Why are conifers so…?

A few weeks ago my wife and I took a little road trip with our very good friends down south to the Oregon Garden just outside downtown Silverton. This is a great garden destination with one of the main attractions being a very nice conifer garden. Near the entrance of the conifer garden are three fantastic specimens of the Weeping Giant Redwood (I featured a photo of these beauties last December).

Our friends stopped before we reached the entry path and just stared at those magnificent trees.

“They look like Dr. Seuss trees!”

“Yeah, I’ve heard that before.” I said with a smile.

“Why are conifers so…? I’m trying not to be insulting… weird?” I was asked.

“Because weird is COOL!” I replied laughing.

I love that a great many conifers are quite unusual. Especially when you begin to delve into the world of the true Conehead – where weird is wonderful!

That outing caused me to give some real thought to what it is about so many of the unusual conifers in my own garden that I find so desirable. Some of my very favorites are weeping or pendulous in habit or form. Here’s how I think about it, if a conifer grows generally upright but its branches or branchlets droop and weep then that is its habit. If the whole plant has little to no inclination to support itself, and left uncultured, its form would be pendulous or weeping (or perhaps prostrate).

Enough of all that, let’s get to the coolness – some of the specific cultivars that have a tremendous amount of appeal and interest because of their unusual characteristics.

Picea pungens ‘Pendula’ with its blue foliage and free-style growth habit adds a living, ever-changing, modern scultpure to your garden.

One of my all-time favorites is Picea pungens ‘Pendula’. This weeping form of the Colorado Blue Spruce provides the garden with not only fantastic light blue color, but its form will change and morph over the years as its branches grow and sprawl and turn this way and that. It’s very much like a living modern sculpture that changes with the seasons and years. Generally the growers will provide support for this great tree when young. You will most likely find the tree staked from three to five feet tall. At that point, you might desire to continue to encourage height by placing a taller stake in the ground after planting. You’ll need a sturdy tying tape available at your local garden center to continue training your tree up. Alternatively, you may choose to simply allow the tree to find its own form as it grows and flops and flows.

Another fantastic selection is Cedrus atlantica ‘Glauca Pendula’. This Weeping Blue Atlas Cedar may be grown in just about any shape imaginable. I’ve seen it trained high over pathways in an arch to create a living, draping arbor. Several planted in a row make a magnificent living fence. Years ago, my friends at Iseli trained a Weeping Atlas up the trunk of a larger Blue Atlas Cedar. They encouraged it to grow up and out along the more sturdy and upward growing branches of that tree creating quite an interesting sight as the weeping habit of one fell like streams of water from the larger upright form of the other.

Of course I can’t leave Picea glauca ‘Pendula’ (Weeping White Spruce) off this list. This fantastic, low maintenance conifer will fit in most any garden. It is super hardy to Zone 2, has a form that is straight as an arrow and all of its side branches turn and grow straight toward the ground. A beautiful tree with a very narrow footprint, you might expect a tree twenty years old to be 15 to 20 feet tall with a width of three to four feet near its base. If allowed, the branches that reach the ground will then spread and slowly make a layered ground cover.

There are so many others, I could very likely write a book about them! For now, I’ll just list a few more that I think you should consider adding to your garden.

Abies alba ‘Green Spiral’
Cedrus deodara ‘Raywood’s Prostrate Dwarf’
Chamaecyparis nootkatensis ‘Jubilee’
Larix decidua ‘Pendula’
Picea abies ‘Frohburg’
Picea omorika ‘Pendula Bruns’
Pinus strobus ‘Angel Falls’
Sequoiadendron giganteum ‘Pendulum’
Tsuga canadensis ‘Pendula’
Tsuga heterophylla ‘Thorsen’s Weeping’

Ed-
Conifer Lover

The girl with the Black Dragon tolerance

You know your visit is going to be interesting when the conversation goes something like this:

“See, Ed. This is exactly what I am talking about. This… Crypt… Crypt-o – I mean, who named this thing, an undertaker?”

“That’s Cryptomeria japonica ‘Black Dragon’ – I thought you would rather like that one.”

“Well, the last name is cool… but…”

“Oh c’mon, just admit you like it – I won’t verbally tell a soul.” And with that, she knew she was in trouble.

With her wry smile, she looked at me briefly and then back at the plant, “I suppose you’re going to blog about me again aren’t you?”

“Well, you do inspire discussion about why I love conifers.”

It had been a while since The Flower Girl had paid me a visit. She was disheartened with our long and wet spring, the incredibly short summer and the quick return to a wet autumn. All the rain and cool temperatures this year prevented her usually glorious flower garden from performing its best. She had mildew and fungus and blight, oh my!

Cryptomeria japonica ‘Black Dragon’

Her sunflowers were half their normal height, the zinnias and marigolds were sparse and thin as were the other flowers that normally thrive in hot and dry summers. She found that she needed to dead-head the flowers more frequently because the cool wet weather would quickly turn them into dark brown mush.

I listened to her frustrations as we walked around my garden and the light sprinkles fell from the sky. I looked to the west, and noticed the sky was incredibly dark – I had a feeling that, momentarily, we would be in for a big shower. As we rounded the path that returned us past the ‘Black Dragon’ and back toward the house, she did admit that she found the plant to be somewhat tolerable (which I have come to understand translates into her actually liking the plant).

“Of course you do.” I thought to myself with a slight smile.

‘Black Dragon’ is a great conifer that has quite a lot of natural appeal and yet it is unusual enough to keep my interest too. As a young plant, it can grow somewhat vigorously with a rather narrow form. With some maturity, it seems to slow its upward extension and puts more of its energy into filling in and becomes a little broader at the base (kind of like me). As ‘Black Dragon’ ages, it will acquire a very nice semi-broad pyramidal form with a combination of slightly open branching and dense clusters of its soft, awl-like, dark green foliage. Hardy in Zone 5 and warmer, this one won’t survive the colder regions (although I have seen on online reference which states that one is growing in Keota, Iowa). In the hot and humid south, some conifers experience a “melt-down”, but not ‘Black Dragon’. Possibly its more open habit allows for better air flow.

As we settled into the comfortable chairs near the woodstove, my wife had already brewed the tea, and we chatted about how well the conifers had performed during our unusually cool and wet season. We talked about the change of seasons, the soon-to-come brilliant display of autumn foliage color and the excitement that a new season of gardening will bring.

Ed
Conifer Lover

Go for the year-round visual feast

A few days ago, I took a call from a good friend, it went something like this:

“Thanks a lot, Ed!” His tone was more playfully sarcastic than truly thankful.

“You’re welcome…. What’d I do?”

“You made me want to reduce my lawn area and plant more conifers!”

“Ahhh…. well, Ok. That’s good news, right?

“You tell my back that, buddy!” he ended with a chuckle.

My friend decided it was time to greatly reduce the amount of time he spends mowing the lawn (or in his case, keep the little yellow flowers that inhabit much of the lawn space, from going to seed).

I’ve been doing the same thing for years – reducing high-maintenance lawn grass and expanding my conifer planting areas. Sure, it’s hard work at first, but ultimately the rewards are great. First there is the tilling under of the appropriate lawn space. I like to let it set for a few weeks to allow any weed seeds or surviving grass to emerge and then give it a good deep tilling again. This way I can work the nice organic mulch that has been accumulating over the years deep into the soil and breaking through years of soil compaction. This will improve drainage and reinvigorate the good soil bacteria. If I have enough compost, I’ll spread a nice thick layer on before the final tilling and quickly work it into the top few inches of soil. Once I’m satisfied with the shape of the new conifers beds, I’ll grab my trusty bow rake and begin raking the soil, pulling out any large clumps of grass or weeds and break up dirt clods. I’ll also shape, level and smooth the new beds to my satisfaction – adding additional soil if that is part of the plan.

The conifer garden, mixed with premium companion trees, shrubs and flowers, will make a delicious year-round feast for your eyes.

Then the fun begins! I’ll gather the plants that I have collected for the new space and begin to set them out in their new locations. Sometimes I need to walk away and put my mind to some unrelated task and then return to my new conifer planting in a few hours to ensure I am satisfied with my layout. Once I’m happy with the layout, the planting process begins. I always take care removing my conifers from their containers – I’d like to cause as little damage to the roots (and foliage) as possible. On the other hand, I do like to work the root ball with my hands to loosen the roots a little since they can become quite dense in a small container. Then, I simply dig an appropriately sized hole – larger and wider than needed – and refill with loose soil after determining the proper height for the new plant. Once planted, I like to leave a rim of soil to hold water and I fill it up with water slowly. I’ve got well-drained soil in my location, so I’ll repeat the process a few times until I am satisfied that the root ball and surrounding soil are sufficiently soaked.

I’ll make sure to keep things fairly moist for at least the first year – I don’t want my new conifers to dry out and die. I will often top-dress the soil with mulch a couple inches thick to help the soil retain water and reduce the chance of seed germination in all that newly tilled soil. Of course, weed seeds will blow in and snuggle into the mulch, so the war against weeds will ever continue.

“I’ll bet you really called to invite us over for your wife’s delicious scones and tea so we can take a tour of your new planting.” I hinted.

“Sure!” he said, laughing, “I’ll get her right on that!”

My friend and I agreed the next day over a cup of tea that aching backs and assorted sore muscles were worth the long-term enjoyment of a low maintenance conifer garden. Neither one of us will miss the sound and smell of the lawnmower, yet we will certainly enjoy the year-round visual feast that the conifer garden provides.

Ed-
Conifer Lover

Christmas in September?

I don’t know if it is the sudden return to near winter type weather or what, but I’ve been thinking about the upcoming holidays. Can you believe that it’s just eleven weeks until Thanksgiving? I can – it feels quite a lot like November around here today. With the dark gray sky and constant drizzle, the sun doesn’t have a chance to warm things up today. I’m sitting near my woodstove, wondering if I’ve ever been tempted to light a fire this “early in the season” before –  it’s still summer!

As I sit here, trying to talk myself into believing that the sun will burn away these clouds and I’ll actually warm up this afternoon, my mind has been drifting to thoughts of Christmas trees and the wonderful wintery scent of conifers and cinnamon and peppermint. The winter holidays always bring a smile to my face and warmth to my heart, so why not imagine what my wife might like for her indoor decorating this year?

As I’ve mentioned before, I’m more of a harvest my tree in the wild kind of guy while my wife prefers things to appear neat and tidy with a proper sense of order. I’m thinking about a tree that I’d like to find for my garden, but would make a great containerized live tree for our holidays. I’ll need to convince my wife that it will be a fun new tradition to set up and decorate our tree just a day or two before Christmas so that the live tree will have the best chance of survival after our holiday fun.

‘Compact Gem’ – The perfect symmetrical Christmas Tree

Pinus leucodermis (heldrichi) ‘Compact Gem’ is the perfect tree to fit my wife’s expectations of tidiness while providing an abundance of wonderful holiday perfume for my pleasure. There’s just nothing like the scent of fresh conifer greens in the dead of winter to lift ones spirits.

‘Compact Gem’ is one of the nicest, most compact, neat and tidy, perfectly shaped pines available. Its green color is rich and bright – even in winter – so that it will bring cheer to both the landscape and the winter holiday indoor decorations. Its branches are spaced enough to allow ornaments to hang and yet dense enough to hide the wires of the lights you might like to string around the tree.

In the landscape, ‘Compact Gem’ makes a stately specimen with perfect symmetrical form. Hardy to -20 degrees Fahrenheit, even my friends in Zone 5 will be able to enjoy this one. If you need a hardy, somewhat formal looking screen, ‘Compact Gem’ should work well growing up to 12” per year while keeping its compact tidy appearance.

Yes, ‘Compact Gem’ is the tree for me this year. If I were you, I’d get to my favorite garden center early and have them special order one. Then I’d let them hang on to it as long as possible before bringing it home. Check out my list of suggestions for a successful live Christmas tree experience in my past blog, “Weal kwissmas twees” while I cross my fingers and hope for a return to at least a couple more weeks of summer.

Ed-
Conifer Lover