ABOUT | TOPICS |
Search  Hint
| Newsletter Signup
| rssrssfacebooktwitter

slideshow: beloved conifers

abies-koreanaS HOPPING FOR PLANTS, ARE WE? Make a stop in the conifer section for the most obvious of year-round-interest garden additions. I wish I’d started planting conifers earlier in my gardening career, but thankfully some of those added this last decade (like the Korean fir, above) have started to really shape up. Shall we have a look, this time in a slideshow?

You may remember some of these from A Way to Garden’s wintertime series on beloved conifers: You can find those plant profiles by going to this results page (or searching yourself for “beloved conifer” or just “conifer” in the search box). Many links are listed below. But first, the tour (click on the first thumbnail to start the slideshow, then navigate from image to image by clicking the arrows beside the caption):


Favorite Coniferous Trees

(click any green type to link to the profile of that plant)

Golden hinoki cypress, Chamaecyparis obtusa ‘Crippsii’

Japanese umbrella pine, Sciadopitys verticillata

Concolor fir, Abies concolor

Weeping Alaska cedar, Chamaecyparis nootkatensis ‘Pendula’

Korean fir, Abies koreana

Lacebark pine, Pinus bungeana

Favorite Coniferous Shrubs

Russian arborvitae, Microbiota decussata

Golden spreading yew, Taxus baccata ‘Repandens Aurea’

Related posts:

  1. beloved conifers: recap of coziest woody plants
  2. beloved conifer: the concolor fir
  3. beloved conifers: weeping alaska cedar
  4. beloved conifer: japanese umbrella pine
  5. best ‘pine’ cones, ever

Comments

  1. Brian G. says:

    Today is a day I read most things with a wary eye lest I be hoodwinked. I hope this isn’t an April fool scam and it turns out your garden doesn’t even exist. That would be cruel, very cruel;)

  2. Deb says:

    Hmmmm, that’s an interesting post. I always thought they needed quite a big garden. Conifers are not something I would naturally gravitate towards but will now check some out at the garden centre…..

  3. margaret says:

    Welcome, Deb. Don’t wait like I did (for more than 10 years to plant most of them). Choose ones that suit your property scale-wise, of course. I look forward to hearing what you choose. See you soon again.

  4. Oh, Margaret: such a lovely assortment and all seem placed to perfection. I admit to having a few beauties myself, but they live much closer to their neighbors on my urban half-acre.

  5. Linda says:

    Its so nice to see them grown up. The dwarf pine is much more appealing as an adult than a toddler.

  6. salix says:

    That was a wonderful winter walk in your end of the woods.

  7. Abby Jane says:

    You are growing some of my favorites. Try some of the Picea orientalis. A golden one is Skylands. Wonderful. One of the best dwarf conifer nurserymen is in your area — Dennis Dodge of Bethlehem Nursery in Bethlehem, Conn., just south of White Flower Farm. Among others Dennis collects various forms of the umbrella pine. Different variegations, miniatures. They take your breath away and can turn the most avid disliker of conifers into an obsessed collector.

  8. margaret says:

    Welcome, Abby Jane. Love ‘Skylands,’ an amazing golden conifer. I have two young trees, not really showy enough to document yet but coming along. Thank you for the reminder…maybe one is ready for its closeup after all. :)

  9. Jayne Rogers says:

    Your conifers are amazing; what do you feed them? And now that April is here, may I ask what organic fertilizer you are using on your beds this year, and where do you get it? A visit to Home Depot was not satisfying in that regard!

  10. margaret says:

    @Jayne: When I need fertilizer, I simply use the brand available at the local farm and garden supply place (after reading the label to see what’s inside). I like a fertilizer with multiple ingredients so that not all the nutrients are released at the same time (so it might have several kinds of meals, a manure, and various other items listed as what it’s “derived from”). Espoma brand is popular here and widely available in my region in the large bags I need, for example, in different formulas (like for bulbs, vegetables…). As for the conifers, I don’t really feed them regularly at all, but the times I have fed one or another, I have chosen a formula geared to their needs.

Comment:

The Sister Project

The Confessional

Some stuff really gets A Way to Garden-ers going. Weigh in, or just lurk while everyone else shares about these hot buttons:

Compost, Compost, Compost

I am as proud of my compost heap as I am of any part of my garden. It is the archaeological record of my garden past; it is the stuff from which future gardens will arise. I read a lot about, from sources like these: Garden Organic, a 50-year-old British charity; Journey to Forever (don’t worry, not some into-the-bunker survivalist cult); and the vast Cornell Composting archive. Dig in.

Juicy Bits

375 VISITORS, 1 BIG RHODIE: spring garden open day, in a virtual visit. How it looked, and also what they all asked about

keeping deer out DEER FENCE: I tried every potion and anti-deer trick till I finally got real and fenced. Strategies for every garden situation.

secrets to great tomatoes TOMATO TIPS, seed to harvest: Dozens of tricks for a better crop.

yes, even in dry shade MY 4 TOUGHEST GROUNDCOVERS perform even in the worst spots, like dry shade. Maybe these tough perennials will serve you as well?

5 great small trees GARDEN-SIZED TREES can’t just be the right scale; they need to have multi-season interest, too, to earn a spot here. Maybe you have room for one of my 5 favorites?

10 underplanting do’s and don’ts MAKING MOSAICS—that’s what I call good underplanting of trees and shrubs with a tapestry of plants for many months of enjoyment. Here’s how I do it.

a ribbeting bullfrog whodunit LET BULLFROGS BE BYGONES? No way. Where have all my biggest frogboys gone? The latest frog mystery explained.

stars of the spring shrubbery BEYOND LILACS (and forget forsythia!), a slideshow of some of the finest spring shrubs you may not grow (yet).

speeding up the compost DRIVE BY, HIT-AND-RUN composting is my latest craze, and speeds up the decomposition process while making good mulch quickly. Here’s how.

making a 365-day garden THINK FALL (YES, FALL): Don’t get sucked in by spring-bloomers only when nursery shopping. A great garden happens 365 days a year: Shop smart to make it so.

the facts about bulbs SOMETHING UP with a flower bulb? Paltry bloom, or wondering when to feed or cut off the foliage? It’s all here.

must-read garden poem MY FAVORITE GARDEN POEM celebrates loss, one of gardening (and life’s) realities. It does it with humor: "Why Did My Plant Die?” is a must-read.

12 steps to sanity? HELP FOR GARDENERS: Hi, my name is Margaret, and yes, we operate a 12-Step program here. Welcome.

orchid rebloom made easy I REBLOOMED MY FIRST ORCHID last year (finally!) and it turns out to be pretty easy going. Here’s how.

my seed-starting 101 WHAT ABOUT SEED-STARTING in general? The A Way to Garden method.

crispy refrigerator pickles WHAT IS IT ABOUT refrigerator pickles that makes everybody so happy? Get those cukes growing now. And then some.

hail the stewartia I LIKE PLANTS THAT EARN THEIR KEEP. By that I mean they do more than a week or two of showing off; they look good in more than a single moment, or season. The small-ish to medium trees in the genus Stewartia are a good bet if that’s the kind of multi-season interest you are looking for. Sound good?

can-do pruning REPEAT AFTER ME: I can prune. I can prune. If you follow this simple method for starters, your woody plants will thank you.

the ‘other’ peonies JUNE IS PEONY TIME, the big raucous kind of peony time, but just before that another kind of peony you might want to consider adopting does its subtler, wonderful thing.

which lilac to plant? SO MANY LILACS, so little space. Browse a glossary of some of my favorites before you shop—maybe you’ll like them, too.