Trees, Shrubs and Conifers: Pinus Problems, 4 by ViburnumValley

ViburnumValley wrote:
This Momi Fir resides at the Valley, yes. This is the first winter it has had this severe cold/wind exposure, which has resulted in the beige makeover. And while it may look forlorn...

Quoting:Whoo-hoo-hoo, look who knows so much. It just so happens that your friend here is only MOSTLY dead. There's a big difference between mostly dead and all dead. Mostly dead is slightly alive. With all dead, well, with all dead there's usually only one thing you can do.

Miracle Max, The Princess Bride, 1987

I have had Abies firma in the ground since fall 2010, when I purchased it as a 5G plant from Shadow in Tennessee when the Holly Society of America 63rd Annual Meeting visited there. Always dangerous...

This fir has thrived, pushing decent new growth each year - but has only completed three growing seasons. It is in full sun except for the Viburnum trilobum Red Wing™ in the vicinity which would like to crowd it out. I may pop it out and put it in finer digs - like where the Eastern White Pines are cascading toward their mission of being totems.

I don't know why you should have difficulty with any of the firs rated positively for the middle part of the country. That should include:

Abies borisii-regis
Abies cephalonica
Abies cilicica
Abies concolor
Abies homolepis
Abies koreana
Abies nordmanniana
Abies pinsapo
Abies veitchii

A cool root-run may be worthwhile, but I don't think shading the foliage is necessarily required except for maybe the most northerly adapted species. I have some sloping ground, and that's where I have happy Nordmann Fir growing with a northerly to easterly aspect. That species is widely planted in Lexington and Louisville, with many old specimens to be found. I think all firs appreciate good drainage, and sufficient moisture during extended drought periods.

My only loss of Nordmann Fir is my first one which got planted in a spot that turned out to be excessively wet in winter. It did not like that, but I let it live out its life because it coned so heavily every year. We cut it down and used it as a "Charlie Brown" Christmas tree this year out in the front yard.

I had a decent sized Abies concolor as one of my original plants at the Valley, transplanted as a six footer from my previous residence. It grew here for about 14 years till the February 2003 ice storm tipped it over into my driveway.

My soil conditions are circumneutral clay loam, on the heavy side, reasonably well drained on high ground but denser/wetter as the ground slopes. As old farmland, it was not treated well and the sloped ground has lost most of the A horizon. We average about 40" rainfall, and I still rate my property zone 5b/6a because we can have -20F winters.