Collecting different types of conifers
Orthopaedic surgeon Harrison Tuttle start gather different types of conifers several years ago when he moved into his home on a half - acre property in Raleigh , North Carolina . Today he has a collection of more than 500 coniferous tree ( from 16 genuses ) , including cedars , cypresses , firs , junipers , larches , hemlock , pines , sequoia , spruce and yew . We pick up up with him to learn his favorites and to get a few tips for growing these evergreen ravisher .
See also7 ways to use conifers in the garden
Q&A with a conifer expert
Color , symmetricalness , shape , texture and four seasons of interest .
Yes ! ' Skylands ' Oriental spruce ( Picea orientalis‘Skylands ’ ) is beautiful with two - inflect needle , prissy symmetrical cone-shaped form with graceful upsweeping limbs .
Only to create an interesting form with a crying cultivar or to palaver along a new graft or to essay to tidy up a plant that ’s lean over after planting .
Oriental spruce ( Picea orientalis ) and Canadian hemlock ( Tsuga canadensis ) are both gorgeous mintage that are very shade tolerant , but they also get in sun if given enough moisture . Deodar cedar tree ( Cedrus deodara ) grows in a surprising amount of shade , too . The blue prostrate conformation look OK in these conditions .
See alsoGet to know different types of conifer
direct contrast is honorable . Reds complement super C and blues . It ’s hard to be tawdry with conifers , so the more showy , the better . balance shape and color in a bed is proficient and one agency to keep a bottom from being flashy . Contrasts with shapes and forms keep the garden from looking too formal or boring .
cry white spruce ( Picea glauca‘Pendula ’ ) is phenomenal . Weeping Nootka cypress ( Chamaecyparis nootkatensis ) varieties , such as ‘ Strict Weeping ’ or ‘ Green Arrow ’ .
I ’m OK with it with funky or freeform conifers for shaping . If there are two leaders , it ’s okay to snip one . In miserly space , like my cubic yard , you may call for to limb up some of the larger - growing Tree . Candle pruning has a use for creating artistic pine . “ I water extravagantly with well H2O , ” tell Harrison .
Only a few select firs — Japanese fir ( Abies firma ) , West Himilayan fir ( Abies pindrow ) and Wilson true fir ( Abies recurvata ) — will develop outside the mountains . So so as to have a chance with the more cosmetic specie , they have to be grow onAbies firmarootstock , which is only available at boutique or mail - order nurseries . And they ’ll be very humble when they ’re buy .
Good to shuffle them with deciduous tree like maples and redbud , which are hard to mess up . Also combine them with flower shrubs and perennials . Hosta are great compliments .
Well , taiwania ( Taiwania cryptomerioides ) come tight . light-green - blue , two - toned foliage with graceful weeping branches that veer up at the top . When mature well , it ’s absolutely spectacular . It require cool , moist condition , but it ’s not very stale - hardy and does great in coastal Pacific Northwest , from what I can secern . It ’s unacceptable to find seedlings and steady down cuttings can grow sideways for 20 years before they inject upwards ! I ’ve had no luck obtaining viable seeds .
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