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Need recommendation for heat/drought tolerant zone 7

13 years ago

Hey All

Seems my other message went to a black hole, so I am recreating it.

My MIL was up here visiting and I showed her the pictures you all are posting. She has fallen for the idea of having conifers incorporated into her landscape, but has some challenges in the growing environment. First off, even though she is Z7, she is in Oklahoma so she has a very hot dry summer and lots of red clay. Now the planting beds can certainly be amended, but is there a site I can direct her to so she can find conifers that will do well? She does have some nice dappled shade so that may also be an option.

Some of the types she was really interested in are:

Blues

weeping varieties

and she LOVED this one which I think is a type of Black Pine:

{{gwi:687534}}

So we are open to any suggestions on what varieties would work or if there is someone in the OKC area who could recommend a nursery that would be fantastic.

Thanks in advance!

Alexa

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Comment (1)

texjagman
13 years ago
She needs to go into the TLC on Memorial and ask for Marteen. He is the primary overseer for all conifer orders. He has years of experience with conifer survival in this area. He will shoot her straight on what will make it here and their variety to pick from is impressive. Unfortunately their prices are fairly high as well.

I'm currently in the middle this spring and coming fall of putting in an extensive combination of conifers. I'm trying to see how far I can push micro-climating but definately anticipate losses. Our heat is not very conducive to a lot of conifers.

mark
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My beloved MAC is for me an obvious one that fulfills your criteria, but it depends rather on what you mean by gigantic. I think it might be one of those 'how long is a piece of string' things; she'll probably go as high as there's something for her to climb (thinking of Jackie's towering specimen), but I'd generally describe her as large but manageable, rather than gigantic. She doesn't take up much ground/horizontal space at all, and didn't mind being left to her own devices once established in my hot dry climate. I used to give her a long slow soaking 2 or 3 times per summer, just so she would know I loved her - nothing else. There have been occasional reports of mildew in some locations, but she's usually a marvel of good health. I can't remember if you already have her, but if you don't, I can't think why not... :-)
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