Opens up and shows interior browning (old dead foliage) with age, as do other tree-sized Sawara cultivars. Slow but not dwarf, I once eyeballed one in a cemetary that I figured was about 33' tall.

Nice tree when young, but does tend to open up with age as bboy says , best to give it an annual trim to keep it compact, and never let it get too dry at the roots.

Go for a nice blue Pinus parviflora or Pinus koraiensis.

Forms such as:
Pinus koraiensis 'Silveray' (has huge pine cones however)
Pinus parviflora 'Cleary'
Pinus parviflora 'Gimborn's Ideal'
Pinus parviflora 'Gimborn's Pyramid'
Pinus parviflora 'Mount Vernon'
Pinus parviflora 'Venus'
Pinus koraiensis 'Dragon Eye' aka 'Oculus Draconis'

Soft needles. Beautiful needles and trees on these two species of pines.

Dax

bboy.. blue ...

define AGE ....

i have one about 5 or so years old.. from an 8 inch one gal .... that is about 4 feet tall ... and not all that bad looking... so about a one foot per year growth rate .... after establishment [might want to compare that]

are you guys talking decades from now...????

the poster might not be around in 20 or 30 years to worry about the uglies ....

i would prefer he plant something that excites him for 10 years .... and replace it then.. rather than settling for something that will not be ugly in 20-30 years ...

ken

I like many of those pine suggestions. I am particularly fond of
Pinus koraiensis 'Dragon Eye'

But given the location of this tree near a path, a coy pond, and close to the drip line of a 60 foot Hemlock, I am not certain that I want to introduce such a vigorous competitor and needle dropping tree. I don't want to acidify my vegetable garden.

How ugly is the Boulevard after say a decade? How ugly after 20 years?

Good suggestions though and I will show them to my wife.

She is going to be elated about the American Holly leaving the area.

Cheers,

Carl

in my garden.. Pinus koraiensis 'Dragon Eye' is the ABSOLUTE worst marked dragon eye of all of them.. which leaves you simply with one heck of a GIANT, AGGRESSIVE green pine.. cool as it may be .. growth rate of 1 to 2 feet.. if not more.. per year ...

there are much smaller.. less vigorous dragon eyes available .... i will run out and get the name of ... back .... ogon janome ... link below .. and the ONE pic of a large one.. i would estimate it at 20 to 30 years old ... all the other pix are small plants...

in my yard.. its annual growth rate is under 6 inches ... so how big in how long.. depends on how big you start with ...

this is NOT one you are going to find easily ... and it is a toe tingler ....

ken

Here is a link that might be useful: Pinus parviflora 'Ogon Janome'

'Ogon Janome' is the yellowest one I have seen. I grew it for awhile but lost interest and took it out. Somebody else might love it.

My small cute beautiful 'Boulevard' turned into an eyesore in less than 10 years. I arranged a meeting between it and my Stihl.

Any and all suggestions for plants other than the Boulevard will be considered.

I considered:
Japanese Umbrella Pine--Sciadopitys verticillata

But I enjoy the blue color and this is a big tree for my space.

Another option might be:
Picea pungens( Koster Blue Colorado Spruce )

does anyone have any good, bad, and ugly photos of their Boulevard or other blue conifers?

Cheers and thank you for the help.

Carl

As long as you don't mind the sharp needles of a spruce then there's a ton of plants to choose from. Some forms that won't get too wide but might work for you:

Maybe the ideal tree: Abies lasiocarpa var. arizonica 'Compacta' or aka 'Abies lasiocarpa 'Arizonica Compacta'.

Here's Abies lasiocarpa var arizonica 'Glauca Compacta' probably the same plant:

Thuja occidentalis 'Columbia'

Thuja occidentalis 'Sherwood Frost'

Picea pungens 'Walnut Glen'

Another 'Walnut Glen'

Dax

Hey Ken, I'm sure a 'Boulavard' can look just fine for at least 20 yrs with a bit of TLC, at least here in the UK, not so sure about your harsher climate though.

We are trying to avoid sharp needles, so we stuck with the boulevard. We went to the nursery and picked one out for transplant in September. We also chose a dwarf blue globe spruce, black pine thunderhead, and weeping hemlock, to round out the conifer garden by the pond. I will get photos when everything is in the ground.

If not for the sharp needles I would love the Abies lasiocarpa var. arizonica 'Compacta'

Cheers,

Carl

When Dax mentioned sharp needles he was referring to Picea pungens. Abies lasiocarpa var. arizonica 'Compacta' has soft needles.

tj

Dax - that image of Abies lasiocarpa var arizonica 'Glauca Compacta' you posted - is it located in the Arboretum in Madison WI?