Each of the last three years, I've promised my wife "no new trees this year.". Each year I've lied and some part of the yard is torn up and a mess for at least weeks.

My mom says "haven't you got enough, they're going to grow and they're too close.".

My neighbors call me farmer John and recognize that I have a problem.

When the yard is in a finished state for a few weeks each summer, everyone other than my mother likes it. All that really matters is that you and maybe your spouse like it. Or at least don't hate it.

Wow I am impressed that you are only experiencing a SMALL rant! You are entitled to a big one. I had a similar experience although instead of turning lawn to conifer/shrub and tree beds I turned perennial beds into conifer/shrub and tree beds. I ripped out lavender, ornamental grasses, salvias, etc etc that were incredibly labor intensive to keep looking nice (and looked like nothing in winter) and replaced them with conifers and other woody plants. I did not have as severe a reaction as you have had but I sure did get a lot of weird looks and comments. People could not believe that I was pulling out flowers and replacing them with 'Christmas trees'.

What is really interesting is the view of your appraiser. He clearly didn't understand that the conifers are woody plants which will grow as semi-permanent fixtures on your property and actually add value, not detract from it. Provided that you spaced them properly (sometimes I have a hard time believing that the tiny specimen in the #1 pot is actually going to grow to 30' x 10') and the majority survive, you are really on to a good thing. Two acres of grass will not add value and suck up a lot of fertilizer, water and labor to keep it looking nice.

Small plants can look cluttered without the mass to 'anchor' them - that is a temporary thing and will be less of an issue as they grow.

If you want to pander to the doubters, you can stick in some flowering shrubs amongst the conifers - I used things like Fothergilla, quince, Cotinus, Berberis - generally plants with good foliage and structure. They were not significant investments and can be sacrificed at a later date if need be.

I got so passionate about the foliage, the structure and the conifers that I started a blog about it (link below) and now lecture on the topic! You may not be far behind me. I wrote a piece about the transformation of my garden for the spring Conifer Quarterly, so if you're a member of the ACS you'll read about it in more detail.

Keep the faith - if you have an image in your mind's eye of what you want it to look like, don't lose focus. Showing some of the doubters photos of mature conifer collections and plantings might help too, but not if their only concept of a garden is lawn and roses.

Would love to see photos and hear more about how your garden grows. Make sure that you take photos to chronicle what you're doing - it will be hard to remember what it looked like when it was young...you may find yourself saying 'I told you so' when the plants start to mature and strut their stuff.

Best of luck and satisfaction with this project!

Sara

Here is a link that might be useful: Form and Foliage

Other people not having the same interest you can't let spoil yours, different people respond to different things - that's just the way it is. And shouldn't matter.

I would be careful about overplanting, as you will just have to cut a bunch of them down later if they grow into one another or the house etc.

I just cut down a choice specimen yesterday because it was getting shaded by another, got transplanted to another spot - only to rock around in the wind for months, despite being staked. I didn't notice it was loose until yesterday, when I saw there had been no root growth at all since the move.

It was too close to another tree in the new spot, anyway.

If gardening is both art and something YOU enjoy, then it really doesn't matter much at all what other people think of your landscaping, save perhaps your wife and neighbors to some extent because they have to look at it frequently.

My gardens are EXTREMELY CLUTTERED by almost every account, but ultimately I'm a plant collector, and it's less about asthetics and more about planting, observing and enjoying watching the plants grow. Personally I don't like wide-open spaces and huge patches of mulch that look empty or alone.

Ron(bboy, above) has always clashed with me on overcrowding and to some extent he's correct despite me telling him repeatedly it's the effect I am going for. The reality is EVERY TREE will someday be crowding it's neighbors. It's about useful shelf-life and having a plan for the future. I could have bought fifteen extreme miniature conifer for my property, put them forty feet apart from eachother and in four or five hundred years, my landscape would look awesome. I wanted my own gardens to be interesting and have a somewhat full look three to five years from now, not twenty.

As for the appraiser, your neighbors, strangers, etc. they really don't knock SH(T about what you are doing. Most people have never seen a true dwarf conifer, much less know what their benefits are. Tell them that not only are conifers one of the lowest maintenance plants on earth, your neighbors will be spending hundreds(thousands?) of dollars on lawn care and hundreds of hours in maintenance while you sit back and enjoy your landscape come to life.

Now my little rant/moral of the story...
Rick, ultimately these people are dinosaurs of the landscaping industry. They're still laying waterproof black plastic under their azaleas in full sun and planting horrifically ugly plants from Home Depot exactly like they are told to from a book they also bought at Home Depot. They drove their huge SUV's at $5 a gallon, bought amendments to add to the soil, sprayed chemicals all over their property and then put in some hideous plastic rock pavers... Tonight they're watching Survivor 57... You get the point.

-Will

A lot of people seem to think that the more plants you have, the more work you have. When they see a lot of plants they think it 's a lot of work to 'maintain' them. That might be true with perennials, but not with conifers. The appraiser might benefit from a little education. When is the last time you divided or deadheaded a conifer? Usually, all a conifer needs is a little gentle guidance.
Rick, if I were you, I'd wall off those neighbors with a good conifer screen and they would be gone. You'd then be able to live in your world the way you want to.
It always amazes me that somebody that knows nothing about what they're talking about finds the need to hand out 'sage' advice to others.

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Pictures taken 3-20-20012. Perennials at his time of year wouldn't be worth a picture.
Mike

Bottom line: Your wife is not against what you are doing. It takes two to do this even though she is a none participator.

Who cares what you parents think. They are non starters in this endeavor. Yes they will always be around to give you advice. Just shake your head in agreement, smile and move on and continue to enjoy what you are doing.

Again who cares what the neighbors think.

Yes it will hurt your property value. It severely limits your home buyer base as most couples would not know how to deal with it or even want to.

Plant what you want and enjoy it for now. Don't be to excessive with over crowding. Look for those special cultivars you can keep around awhile.

Just tell the appraiser to just do his job and refrain from becoming involved in something that brings you pleasure and relaxation.

When this garden matures it will be worth it. Your parents and most neighbors probably won't be around and you will be glad you did not listen to them.

Dave

My rant... my parents or no one in my family likes what I am doing, except the wife because she doesn't care either way.

==>>> and we care what they think.. WHY???

screw em .. who cares ...

ken

That's telling them Ken.

Glad you could reaffirm what I said.

There are strength in numbers.

LOL

Dave

yes.. but being more terse.. my answer was more memorable.. and easier to commit to memory ... lol

way back when.. when i was single.. and collecting.. i used to say.. i could waste the money in a bar or a golf course.. which usually shut them up ...

golfing .. is a good way to ruin a nice walk, in what is usually a nicely manicured garden ...

ken

Right on, everyone! The only reason to try to co-opt a few folks is that it is so much fun to share what you are passionate about. My husband was clueless as to why I was doing the garden transformation, and now he sees almost as much beauty and gets almost as much satisfaction as I do.

However, you can't let what others think dictate your own tastes and choices.

Mike, fabulous photos and I doubt that the 2 acres of lawn look like much in Zone 6 on March 20, either.

Anything done to an extreme really starts going down a road of personal taste. As Will was mentioning even up above, there are lots of debates even on this website on how much is too much, whether it should be all conifers or have mixed media, or how dare they trim those conifers into shapes, etc.

Ultimately, if you do anything extreme to your house or yard......color, gardening, art, or anything else, it has to be done with a thick skin because your personal taste may not be your neighbor's, or spouse's, or anyone else's for that matter.

Rick all they have done is make you question your judgement. You'll shrug it off shortly. Life is too short, I say do what makes you happy as long as you hurt no one to do it. You aren't hurting anyone, since your wife is in agreement.

I'm always inspired each time I see a section of botann's gardens. How beautiful to be able to walk through that each day. Just be careful of giving them enough space.

You've gotten some great plants, have fun. If unsure, maybe don't add any new beds for a couple years and just complete the ones you have and see how you feel then.
Cher

I think you will be surprised how fast the young plants you have now will fill in and change the look of your landscape. A conifer garden looks different each year, and you get the pleasure of watching it grow, just like a child. I used to have a traditional landscape filled with perennials and flowering shrubs and it looked great in the spring, but looked terrible the rest of the year. If you pay attention to color and texture in your foliage a conifer garden looks good year round and for many years to come. Someone suggested to me once upon a time to add grasses, heathers, ect. to fill in the voids and create a better initial astetic, and then when your conifers begin to mature you can easily tear them out without sacrificing to much investment.
Jim

Rick one thing to throw out there is to plan the bedlines and specimens. Fill in from there but don't fill in your beds with mulch quite yet. Make sure you really like the bed layout, ensure if flows visually and for traffic.

I've been sitting on my bedlines since last fall and I just changed several curves based on feedback from the design forum. I'm much happier now.

I get made fun of all the time and yelled at to say the least. Its my thing and they can step off (as Jack Black says)...it just makes me work harder anyhow. After four years of landscaping my last house IT helped sell the home. I shattered the haters and sold above the county median in 30 days, they can stick that in their pipe and smoke it.

Basically I am a bit country and agree with you. Whenever I don't have a parts car in the yard I get a nervous feeling I might need a radiator suddenly at 0200. Gardening is also personal taste.

In this error of small government I find it amazing some many "Republicans" want to legislate my yard grooming with government regulations.

To make conversations I will say the appraiser may know what it takes to sell a house. Keep in mind half America is below average and most folks just arent that into trees so the resale value may take a hit if you limit your market to conifer enthusiasts.

Now on the other hand if a guy comes along who always wanted a SBC powered purple Delorian and you have one, name your price. You just might have to wait longer for the right buyer even though that car is worth 1,000's of times as much attention as a generic Camryaccord.

T, the car analogy from you is uncanny!lol!

Stick to flowing diversity and you'll win once its time to leave.

Thanks everyone, it looks like I just needed a little reassurance. If my yard someday looks like any of yours and someone commented on it negatively I would just probably be able to just laugh at them. Being that my collection is less than a year old, I guess it has more of an impact on me... enough to make me second guess myself. Especially when all of this happened within 24 hours. I honestly don't think anyone has said that it has looked nice here in person... last year we had our family reunion here and everyone was just talking about how much work it will be to keep the mulch beds filled... I tried explaining that once everything gets larger you won't see the mulch anyhow but I would have had better luck explaining this to a brick wall.

Sarah - I actually have your blog bookmarked =). I space everything so the average conifer can get at least 12' wide without touching... some less and some more depending on the growth rate. Obviously the stuff I have that grows a lot slower can be almost planted next to each other. Since I space everything so far apart, I plan to add lower maintenance companion plants this spring to help cover some of the mulch along with ground covering conifers. Once the conifers grow larger, the plants can easily be moved or killed.

Mike - Your garden is one of the very best. I have some Green Giants at the property line for the immediate effect and in front of those I have a mixture of spruces & pines. Hopefully the neighbors will be gone within the next couple of years.

Whaas - I'm pretty happy with my bed layouts, I just changed them around a little yesterday though. I've been designing based on Kens & Dave's idea. Since I have a lot to mow, I try not to make beds with to many curves. Some curves are a must though. I also try to put a focal point conifer in each bed... something that I would consider a little more special. One thing I know is that I can't be to focused on bed design because as the conifers get larger the beds will disappear anyhow. Right now I can look out my second story window and see what all my beds look like. I could only imagine that 10-15 years from now I won't be able to tell what the bed shapes are.

Rick,

You are on the right track with your thoughts and implementation of your conifer garden. Most of the people who question and criticize your objectives you will be able to easily identify from those who offer constructive criticism.

As you build your garden you will make changes. New ideas will always present themselves when in the process of island creation. You will see. It's a learning experience and I don't want to take that away from you.

People are funny. For now some people will high five you and others brand you. My neighborhood handle is Dr. Dirt.

Now after 14 years of dirt moving all the negativity questioning and concerns have passed away. I now have a constant stream of people who want to look around, ask questions, and would I help them get started.

Bottom line: It takes time, money, and endless searches for that special plant to make your garden complete. You will arrive. Just be patient and turn a deaf ear to anybody or anything that tries to discourage you.

Dave

Your parents aside. The appraiser's remark about how much work your plantings might be sounds like just small talk to me. The fact he took 80% of his pictures of your landscaping was probably because he liked it. I can't imagine it being 80% of his appraisal. I would have taken it as a compliment.

Whenever my neighbors are peeking over I invite them in for an eye-watering tour of what's new. After all if you are going to go through a lot of work why not do a little bragging.

I think the disparaging remarks of your parents have you paranoid. Parents just feel comfortable saying whatever pops into their head. It comes with telling you what to do when they were bringing you up. It tends to be a hard habit to break.

Thanks Dave - Around here everyone on my street has a nice long yard of dark green grass. As you drive past my yard you see a lot of boulders, rocks, holes, rope, dead grass, etc... I definitely stand out, but probably not in a good way to the neighbors lol. Heck I'll be sitting in my living room and have neighbors that slow down in front of my house to take a look lol. Now that could be a good thing or a bad thing... it depends on the people.

Hopefully when all done and they have grown I'll have people slow down to glance for all the right reasons. I guess to them they are just basic Spruces or Pines that can be purchased at the HomeDepot. Once they are full grown and they see how differently they are shaped or the different colors they changer perhaps they will have an entire new view. Like posted above, many people don't know what these are and have never seen them before... a pine tree is an ordinary pine tree.

JonnyB - You could be correct, it depends on how you look at it. I was just taking it as more of a negative thing because of all the dead grass, large rocks, holes, dirt, etc that's spread everywhere. If I was an appraiser and wasn't into conifer collecting, I would probably take my yard as a negative since my neighbors all have nice grass.

Rick, I have 5 kids. Ive heard many times 'Dad...You should get a dog! ... Well, i dont want one or need one right now, im never home. But ive always told them that what you have at your house is your buisness. I dont care if its a zoo....Thats Your buisness.
Maybe work in smaller increments and show some finished area with nice edging and mulching. If youve tackled 2 acres and already talking about the next 1.5, doing all this by yourself in a year,im sure youve turned some heads.
Mom and Dad need to chill....and remember,its a " work in progress " not a race to the finish line. The fantastic gardens we enjoy seeing on here took many years of hard work,devotion,dollars and fine tuning. Yours will come with time. Keep the faith...Peace, AL

Rick keep your chin up and you hands tending the gardens. I too have had the comments...when is enough enough. At times it bothers me and makes me feel guilty then I think heck I work hard for my money and deserve to spend it as I please. Now that my gardens are more mature I have people asking for tours all the time. Some people that I've heard make snide comments about other gardens, I don't invite for tours. I don't need that. But I remember when my gardens were new and things were dug up all over the place...well even I was embarrassed of my gardens. LOL

Hang in there, work at your leisure and build your gardens the way you like them. In 4 or 5 years you will be enjoying a beverage looking out at all you've accomplished. Also, know that a lot of people go through those guilty moments. Your not alone.