Chamaecyparis or other "sentinel" plants.

Our back yard is a fairly steep hill. We have hardscaped a elevated patio out the back Sliding door. From the patio there are four steps about six feet wide up to the lawn area carved out of the hillside. The originally planted Chamaecyparis did not make it when they had to be moved and when I researched them I discovered they would have eventually outgrown the area. The beds created beside the steps are about four feet deep and planted with azaleas. I have looked at a number of plants including Cham. Wissels Saguaro, and Cham. Slender but am open to other ideas. Looking for something that will be about 8-10 feet eventually and fairly narrow to create a nice separation from the patio to the yard level. We are in Willamette Valley near Corvallis. Our microclimate provides us with an almost daily strong steady wind in summer during the late afternoon and evening so plant should not mind breezy area. Any ideas are appreciated. I recently purchased a Chamaecyparis Obtusa "Alaska" that is supposed to be a dwarf variety. I cannot find any good info on the web about it's anticipated size.

This message was edited Mar 10, 2008 6:40 PM

You probably won't find much.It is probably a hybrid of Chamaecyparis Nootkatensis-Alaska Yellow Cedar.I've seen dwarf weeping ones,too.Terrible way to treat a noble tree like that.

Hi There, Look up tiny treasures on the web. It is a nursery in Oregon that should have cha. Alaska. I carry it at the nursery and it is very cool. Toy might think of cryptomeria black dragon or cryptomeria monstrosa. There are some Ilex sky pencil or even the boxwood graham blandy I think that is tall and narrow. Whoops after I just typed this I see you are looking for 8-10 feet. Monstrosa might hit that or the boxwood. The other top out at 5-6. I will put my thinking hat on. Good Luck Heidi

Hi fdk2c2. My folks live in Corvallis, off of Walnut and my brother's a doc at the Philomatch and Corvallis clinics. I'm down there from time to time. Beautiful country, the WIllamette Valley. I graduated from OSU.

I don't have a ready answer for you, but these guys should be able to come up with something and I'll pipe in if my brain generates an answer. You are looking for something evergreen, right? Have you thought about using an arbor with a vine?

I know my brother in Philomath has that and i provides some protection from the nightly winds that blow through.

Kathy