looking for tall/narrow conifers for entry

15 years ago

I am looking for a tall and narrow (relatively) conifer to place on either side of the steps leading up to the front door of the house. We had hired a landscape designer and she put plum yews (fastigiata) in the plan. I think they are nice, but I am bothered by their slow growth (do they really just grow 3-4 inches a year?), and the largest I can find locally are just 2 feet tall.

Some other plants that I have been looking at are:

juniper blue point

juniper stover

juniper skyrocket (maybe too tall)

Some additional info:

other foundation plants will be indian hawthorn (3-4 ft tall). Exposure is east/southeast, so it gets a good 6 hours of sun and some late afternoon shade. One side of the steps is constrained by the steps, foundation, sidewalk and driveway, so the space is 4x6 feet. So I obviously may have to do some pruning.

Any thoughts on these plants and any other recs? Thanks a bunch.

Featured Answer

karinl

15 years ago

If not Plum Yew, then how about Yew? Taxus baccata 'Fastigiata" might work.

The Van den Akker are great, other selections that also stay thin are Jubilee (I think that's fast growing and may get taller) and Green Arrow. But I think Van den Akker is the best.

KarinL

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Comments (9)

tunilla
15 years ago
Hello.I have a 'Skyrocket' growing but I don't think it's a particularly good selection;it tends to fall open with the wind&snow.How about Cupressus sempervirens 'Totem(pole)'This is a narrow selection of the 'Italian' cypress,dark green,12 ft X 20" in ten years,zone 7-9.
Or maybe Cupressus arizonica 'Blue Ice',growing slowly to 15 ft.Colour frosty blue-grey,can be tailored into round or square pyramid.zone 7-9.
Or just good old Thuja occidentalis 'Emerald/Smaragd',grows rapidly,reaching 15ft X 4ft in 15 years,grass green,zone 3-7.
There are plenty of other upright selections,but you may have to go to specialist nurseries in order to find them.T.
gardener365
15 years ago
For the Carolina's huh? I see you chose Carolina Gardening Forum as your second choice.

Juniperus chinensis 'Blue Arrow' is great. Skyrocket's in humidity will disease and fall apart in snow as well as become ratty and tattered. Monrovia nursery sells them. Your other best bet junipers are:
Juniperus sabina cultivars and Juniperus virginiana most-likely.

In the virginiana, there's a cultivar called 'Taylor'. Dense and pretty fast-growing, powder-blue, won't break, from snow.

Thuja's you have your pick of
Thuja occidentalis 'Malonyana'/'Malonyana Aurea'/'Hetz Wintergreen'FAST!/'Rosenthallii'sp?/'Sparkle' which is a good variegated one if you like yellow splashes in the foliage. It's very tight.

An odd look but could be your very gig. A fantastic upright Alaskan Cypress: Chamaecyparis nootkatensis 'Van Den Akker'. That'll stay in its confides well. The Halloween look. Might be rather cool.

Pinus strobus 'Stowe Pillar' is perfect. 1 foot a year and 14 feet tall at ten years with a 2 foot wide base near the ground.

Dax
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So ssmdgardener, about this little area of yours...what would you say the drainage is like now? Is it still a bit sunk, is it level, or is it now higher than the surrounding areas? If it's higher, my advice would be to go ahead and plant the blue arrows in the clay. Three trees in some kind of triangle seems about right. Another clay-friendly option would be a narrow columnar yew such as taxus x media 'beanpole'. If it is flat, with decent drainage, then I would suggest creating a mound or raised bed of better-draining soil on top rather than mixing it in with the clay. I think this strategy has more merit than amending because it emulates nature, where in most areas you will see a layer of organically rich, loose soil on top and the soil gets more compacted the deeper you dig. If you do this, I think you can pick from a wide range of conifer species, and the blue arrows should work fine also. If it is still somewhat sunken and mucky, I think you should not plant conifers there unless you can bring the level of clay soil even higher. I have had good luck so far with Fine Line Buckthorn(rhamnus frangula 'Ron Williams') in a mucky spot in my own yard. This is a plant that looks a lot like a conifer during the growing season, and while it won't give you winter color, it does have a nice sculptural look in winter, as you can see in this photo:
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would be under the eave, so a part shade/shade situation. Would need to either grow to be no more than 3 ft. wide and preferably 12' tall. ==>> foundation plantings are planted to hide the foundation .. not on the foundation ... in my world.. if you are planting under an eave ... you are TOO CLOSE to the foundation .... conifers are trees.. they NEVER STOP GROWING .. ever ... all of them will eventually hit the eave how about a pic.. maybe its much different than what i am thinking ... though west coast MI is basically z6 ... i would not push it long run ... and go with a steady z5 plant... ken
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Mike Larkin
15 years ago
This would be a good question for the design forum.
If you have a very traditional symetical house then planting two soilders (two conifers)on each side of the front door may look ok as long as they do not get too tall.
I agree with the designer - slow growing is better.
Do you want two - say - 8-10ft conifers on either side of your front door. Eventually junipers will grow large and crowd the entrance. Large planting next to the front door may not always give you a "Welcome to my home feeling" If they are not planted properly which they will eventually crowd the entry. And trying to prune them to the right size works for a few years.
If you have a house that is not symetical like a you designer is getting off easy by planing two of the same type of plants on either side of the front door. Landscape Designs do not always need symetry to look good, balance is just as important.
The plum yews are an interesting choices, I would prefer something that grows slow and will never grow taller than the doorway - Sometning like a Hinoki cypress - CHamaecyparis obtusa Nana - You will never feel overcrowed. They are also more intesting to look at than junipers.
Mike
gardener365
15 years ago
Check em all out online.

Good luck!

Dax
frangione1
Original Author
15 years ago
THanks for all of the suggestions. It seems like most of the suggestions aren't available around here based on looking online at 3 wholesale nurseries I have access too.

I don't want to have to prune something a ton, would prefer to pick something that fits the space. I think the false cypress suggested may fit the bill. I was thinking something in the 6-8 foot tall range. Our house is not symmetrical, but I do want these accent plants to be the same. I think it would look odd, otherwise. There is at least 10 feet to the top of the door, because it is at the top of the steps and we have a crawl space.
ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
15 years ago
hit the link ... same question from over in the tree forum .... same conifer.. different application ....

the big thing is .....NOTHING stops growing at some magical height .... most estimates for conifers is at ten years ...

find the annual growth rater ... and add that to the 10 year estimate .... PER YEAR ...

i would go for a group of 3 on each side... IF YOU CAN GET THEM AT DIFFERENT HEIGHTS. ... meaning a 3 a 2 and a one footer ..... i think it would make a nice grouping ....

ken

Here is a link that might be useful: link
garp1
15 years ago
Should handle the partial shade well. Nice growth rate but not too fast and won't get too wide for the space so that in 10 years your entrance will not become overgrown.

You can buy it online....try fantastic plants
kmanzfive laknee
15 years ago
Is this narrow enough?

{{gwi:808629}}
May be available someday, in the not too distant future.

looking for tall/narrow conifers for entry

karinl

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