Hello in Waterloo. I was going to suggest Thuja occidentalis 'Rushmore' which is compact and narrow and was bred for extremely harsh winters but it grows 12" a year heightwise. Are you definitely wanting to limit height as well as width? Wisconsitom, your hedge sounds very nice indeed. If you definitely want a low hedge, Thuja occidentalis (Arborvitae) 'Sherwood Frost' might also be nice. It has variegated white foliage, is globose and grows at the same rate as 'Woodwardii' so you could have a mixed hedge or choose one or the other. They will either be small or expensive or both however. Whereas, a 3 ft. 'Rushmore' could be had for about 36 USD which is what I paid for one a year ago just to use as a single specimen. Good luck.

Ken and Dax, Thank you kindly for your explanations. I know I was using some of the incorrect terminology (rootstock vs understock) so that will take some learning but I will get there. Ken, oh I was definitely not thinking about planting the graft underground! Although I completely believe you that someone has done it! I was just trying to figure out how much top growth the understock should have on a young grafted plant. Thank you for your link as well, definitely a good read. What are your thoughts about planting slightly above grade or does it have to be exactly at grade as long as the root flare is showing? Dax, thank you for your explanation. That makes a lot of sense to me. I will plant and then discard the understock in a few years as instructed by Conifer Kingdon. This property I purchased this summer came with quite a few different conifers. In my 0.25 acres, urban yard, I have never had a want or need for them before, but since getting to this three acres I have been perusing and learning and finally got a few. From Conifer Kingdom I received : Picea glauca 'Pendula' Abies concolor 'Blue Cloak' Abies concolor 'Wintergold' Picea omorika 'Peve Tijn' Pinus schwerinii 'Wiethorst' (x. schwerinii) (plus three maples) Should I expect to have to stake the weeping white spruce? I also have an order I am awaiting from evergreen nursery that contains: Arborvitae - Glauca Prostrata Arborvitae - Golden Globe Arborvitae - Hetzi Midget Arborvitae - Rheingold Globe Chamaecyparis - Blue Fuzzy Dwarf Chamaecyparis - Curly Top Chamaecyparis - Heatherbun Chamaecyparis - Mikko Chamaecyparis - Squarrosa Sulphurea Cypress - Green Thread Filifera Pine - Dwarf Mugo Juniper - Saybrook Gold I will get some photos soon as I definitely have some questions about the conifers on the property and will need to take some photos for that. Some appear to have been planted in too small of a space (of course...) Thank you again!

Thanks for the advice. I have yet to find a spot to grab more clay soil to backfill for these trees. The clay here (at least the top layer) is unlike the clay I grew up around in middle GA (fall line area). It's just a mess of construction backfill. I talked to the guys who did the excavation in my subdivision though. They told me to go look at a new site they had dug to see how nice the clay is a few feet down. They're right. It's much more rich. Now I need to ask them if I can take a jeep load of it, lol. For now they are stuck in a clay / bagged topsoil mix. They're supported by the small bamboo plant sticks and tree tape in case we get a thunderstorm downburst. They were so rootbound I wrote to the vendor to complain and had to pretty much bare root them anyway. Quite the mess.

Hi Menno, Conifers need no wax, only deciduous grafts do. 50 degrees constant is perfect. Tent the grafts at supper time (dark) and remove the tenting early morning. Mist them 4-5 times daily (not at night). Use bottom heat. When preparing the understock, never cut more than 25% into the understock, instead, you want a thin cut but the flap you're creating should be a little longer than the prepared cuts on the scion. Insert the scion so that it is nicely snup and so that the flap is excessive/longer at the top so you know the scion wounds are completely covered. Keep the humidity up - you want high ninties to 100% if at all possible. Your knife should be sharp enough to remove the hair off your hand by scraping. Anything less than that sharp you're grafts will be very unsuccessful. Keep the knife clean with rubbing alcohol. (Periodically dip to remove built-up resin). Wipe the blade clean and dry. Deciduous grafts (side veneer) treat the same with a few exceptions: You use your bud tape (bud strip) but the grafts need be coated in paraphin. The entire "strip" needs to be coated. Do not tent deciduous grafts. After growth has occured on a deciduous graft (full leaf push on the scion), you must remove the understock. Cut just above the graft union leaving only the scion to continue growing on the roots of the seedling understock. Pot up your grafted plants and untangeling all roots early spring. Then and only then, add fertilizer to the soil mix. For the next couple years, keep these "fresh grafts" shaded. Under a large shade tree is perfect. For the conifer understock, snip back all but one or two main branches at spring pot up and leave the understock on for a year (this is debatable to no end) - and the following spring remove them just as you did for your deciduous grafts. These must also be placed under a shade tree. Keeping both out of full sun is very important and I want to stress this. Lastly I'll just say, when you make your understock cut, try your darndest best to make it exactly as wide as your scion - 'otherwise' - line "at least" one side of the scion up with "one side" of your understock flap. Tie it off and call it done! Dax