I'm right up near Durham so if they're specifically Mediterranean they won't be happy bunnies up here.

They are wonderfully architectural in a Mediterranean landscape, but I have never seen one in this country. I wonder if they would suit our domestic landscape.

Depends on the setting really, if it does not go with the rest it will tend to look like an exclamation mark.

My sister planted a fastigiate oak. Very tall and thin. Not evergreen but v hardy.
ANyway this is a useful word that is used to describe trees of this shape apparently. Good for googling.

I like exclamation marks. I'm always getting told to delete them from my writing! They sell those cupressus at a place in Cumbria apparently, but that doesn't necessarily mean they'll grow up here.

If not I'll definitely look for something fastigiate, thank you.

By the way I can get my Nellie Moser clematis to grow either

I think I have one! A Greek one. I was on holiday and picked up a cone. They're very smooth and tactile. When I got home I found it in the pocket of my shorts so put it in a large cacti bowl in the front porch for decoration. In the spring I found I had 3 babies, but only one was the thin male and not the bushier female. Ten years later he is still with us and now about 20 feet, growing strongly in the garden in North Norfolk. He is sheltered by a 6 foot hedge to the north and has a 4 pole support as he tends to wave around alarmingly in high winds and when younger tended to need re-heeling in when the ground got a bit soggy. He seems to object more to wet than cold (goes a bit yellow) - we do get quite chilly here, especially at the moment!

I had a tall thin conifer called skyrocket , can't remember the full name. It still stands in the front garden of my old house in Oxford about 25 years later, and is as tall as the house.

How wide is the Skyrocket? I've got at the bottom of the garden. It's a bit wider than I want for the new one but some helpful person (mentioning no names) cut the top off it when it was younger and that may have spoiled the shape.
Is yours very thin?

broomsticks, probably no more than a foot diameter at the bottom now, but for its first 10 years or so it was only about 8 ins max. I think I may have trimmed it a couple of times though. The nursey's label usually gives approx. dimensions at 10 years, which would give you a rough idea.
Good luck with your search.

I think they are called Lombardy poplars. I know they're not 'poplars' but that's what they call them here in France where they are also often to be seen. i almost put that they're 'popular' here in France

NfkDumpling - how do you know it's a he?

Thanks for all the ideas. Deep snow at the moment so that gives me more time to think it over.