This board is now conifers too!

Thanks so much Terry!

Elizabeth

ic conifers too! lol. great.

I went on a tour of a fellow DG'ers yard about a month ago. I described where I lived and he said, "Oh, the house with all the miniature conifers out front!" I said "Yes!" to which he added, "Oh, IC conifers, I get it!"

I think my pinus parviflora 'goy kurl' is going to go the way of pinus contorta 'spaan's dwarf' though, aka the trash. I have not found any hard evidence of pine tip moths, i.e. no larva, but the tips slowly died off and when I removed a few it did look like there were hollowed areas in the middle. I cut off the dead tips and sprayed it down, but I wonder if my attention is a throwaway. It just doesn't seem to want to thrive.

So frustrating.

Elizabeth

Elizabeth

What does the roots look like? Are they brown when scratched. Is there any new roots such as nice white roots? Maybe there is something else going on with the plant that you might be glossing over.

Dave

Dave, it is nothing that I ordered from you! Just wanted to make that clear from the start - everything you sent me is thriving!

I have not done anything to the roots - should I dig it up and check it? The roots on a few of the other plants that I got from this shipment were really packed together. I did loosen the root balls on a few when I planted them.

I am suggesting that when you see the new growth droop and die, that there might be some root damage or the fact that the root is dead altogether. As to digging up a plant, my question is, is the plant dead? If not then I would leave it alone. How long has the plant been in the place where it is planted? Is the plant in the ground or a container? If in a container then checking the roots might not be as difficult as in the ground. What is the soil conditions like? Is this a large plant or small one? If small one how small? Is plant in full sun or partial shade? Is plant kept wet or dry?

So many questions and I only broke the surface. If it is an insecet the first thing to do is to identify it and then take the appropiate action. I would have the think that action would only include throwing away the plant as a last resort.

Dave

The pine is a 2 year graftIt is in morning sun (3-4 hours), then midday shade, then late afternoon sun (3 hours). I don't think it is dead, the needles are still mostly the greenish blue they were when the pine arrived in April. The new growth was all dead, except for two tiny tips that appear to be pushing the new growth. I've left those alone.

The weather has been very wet this year (we've had extensive flooding all over the mid-west). The soil is well draining, but we've had pretty much daily heavy ongoing downpours every day for the past month, minus the past three days this week. The pine is in the ground and has been there for about three weeks, prior to that I had it in a container because I was not sure where I wanted to plant it. It would be easy to dig up to check the roots, since it has only been in that spot for a short time and the soil around it is still loose. I wonder if I should just leave it alone though...I will probably leave it alone.

Elizabeth

If it has been in the ground for only a few weeks, I think if it were me, I would put the plant back in a container for at least another couple of years. It will be easier to care for until it becomes of size for planting out. Some people get away with doing it the way you are doing and some do not. I guess you are in the some that do not. Place the plant in well drained soil and keep in the filtered sun light. I have plants in containers for over 30 years and no problems. They have to be watered every other day in the summer and they are in a 30% shade. Some of the bigger maples are in the direct sun but still I water every other day. I would also caution against oversizing the container to the plant. It seems that trying to save repotting by using larger size pots does not work as well as you think it should. I would think that if potted again the plant should grow to a size for planting out without repotting several times. From the way it sounds if you placed the plant in a 2 gallon container that should be fine for at least 4-5 years depending on the area you live in and the length of the growing season. Some areas of the country probably only get 2-3 years growth without repotting.

Now that there's a place to show off conifers, I have a couple beds in different stages of development. My older beds are beginning to develop the problem of overgrowing plants crowding each other out.
My newer beds look a little sparse in comparison.
Photo below are two older beds.

Newer bed below.

Weerobin, my beds are all "newer" - planted last year or this year, so they look a lot like your newer bed picture! It is so tempting to want to plant more when they are so tiny...I have to keep telling myself that they WILL get bigger. Thanks for sharing, you have lovely conifers!

Elizabeth

Very nice, Weerobin. I wish I had the space to make beds like that.
Mike
tl³

What is this??

Oh that Resin, he doesn't know what he's talking about... (:o) Hideous monstrosity... you crack me up... (:o)

It's Cedrus libani var atlantica 'Glauca Pendula' (I believe that this is the current correct name.) You will probably see it listed/labeled as Cedrus atlantica 'Pendula' or 'Glauca Pendula'.

I wish I could grow this plant in zone 4, but, alas, the plant is only reliable in zone 7 and south. It's grown in zone 6 quite a bit, but a bad winter could kill the plant (if I am remembering correctly).
tl³

Thought I'd post my dwarf Thujas. The one on the left is Thuja occidentalis "Degroots Spire', on the right is Thuja koraiensis 'Glauca Prostrata', (I think) .They are from Rich's Fox Willow Nursery in Woodstock, IL. When my DD gave them to me they were about 10"' high (little sticks with green leaves.) That was about 5 years ago. I decided not to press my luck through another winter so I dug them both up spring '07 and put them in these pots. I kept them in an unheated greenhouse over winter. I'm so glad I did that. Last winter was a monster. The Degroots would have died for sure. The Glauca Prostrata may reach it's potential of 3' tall x 3 - 4' wide, but the Degroots will probably be stunted in the pot. It's potential growth is 20' tall x 4' wide. They are so slow growing I'm not going to worry about how big they get. They are happy little guys and look nice on the patio. My DD always gives me the coolest plants. She's a landscaper and travels all over visiting nurseries for hard to find plants. What a job, and she gets paid to do it. She gave me a weeping Larch this year. I think it's from Oregon state. I will try to take a picture and post it later.

Diana

Pastime,
The 'DeGroot's Spire' is perfectly hardy here in Zone4a, Minneapolis. Once the plant has become established, you shouldn't need to worry about the plant winter burning. You're correct, this winter was horrible and my 'DeGroot's Spire' was not damaged at all by this past winter.

During the first few winters it's a good idea to protect the plant on the southwest side, with burlap or some other screen, to prevent winter burn. I'd put the plant back in the ground and let it develop as it should.
Good luck,
Mike
tl³

The biggest threat to my Degroot's Spire isn't winter cold, or snow, but Bambi and friends.

Really nice. How old is yours?

I live smack in the middle of Iowa City, but a few weeks ago someone saw 3 deer only a few blocks from the house. Rabbits are the real pests here for me. One tried to burrow under my picea abies 'formanek'. Not on my watch, dirtball! I set up fence around the tree and left it there for several months. Last week I removed the fence and the rabbit has not come back. We had a pair of great horned owls living across the street and a barred owl that visits our trees regularly, so hopefully one of them took care of Thumper.

Elizabeth

My Degroot's Spire is only about 6 years old.
It's so hard to keep the deer from browsing it and about everything else.
And I live smack dab in the middle of suburban St Louis.
Nothing rural about my location.
I've tried about everything to no avail.
So I just try to accept it and move on...

Your Degroot Spire really prompted a fun chuckle, Mike.

This one I removed all the leaders, save one, when it was just a lad.
It's about 12 years old.

Good owl, get those bunnies. We have Red Tailed Hawks that patrol our area. I've seen one pick up a big rabbit. The guy had some lift off problems but managed to carry it away. I'm glad I don't have any puppies in the yard. Leftwood, your DeGroot is really nice.

I must have lazy owls and hawks. I know they are around, but the bunnies are burgeoning.

Here's an unpruned 'DeGroot's Spire', that needs to have the extra stems removed before a heavy snow does it for me. It is about 8 years in the ground, from a 1G pot.

I have to agree with Resin on the weeping cedar! Just freaky looking to me. Belongs on a Hollywood set, not in a garden.

I love the freaky weepers! Hubby and I visited Bickelhaupt Arboretum today and had a blast, I'll have to post pictures soon. Definitely saw a few cool ones that I have to get.

Elizabeth

Give me a well-shaped tree any day!

Resin

Here's my abies concolor. She has a nice shape. I think freaky weepers have their place in a conifer garden. They give added texture. As a lone speciman, no.

Well there is weeping (gracefully cascading), and then there is desperately trying to grow back down into the ground because you're so ugly!^_^

You're funny. They do look deformed and mutant.

Pastime, I'm jealous of your a. concolor.
My experience with firs is disastrous.
Not for lack of trying.
I'm sure I've killed dozens.
I do fine w/ all other conifers, so I blamed my fir failure on our heat / humidity.
And then you go and spoil that defense for me!
My lone survivor is an abies balsamea nana.
There's a reason there's not a picture attached...

Maybe Waterman is in the alpine portion of Illinois?

Not at all. We are in flat, DeKalb County farm land. My concolor is protected by the house from nasty northwest winter winds. That's the only thing I can think of that's kept it alive. We don't get the intense heat and humidity that St. Louis gets. So your defense may be valid.

For my ego's sake, I'm going to go with that theory.
Thanks.
But your concolor is a beautiful tree.
I'm conflicted whether to try to grow / kill another.