its a conifer.. and a tree ... i am surprised you post this in the container forum ???? did i miss where you explained.. why you cant just plant it properly in mother earth??? .. and let her hold it over.. even should you wish to repot come spring???? it definitely needs a bigger pot ... especially if you think about a trees root mass.. having the potential to be twice as big as the plant above .. pull it out of the pot.. and find out.. how root bound it is.. then shove it back in the pot ... as far as trees grow.. fall is root growing time... they are storing the energy they produced this summer... that is why it would be a good time to plant.. repot.. or do root surgery ... perfect time is 6 to 8 weeks prior to ground freeze ... gritty mix is fine.. if you have it laying around... cactus mix is good .. or just cut peat-type media with 50% mini bark chunks... but do go up to a 5 gallon pot ... the thing is... a large pot.. will take winter a lot easier than a small one.. not getting too hot in winter. and thawing the roots.. etc .... interfering with dormancy .... the biggest problem with the garage.. is that it is probably.. easily.. 2 or 3 zones warmer ... and winter is usually a drought in such ... watering and dormancy maintenance is very tricky ... you would be better off.. putting the pot on the north side of the house in full winter shade... and letting it cope out there... as compared to trying to out wit mother nature in a garage ... and if it got buried under snow ... that would be even better ... it will stay dormant ... this is not really a foo foo plant that you need to baby.. get it dormant.. and keep it dormant.. you you should win ... you are thinking this z4 conifer.. is so foo foo.. it needs protection in your z6 ... that is counter-intuitive .... dont complicate you life .... ken

Um, look, guys, that tree is the only shade he's got right now. It appears healthy, nicely branched, and doesn't seem urgent to take it out. And it is interesting looking. No need to get offensive or jerky. The first photo doesn't show the top of the tree, to get an idea about whether it curves to point upward or whether it just leans straight out. If it's the latter, that's probably a reason to remove it now, otherwise it can wait a bit. It is, if I can estimate from the picture, about 5 feet from the foundation? So you will eventually want to remove it, I guess. I would do some landscaping and plant a couple other trees and get them started, so you don't have a completely denuded yard when you do remove the tree.

Ponderosa and Jeffrey Pine do look similar ;-) This is down around 2,000 feet elevation. I'm more accustomed to seeing Jeffrey Pine at higher elevations. Ponderosa is the predominant pine in the area, all of them with very long needles like those pictured. What do you need to see? Number of needles? I can take pics this weekend. I also have a couple Jeffrey Pine seedlings growing. Josh

I feel like I got a good buy ...I would rather always have a live tree growing in my yard ...but Fraser Firs are not native here ... matter of fact, the tree farms had hundreds of them planted (probably 2 -yrs old or so seedlings) that were all 'brown' row & after row due to the 'severe drought' here in our IA & alot of IA. So we did buy an already 'cut tree' brought in from Michigan...usually we 'cut our own' on that tree farm. The last 2 yrs we've had 'firs' & I love the look & feel of them & easy to decorate. But, wow, OA ...I cannot imagine trees costing that much money! The vine tree was lit up last night here in my dining room & it didn't cost me anything...so far it's lasted quite a few yrs ...I love it! LOL! Thanks, Holiday-ers! Jeanne S. This post was edited by jeannespines on Thu, Dec 6, 12 at 10:54