Welcome to the hobby and the forum! I'm a newbie collector still myself and still have a lot to learn but fortunately for both us and anyone else coming here ready to become conifer fans, there is a great wealth of friend folks here willing to offer help, photos, knowledge and experience in this unique gardening world.

For starters, certainly scan some previous posts as there are a lot of redundant questions/answers and you'll probably learn a lot and become even more enabled in the hobby!

Have fun!

-Will

Congrats on the new arrivals! It looks like you made good selections for growing in Colorado.
The mystery pine in your pictures might be a ponderosa. You can make sure by counting the needles, to see if they're grouped in bunches of three.

will .... suggesting himself as a newbie .. is the grandest understatement of the 21st century ... lol

congrats.. welcome to the addiction ...

lets start .... with firmly planting in your mind.. that ALL PLANTS ARE DISPOSABLE .... if you ONLY get 10 years of enjoyment.. and then it outgrows a space.. get rid of it... its an opportunity to get others ...

the pine by the driveway .. that you ask a name for.. get rid of it ... its too big ... it will block the drive in a couple years ...

release the stakes form the one planted all ready ... if you planted it PROPERLY ... there is most likely.. no reason for the ropes .. though we will consider your theory ... what is your soil type ...

link below to intro to conifers... also at the site is a database ... learn about annual growth rates ... most size estimates are at 10 years.. and then they continue from there at the annual growth rate ....

i also recommend reading the first few pages of conifer posts.. you will learn so much.. and be able to define your questions down to specifics ...

the picea pungens glauca pro can be released from the stake and it will grow on the ground... with this type of plant.. you train it to the height you wish.. and then it goes back to ground ... might work nice on the front slope ...

it seems.. upon review.. that most of your plants are straight species .... you are going to be incredibly hard pressed to maintain these FOREST trees on your suburban lot .... THEY ARE HUGE! !!!! .. growing 1 to 3 to 5 feet per year.. once established .... unless you left off cultivar names .... [e.g. at the database .. the brew grows size est is to 15 feet in 10 years.. thereafter growing at about a foot per year ...]

do you have any inclination towards learning bonsai???? and then collecting some named cultivars with a more suitable growth rate for your garden size???

i will be back

good luck and have fun

ken

ps: here are some pix of my Picea pungens 'Glauca Pendula' .. which i believe is the correct name for it... this will be your potential in 10 to 20 years ...
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Here is a link that might be useful: link

If you stick to cultivars that stay smaller you will definitely have a better time of it in the long run. Look at pics of Will's yard to get some inspiration. You have a LOT of room for smaller/dwarf conifers! Also think fastigate (narrow) and weeping - generally easier to keep in check size wise. What is the big deciduous tree in the front yard? You may want to think about removing it unless it provides needed shade for the house. You could fit a lot of conifers in that space... :)

If you are thinking of landscaping the backyard I would budget enough money to eventually put the power and cable/phone lines under ground. This would aesthetically clean up the free air space clutter. Code wise it looks to be hanging to close to the ground.

Other then that I think kaitain4 has some good advice for you.

Dave

I am also in zone 5.... and I have TWO Picea breweriana in a yard that is probably smaller than yours.
Moreover, I bought them MUCH larger than yours, four years ago, I think it was...
As Ken says, they will probably EVENTUALLY outgrow their space -- but I don't expect that to happen for at least another 10 years: the growth rate doesn't quite seem to be a foot-per-year, especially not with the small plant you have: don't worry about it.

I really like Ken's sugestion to grow the Picea pungens Glauca Pendula down that slope you have in the front of your house -- wish I had a slope like that too: a few well-placed rocks combined with that cultivar has potential for a spectacular little display, IMO !

Will ...thanks for the welcome, and kaitain, you are correct to recommend Will's yard as inspiration.

Sluice, the needles on my mystery pine (in the back drive) come out in twos. Also, thanks for your encouragement on my choices being likely to survive here in Englewood Colorado...

Ken, I love your 'Glauca Pendula'. Now I have to get a second so that I can have one laying down and one standing up! I think your suggestion to consider that I can tear out trees when I want to ...well, it is really the only way I can approach my current madness. Dave and Kaitain's advice to stay small is much appreciated. Not only do I respect it, but I believe it is the smart thing to do. BUT I CAN'T.

Jaro, thanks for the first hand info on your own Brewer's ...you're enabling me.

I love all the diverse opinions, and you won't hurt my feelings, so please continue to help if you can stand it. Maybe if I get warned enough, I will slow down with the big trees.

Anyway, I have uploaded three photos, which are now the first three in the linked album, and these photos have some indication of my first draft crazy plan for where to put the trees. The photos have some measurements for spacing. What will I see as my very worst problems if I go with this (I welcome comments on tree health, aesthetics, house foundation health, my neighbors' health, etc...I'm sure I must be trying to replicate some more forest-like places of my youth, but I do still appreciate all opinions...)

oh, and Ken, I don't/won't have a car (I prefer bicycles, which the garage is full of)...so as long as I leave enough space in the drive for some future owner to squeeze into the garage, I'm not too worried about that mystery pine in the back. Thanks for the logical/wise advice nonetheless.

Dave, you are right to say that the power lines are too low. ..thanks for putting my thoughts toward burying them...

Here is a link that might be useful: First 3 photos show crazy 1st draft plan - I'm starting to think that I would be alright if I lost the Ponderosa?

Good start !

Personally, I wouldn't put that Brewer's spruce right up front, as it will eventually hide the miniature cultivars that should really be planted on that slope, along with some choice rocks.
Just my opinion :O)

holidayelsie, for two needle on the mystery pine, my guess is P. nigra

J P

Probably the smartest way out of your predicament and the easiest on your pocket book would be to go ahead and plant your new conifers. Enjoy them while they stay within the confines that you are comfortable with. As they become to big replace them with a more appropriate conifer that will work for years to come.

With all the above input provided from very knowledgeable people I think you have enough information to put together a workable design plan that won't take over your yard with out of balance cultivars.

Dave

Hello! What lovely plans you have. The two things that jump out at me are:

1. the backyard tree (apple?) that will have a branch trimmed - what do you think of the ring of landscaping bricks? I do not care for that - makes me think if a grown man in a play pen trying to get out!

2. you had a question mark I think about the ID if the front yard tree - Acer saccharinum? From the branch structure I suspect that is true - can you add a pic of bark and leaf? The area where it is planted does not seem ideal for what would happen in the next 10-15 years to a silver maple. It will give you plenty of shade, but these trees in my opinion should not be that close to your house. The roots are massive, and it will be hard to plant other smaller tress in the area. If they have not already started, a silver of that size will soon be giving you MANY samara in the spring - you AND your neighbor may not enjoy this litter. Please find out if it is an acer saccharinum and check out older silver maples in your neighborhood and chat with the homeowners of those trees as you see them out working in their yards. Your future conifers might appreciate a different tree there.

And may I ask where are you in zone 5?
Rachel

Oh I see now - Colorado :)

so as long as I leave enough space in the drive for some future owner to squeeze into the garage, I'm not too worried about that mystery pine in the back.

===>>>> NO NO NO .... you leave it there.. as long as it remains within your capacity to remove it FOR FREE ...

a few years down the line.. you do not want to be paying some fool $500 to remove what you could take down for free ...

that is the key to EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THE THINGS YOU PLANT ...

and in my world.. you do NOT leave them for the next owner ...

BTW .... the 1,3 and 4th pix.. of pendula.. its growing UPHILL ... to the north.. whats that all about ... i dont recall if that is the way i pointed the leader ...

also.. if you look close.. you will see that they were trained to about 2 feet.. and then allowed to go wherever ... its the bump in the sorta middle ...

ken

Ken, I am going to remove the stakes from the two Vanderwolf's Pyramids in a month or so. Having read this forum for months before posting, I knew your idea about staking, and wasn't going to stake them originally. I did it in response to a neighbor who came out while I was planting them. She gets to feel like she helped. Stakes gone in a month, and all is well?

Rachel! The dirt around the apple is already gone! The photos you were looking at are about a month old. Here is a more current photo: {{gwi:691960}}From Too Many Large Conifers

Should I put the picea breweriana in the very front as in the photo, or should I put the picea engelmannii there? Or should I put the picea pungens 'Glauca Pendula' in the very front? (Although I do like them prostrate as well, I am going to ask this one to get vertical). {{gwi:691962}}From Too Many Large Conifers

Picea engelmanni, picea breweriana, or picea pungens 'Glauca pendula' here in the back yard? {{gwi:691964}}From Too Many Large Conifers

Sluice, thanks for the Pinus Nigra Id. Here is another photo:
{{gwi:691966}}From Too Many Large Conifers

Rachel, here is another photo of the silver maple. The neighbors who have talked to me about my yard like it. It shades the house in the heat of summer, and allows a view of the mountains in the winter (why I am placing conifers on the northern edges of my property). As for making a mess, well the neighbors to the north have an ash tree, so the maple isn't the one drawing attention...but then again, I didn't see the neighborhood or the tree last Spring. Thanks for the heads up on how this tree might annoy people...
{{gwi:691968}}From Too Many Large Conifers

Although I appear to be ignoring much advice here, I am really very grateful. I appreciate the time you have taken to read and leave input.
J.P.

whew JP - so glad to see you had already freed the apple tree!