Small yard pine tree

july1962

17 years ago

I'd like to plant a "christmas-tree" quality pine tree in my front yard which is not all that big. But I have a nice open space probably 15' around. I do a lot of christmas lights during the holidays and would love to have a live growing tree to decorate. But I don't want something that gets enormous and takes over my whole yard. Is there something that grows fairly narrow and not much more than say 15-20 feet?

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Comments (12)

Embothrium
17 years ago
What region?
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july1962
Original Author
17 years ago
Sorry, I thought that was visible in my post. I'm in Zone 8, the valley area of Los Angeles.
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Tsuga - our Serviceberry is planted in an east facing location, with only morning sun. Wondering if yours has a more open habit? That's what I expect with mine in these conditions. How are the spring blooms and fall color for you? By any chance do you have any pictures you can share? I'd love to see a mature one in the landscape. We just planted ours earlier this year. I'd love to see pics of your Satomi as well. Milwaukeean, when I think of crabapples I think of a messy tree with lots of maintenance, maybe I'm wrong. I also think of a low branching tree, not ideal for the placement. Gardener, I'm on my second year with the heptacodium, can't wait for it to mature. My narrowed choices, though I'm leaning more towards the latter two: 1. Fringe tree - lacks four season interest, late to wake up in spring 2. Serviceberry Autumn Brilliance - seasonal interest, I have this already in my front yard 3. Kousa Dogwood - other than the flower color, what are the primary differences between white flowered and Satomi? I'm planting this next to a purple leaf sandcherry, which of these do you think would compliment it more? Kousa Dogwood - are the berries messy? I read they prefer shade, my placement would be full sun, how will it fare in this condition?
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Msjam - sorry no to both. moonglow is a rocky mountain juniper selection (scopulorum) and will likely have disease problems in DFW area - spruces are very unlikely to thrive or even survive. Actually, I'd wager there are only a handful of pines that are acceptable. Most of the DFW area has shallow limestone derived soils. Further east they have deeper sandier soils where loblolly, long leaf, and Virginia pine grow well. If you have sandy acidic soil then pinus Virginiana wates golden is a cool tree. Otherwise, only pine I'd try is Austrian pine or a hybrid Austrian black pine 'black prince' is thought to be in that later group, and it will stay quite small for a long time. The others you mentioned 'nana' is nice but low growing groundcover unless grafted on a standard for some height. Sea green is nice (although quite common) is a little more shrub like google search for images and see if that's what you want. Another juniper you might like that is more tree like is so called 'Hollywood juniper' also called Kaizuka although it will eventually , slowly, get pretty big.
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Maybe a smaller-growing cultivar of loblolly pine could work. I know there has been at least one dwarf grown, but don't know what you might be able to find that was a compact tree rather than a bush. If that species is suitable for you, someone raising them from seed might have a few dwarf or dwarfish individuals in a block of seedlings - that have not been selected, grafted and given names, put on the market. Same with other species of pines. Maybe there is a native plant nursery within a reasonable distance where seedlings are being raised. Other conifers often give off "runts", that's how various named forms have originated (as well as from branch sports). It may not be apparent how much of this goes on because such seedlings are probably comparatively seldom able to persist in natural stands, and growers not interested in selecting new dwarf cultivars are liable to discard them.
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Weeping Atlas cedars are certainly stunning, but I'd hardly consider them to have a 'small footprint', especially once they reach some maturity. See the linked photo :-) Once established, tree roots will extend far beyond the 'footprint' of the tree - the larger the mature size of the tree, the larger the expanse of the root system. A dwarf selection or a cultivar that is very slow growing will generally buy you more time without this issue causing problems. For spruces, I'd consider something like P. omorika 'Pendula Bruns' or P. orientalis 'Skylands'. Otherwise, Abies koreana 'Horstmann's Silberlocke' or a whole host of dwarf Chamaecyparis selections could work. For a single tree in a significant position, I'd look for something quite distinctive, either in form or foliage color. It might be best to visit your local garden center and review their selections of dwarf or very slow growing conifers. Lots to choose from. Here is a link that might be useful:
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pineresin
17 years ago
Try Pinus quadrifolia (Parry Pinyon). Very attractive needles, dark green with a white stripe along the length, giving an overall glaucous colour. It will eventually get larger than you want, but it is slow-growing, and won't do so for something like 30 years.

Resin
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Embothrium
17 years ago
Note that if you are in L.A. you are in something like Zone 10 or Zone 11.

Here is a link that might be useful: South-West US
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july1962
Original Author
16 years ago
bboy...seems like different sources list us in different regions. The link on this site says zone 9. I don't recall where I got the zone 8 now when I made the post.

Pineresin, I looked up the Parry Pinyon and it looks like it can get very free form looking, and not Christmas-tree like. I've seen pine trees in people's yards around here that look very christmas-tree like, I just don't know what they are.
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karinl
16 years ago
I don't think it is a pine tree you're after. Here on the forum where we are very horticulturally minded, Pine refers to just the members of the pine (Pinus) family. But pines are rarely used as Christmas trees. You may be actually looking for a spruce (Picea) or a fir (Abies). One that grows quite tall and narrow is Picea mariana, or black spruce. It ultimately gets a bit scruffy with age, but should do a good job for a number of years as it is slow-growing.

KarinL
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scotjute Z8
16 years ago
Arizona Cypress - cultivar "Blue Ice" would be a good suggestion for a Christmas tree shape, size is supposed to be in the 15-20 ft. range, and somewhat narrow. These trees (Arizona Cypress) are native to the southwest and are grown by the thousands for Christmas trees. "Carolina Sapphire" is another very popular variety, but I think its ultimate size is around 30-40'.
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cherriann
15 years ago
I have a similar question. I have a small space and would like a Christmas-Tree-like "evergreen" that would grow to not much more than 8-10 feet tall. I understand there are a couple varieties that would retain the Christmas Tree shape and remain small........ not too wide either. Conifer? If you can tell me what I should be searching for I would appreicate it. Thanks much. Cherri
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bunkers
15 years ago
A 'baby blue eyes' spruce (a slow grower) looks like a the perfect christmas tree in my opinion. I'm not sure how it would handle a warmer climate. I also like the black hills spruce, it seems like it would make a nice Christmas Tree for many years before getting too huge. The baby blue eyes would never become too large and has a really nice blue color.
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pineresin
15 years ago
What location?
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noki
15 years ago
I don't think Spruce will grow in S. California, but a Serbian Spruce would make a very nice X-mas tree elsewhere. Classic tree shape.

Would a true Cedar (Cedrus) grow in S. California... some have a very nice tree shape when young I think.

I would try, cause I'm weird, Monkey Puzzle or Bunya Pine, would make an interesting "X-mas tree" ... might be painful to put on the lights thou.
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ospreynn
15 years ago
Pinus cembroides and discolor will have the x-mass tree shape for very long time. I've seen some 20' that still have the shape. As resin mentioned, they are very slow growing trees

osprey
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Small yard pine tree

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Embothrium

july1962
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pineresin

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Small yard pine tree

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