Should this 'Skylands' be saved?

15 years ago

Purchased this Picea orientalis 'Skylands' from a local nursery. It was actually prostrate when acquired, and assumed it just needed some tweaking and staking to be upright. Now that it is upright in the ground, the shape is very two dimensional without the typical whorling (spellcheck suggested I use the word whoring!) branch pattern. Is this from an inappropriate scion or poor training; will it slowly regain the typical 'Skylands' form? It originated from Iseli

Hope these pictures show the shape in question.

Thank you for the help,

Barbara

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Comments (5)

firefightergardener
15 years ago
Looks fine to me Barbara though my experience is limited.
dcsteg
15 years ago
It should be ok. Needs a little time to sort itself out. If the leader continues to grow on the horizontal stretch tape a small stake to the main trunk and bring it back to the vertical.

Dave
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coniferjoy
15 years ago
Hi Barbara,

The shape of this 'Skylands' looks fine to me, but the colour is to green for this cultivar.
Is this plant standing in the shade the most time of the day?
Did you mention that 'Skylands' was originated by Iseli?
It was found by Skyland Farm in 1979 as a seedling but then under the name 'Aurea Compacta'
I hope I helped you with this info.
barbaraincalif
Original Author
15 years ago
Hi Coniferjoy...sorry for the miss-communication. Just meant to say the particular plant purchased came from Iseli. I in no way intended to take the honor of finding 'Skylands' away from Skyland Farms!

This plant was growing prostrate, in the shade, at a local retail nursery. It was planted in the ground 90 degrees from it's position in the pot. The color got a doubly whammy by not only being in the shade, but also the bottom half of the 'leader' received even less light because the leader was growing horizontal. It's in some shade around the winter solstice from a fence, but should color up in time; for my yard it's in a primo location for the cultivar. So other than the leader's wacky, non-whorling growth, I'm confident it is a 'Skylands'.

Thanks for the help!

Barbara
davidv
15 years ago
Actually Skyland manor is owned by the State of New Jersey and is their botanical garden. The manor is a very impressive place that I heard is now doing weddings. The Picea Orientalis Skylands is also a very impressive plant. I have taken scions off of this tree many times. I remember going there when I was a young boy with my father to cut scions for grafting, I think around the late 1950Âs. Mr. Lewis, who owned the manor at the time, and my grandfather were very good friends. In fact Iseli might have gotten the plant from our family business back in the early 1980Âs. We had done extensive grafting for Jean Iseli and sold them through our broker McHutchinson & Co.

The Picea Orientalis Skylands (AKA Picea Orientalis Compacta Aurea) is a beautiful plant and has a very columnar shape to it. I estimate the plant to be around 20-25Â tall. It is very compact in growth and very dense. If grown in the full hot sun the plant can burn, in the shade the plant can turn green, and in the right spot the plant can become a very beautiful gold color.

If anyone ever gets a chance to see the gardens, it would be worth their time.

Dave

Should this 'Skylands' be saved?

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Should this 'Skylands' be saved?

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