OP and alley .... ALL green conifers are full sun .. zone appropriate .... of course ... as you add foo.. as in foo foo.. moving away from green.. you move into plant tissue that might not 'take' full sun ... and usually that means scorch.. either summer or winter ... but ... when you plant a tree/conifer... you completely and totally interfere with its roots system.. and it can take a few years.. for it to re-establish its roots mass ... and while it does that.. foo foo foliage can burn ... so daves solution ... is to shade it ... unprofessional.. i think.. has a pic of a 40 footer at hidden lakes.. dax has one also.. its in full sun... the plant itself.. does NOT need shade.. all you are doing is trying to protect it from your handling of it ... thru planting ... does that make any sense ...??? and .. many.. yellow tissue conifers.. will be GREEN!!! ... in too much shade.. its a real dichotomy as the sun burns them.. but they need it to color properly.. and it is impossible.. for us.. on words or pix alone.. to define whether any given shade.. in an given garden.. will grow a green or yellow plant ... as noted.. the 40 footer is at least 15 feet wide.. i really think.. presuming you stay at the house.. that you will be regretting planting it that close the power lines.. regardless.. do whatever makes you happy ... ken

Gorgeous Skylands Dave. Nice little one toronado. It's nice to see the trees at different stages of growth. That really helped me to decide on certain ones and placement. Ladylotus, that beautiful blue conifer to the right of Dave's Skylands is Picea pungens 'The Blues' I believe. Here's my new 4' 'Skylands'. I normally try not to spend over $40 for my trees but I finally hunted down a Skylands in the Cincinnati area and couldn't resist it's alluring spell. It's a must have. Now I'm $100 poorer but 100% happier. I'm not sure if I overpaid or got a deal. Either way I'm extremely happy to have one! I hope to take advantage of the blue and gold together and planted it near my 3' Picea engelmannii 'Bush's Lace'. It's just out of view to the left in the pic. I also have the giant eye sore shade cloth erected and ready for the 2 year haul. It's ugly but I'm sure it's worth it. I just hope I don't get impatient and take it down next year. I think I will even leave it up in the winter as my little Pinus Sylvestris 'Gold Coin' is planted near by and looks like it received a wee bit of burn over the winter. The Skylands was extremely root bound so I had to perform some root surgery that turned out to be not so gentle especially when I uncoiled the main encircling root. I hope I did the right thing and that it does okay. It seems happy as it has just started to push. I can't wait for the show like Daves =)

after 12 years.. from a one gallon.. my skylands.. is 3 feet tall .... and a registered PITA ... and my aureospic is going on 25 feet tall ... with a 12 foot circle footprint.. do you have space for this ...??? the former grows.. at best.. under a foot per year [not mine!!!].. the latter... upwards of 1.5 to 3 feet per year ... as to size.. you are comparing apples and oranges.. and i dont wnat to hear about 10 year estimates... i am sure.. you know what that nonsense is all about ... hidden lakes has a 40 foot skylands.. and i will hate them until the day i die.. lol ... heat might be your issue.. night heat for sure.. whatever dave says towards that ... ken

Mine the day it showed up in the mail this spring. Smaller than either of yours lol. I notice you both have killer dark backgrounds which make your skylands pop even more. Actually it looks a good amount bigger now. Perhaps tomorrow I will get another picture. With the shade in full sun requirements why do you think skylands is so popular? I agree it did seem a must have. Even if I saw 100 yellow growth conifers in Ohio this spring there is something about this one I cant describe.