o Dwarf Conifers Explained

by Jim Smith

o What exactly is a dwarf conifer anyway?

To explain this let me start with the last part first. A conifer is a plant which bears its seeds in cones. Some examples would be the pines, spruces and hemlocks. Almost all of the conifers have needles which they keep for at least one year (hence the name evergreen), but a few are deciduous (Larix, Metasequoia), and one even has modified needles in the shape of leaves (Ginkgo). That was the easy part. Now lets tackle the tough one. What is a dwarf? This is where the confusion starts. Technically speaking a dwarf is simply a slower growing version of the species. You could concievably have a dwarf 18-20 feet tall. A good example of this would be the white pine (Pinus strobus), which will mature at around one hundred feet tall. The dwarf white pine (Pinus strobus 'Nana') will reach about 18 feet high after many, many years. But it is still considered a dwarf because it is so much smaller than the species. Some dwarf conifers, like Pinus mugo 'Mops', will attain no more than 3 feet in height and width in 50 years. The difference between 3 and 18 feet is substantial and each plant must be placed in an appropriate location. A plant 18 feet high and 12 feet wide just wouldn't do next to your front door. So basically, a dwarf conifer is just a much slower grower than the species. How much slower? I'm afraid that just depends on the particular cultivar.

o Why use dwarfs and slow growing plants?

Many newer houses have been placed on small, postage-stamp sized lots. The houses are actually designed very differently than those of 30 or 40 years ago. The bottom of the windows have dropped from about five or seven feet high on older houses, to about three feet. And with the advent of better insulating glass, many homes now make use of sliding glass doors and floor-to-ceiling windows to provide more light. The view to the outside living area is much more important than it was in the past. This has virtually eliminated the need for giant foundation plantings (Rhododendron, Taxus, Ilex). In order to maintain the proper scale and provide the greatest interest, the landscape for the newer sized house should not only contain more varieties of plants but they should also be of a much shorter ultimate size. This is why many of the plants selected for newer houses are slower growing plants that have a quite narrow width as well. Pinus strobus 'Fastigiata' and Cedrus atlantica 'Fastigiata' are just two examples.

o And what about maintenance?

With a considerably faster lifestyle than we had 30, or even 20, years ago, every spare minute is precious. I would much rather be swimming in the pool with my family than doing the often needed maintainence on it. Well the same goes for the landscape. That's one of the main benefits of dwarf conifers. They are very low maintenance. Most never have to be separated, divided, sprayed, or pruned. Now don't get me wrong, I know gardening is the number one pastime in America and I enjoy my landscape immensly. But who wouldn't favor the idea of less work for better results, giving us more time to pursue the other pleasures of life?

Jim Smith is the proprietor of Blue Sterling Nursery in Bridgeton, New Jersey.

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