Your Garden: Spruce things up with conifers
Dear Roger: I have set aside several very large beds in which to grow a good collection of decorative conifers. Would you suggest several things that would be beautiful and reasonably easy to grow? - Gwendolyn, Fayetteville
Dear Gwendolyn: Needle-leaved evergreens look their best this time of year. So now is a good time to select them.
But with the weather heating up, it is not the best time to plant them. Ideal planting time is October, after the weather has cooled into the 70s or low 80s.
Still, you can plant them now if you wait for a cool spell, prepare the soil well and prepare to mist the needles to cool them on hot afternoons. Keep the roots moist but not soggy. Some conifers resent constantly wet roots.
A trip to the Cape Fear Botanical Garden will serve you well.
The garden's 80 acres contain a diverse collection of good conifers from throughout the world, from the very large larix at the left of the new welcome center to the large Japanese red cedars, Cryptomeria japonica, that line walkways near the great lawn. And from the 18-foot lacebark Chinese pine to the tiniest of all Japanese pines.
Here are a few of my top picks from a longer list I compiled for the botanical garden several years ago:
Spruces
Picea pungens 'Blue Pearl': This is a sport from Picea pungens 'Fat Albert' found at Iseli Nursery. Silvery blue needles on very dense short shoots make for a tight bun-shaped plant. Grows less than 3 feet in 10 years. A true dwarf.
Picea pungens 'Compacta': A dense-growing form has an especially bright blue color and long, curved needles. Buds are rounded. It grows about 5 feet in 10 years.
Picea glauca 'Rainbow's End': This is similar to Picea glauca 'Conica,' the dwarf Alberta spruce, except for color. In spring, the new growth is light green, nothing unusual. In midsummer, the second flush is nothing but unusual. Bright, creamy-yellow new growth contrasts dramatically against the dark-green older foliage. Reaches 4 feet in 10 years.
Pines
Pinus bungeana 'Rowe Arboretum': This form of Chinese lacebark pine is noteworthy for its neater, more compact, uniform growth habit compared with the typical, more open, irregular branching of the species. They're beautifully shaped trees when young and will display a patchwork of white, green and brown bark as it matures. Ten feet in 10 years.
Pinus densiflora: There are many dwarf varieties of this. Low growing and vibrant green, the Japanese red pine can be difficult to get started, but lives for a lifetime once established. The variety 'Low Glow' appears to have a more mounding, rounded habit. The growth is denser and more compact and needle color is a brighter green through the seasons. 'Low Glow' reaches about 4 feet in 10 years.
False Cypresses
Chamaecyparis obtusa 'Fernspray Gold': Bright yellow foliage with shape reminiscent of a fern frond. Similar to 'Tetragona Aurea,' but with broader and denser growth. Reaches 10 feet in 10 years. My specimen has reached 2 feet from a rooted cutting in six years.
Chamaecyparis obtusa 'Nana': One of the most diminutive forms of Hinoki cypress. 'Nana' is the perfect miniature conifer. Its dark green foliage is tightly congested, forming a tiny mound of year around color. Grows less than 2 inches per year.
Chamaecyparis obtusa 'Nana Aurea': A good gold selection, with growth tighter than 'Aurea,' faster than ...
Chamaecyparis obtusa 'Nana Gracilis': The most popular dwarf Hinoki. Irregularly globose, developing an upright habit with age. Dark-green, compact foliage. Partial shade or full sun. Reaches 4 feet in 10 years.
Chamaecyparis obtusa 'Nana Lutea': A compact, slow-growing, golden yellow selection, which is very popular. A yellow counterpart to 'Nana Gracilis.' Reaches 4 feet in 10 years.
Junipers
Juniperus chinensis 'Saybrook Gold': The intense, brilliant yellow color is the reason to include this spreading juniper in the garden. Open-growing, exposing woody brown branches, making it an attractive juniper on rockery walls. Spreads about 12 feet wide in 10 years and reaches about 8 feet tall.
Juniperus procumbens 'Nana': Tight growth with primarily juvenile foliage produces a dense, full carpet that is glaucous-green in color. Useful for cascading over rocks and walls. Exceptional for bonsai. Spreads about 6 feet in 10 years. Never much over 10 inches high.
Juniperus squamata 'Blue Star': 'Blue Star' is immensely popular. As broad as high, the short branches form a star-like appearance. A witch's broom selection from 'Meyeri' found in Holland about 1950. Grows about 2 feet tall and wide in 15 years in my poor soil.
Juniperus horizontalis 'Mother Lode': A bright, golden yellow sport of 'Wiltoni,' 'Mother Lode' holds bright color all summer in full or partial sun. Fall brings a deep yellow-orange, becoming tinged with plum by winter for all-season attraction. Looks great beside my koi pond as a focal point, draping over stone as a golden carpet. Spreads about 7 feet in 10 years.
See a full list at mercergarden.com/conifers.html or email me at roger@mercergarden.com for a copy.
Send your comments and questions to roger@mercergarden.com or call 424-4756. You may write to Roger Mercer, 6215 Maude St., Fayetteville, NC 28306. Please include your telephone number.
