This may sound like a dumb question but if you only care about having a 6-7 tree for 4 years that you're going to live there, what is the big deal if it's problematic?

You can go get a rocky mtn juniper and have a 6 footer from day one. I don't think you need to panic over the potential for cedar apple rust.

I don't know if the hollies grow up there but they are popular here and trouble-free. Foster holly or needlepoint holly for example.

Since you are naming conifers maybe try the Garden Web conifers forum.

If you have problems with deer, avoid yews because they are deer caviar. Other than that, pick what appeals to you and don't worry too much about disease - chances are it won't happen and if it does there are ways of dealing with it.
An evergreen that reaches 10' feet in 5-6 years would not be a dwarf unless it had been grown by the nursery for a long time and then it would be expensive. If you're close enough to Gorham, vist O'Donal's Nursery and take a look. They will not be selling things with a high rate of failure and their workers are helpful and knowledgable.

I'm just going to throw some ideas at yah (you could even mix and match):
Thuja occidentalis Whipcord
Chamaecyparis pisifera Filfera Aurea or Lemon Thread
Platcycladus orientalis Franky Boy (very hardy despite the designation of zone 6). Easily survives in zone 5.
Platycladus orientalis 'Filiformis Erecta'

These can all be clipped - I do think however that your hopes of seeing this height in as you say ~4 years is going to be nearly impossible, that is to say no matter what you choose.

If this other plant suits your needs, it may be the easiest to find - Thuja occidentalis Techny. This plant can also be sheared, easily. Link to 5-gallon Techny, below.

Dax

Here is a link that might be useful: Nature Hills Nursery

you will most likely need to mail order the unique stuff...

i like the peeps and the stock at the link below ...

ken

Here is a link that might be useful: link

Thanks folks... I actually found something interesting today at a local nursery and wanted to ask Ken Adrian about it (I noticed you had an expired pic of it in another post, hoping you have one to report about ?)
It is Chamaecyparis thoides 'Glauca Pendula'

Anyone have any good info on this???
The local nursery doesn't know much about it, and a pretty exhaustive web search turned up such varying size info I don't know what to think. One says 8-10' tall. One says 20-30 feet. NONE give the width, which is an important consideration for me.

The one at my local nursery is very pretty, wispy grey-blue, would look very nice with the Pieris and Japanese Maple "tamukeyama" it would be near.... it's $125 B&B and already ~6 feet tall. But is it going to stay

>This may sound like a dumb question but if you only care about having a 6-7
>tree for 4 years that you're going to live there, what is the big deal if it's
>problematic?

Maybe he doesn't want to leave a problem for the next owner? How many of us have cursed previous owners for the problems they made for us with poor tree/bush placement?

Ha! I have the very same shrubs! Wichita Blue (and all Junipers) need good drainage - plant HIGH!!!
As for the Chamaecyparis - they are great - EXCEPT in winter! ALL of them (except the Gold Thread varieties) get brown in the winter and look awful, but then they come back in the Spring and look great. But you have to go out and remove the brown needles and any dead branches in spring so they look better and revive faster.

I have 2 Blue Boulevards near the street, so the look is important. I also have a Fernspray Gold with the same problem and a Fillcoides (sp?), that I planted towards the back of my yard because I didn't want yet another plant to look like crap in the winter near the street.

It seems we have the same taste / needs in shrubs. Unfortunately, after just losing $1,000 of Emerald Arborvitae hedges to Leafminers, I've decided to give up on dwarf conifers. My junipers are now going downhill (I think it may be due to record snow and rain this year), and I really hate any kind of maintenance (other than pruning fruit trees). I already bought 2 King's Gold Chamaecyparis and one more Blue Star Juniper, so I will plant those, but after this it is all Rhododendrons, Azaleas, Mountain Laurels and Pieris for me - exacly what what has been growing in my yard since the house was built over 65 years ago. No problems, no maintenance.

Oh wait, you can purchase 6' high Dwarf Alberta Spruces for around $200. The only problems you may have are red spider mites, but you will know in advance and can spray. My other hedge is a long row of them and they look great, but because they are true pyramids they do not provide much privacy (unless you were to stagger them in a double-row). The problem is they grow VERY SLOWLY - we planted ours at 6' in 2003 and maybe they have grown 6" taller. If you buy a 4 footer it will grow faster - we planted one in the back at the same time and it is almost 6' now.

Oh yeah, unless you live in the middle of nowhere, you are not going to prevent Cedar Apple Rust by not planting Junipers - My Mac gets it bad so I must spray, but my native crab apple isn't bad at all. My Junipers don't have the galls, and I did some research and it turns out that you would have to eradicate every single Juniper within 2 miles to avoid it.

gardening truism #1001

the more you learn.. the less you know ...

listen.. plant what makes your toes curl ... and either move and leave it .. or get rid of it .. when it fails to curl toes ...

you name ANY plant.. and someone can come up with a reason to skip it ...

ken

PS: i mail order almost all my conifers.. small and cheap ... and they grow like weeds .... i cant believe some of the prices you are quoting for instant gratification plants .... but then, i am a collector and not necessarily working on a landscape design ....