never shear a tree ... or a conifer ... IMHO limb it up... and if you dont like it.. then go with what rhiz said .... its an invasive weed in most areas of the country ... as indicated by you 'finding it' in your yard ... lol ... if you cant find something better for the space given.. you arent trying very hard ... as noted.. that cute babe.. is actually a large ugly conifer [see link] ... and IMHO.. not worth the space ... and i am surprised you havent run across many tiny babes in your garden ... if so.. get rid of momma and treasure her progeny ... ken Here is a link that might be useful: link

A layer of decorative mulch with a few colorful pots of annuals? Sometimes plants are just not possible.

I shouldn't have said cankers, I thought the word cankers was interchangeable with frost crack and sunscald, and now I know that they're not. My trees had frost crack and/or sunscald, due to being planted on the south/southwest part of our house. The trees i planted were susceptible to it, which I didn't know at the time. The Crimson King didn't survive no doubt because I didn't water it enough. I watered it, but it was like 8ft tall, and i only watered it about 5 gallons a week (puny for my fast draining soil). And probably the same could be said for the red rocket maple. But the golden Raintree died during a bitter cold winter. I read it was to zone 5, but most sites have it at zone 6, so it wasn't right for my zone in the first place. Dh and I decided this morning that we're going to do a 6ft L fence blocking the 3 properties that abuts ours, including the next door neighbor, the neighbor's Christmas tree property, and the empty tract of land belonging to his parents. The entire fence will be about 150ft long. That's an immediate 6ft screen. And no waiting for 10 years for conifers to do the job. He's going to take some time off in May or June and we'll do the fence. Just a simple wood fence. No one around here has a fence. Not a single solitary person. But then they don't have 3 properties abutting their backyard either. We're doing an L fence because we don't want to close off our entire back yard. We like the openness to be outside barbecuing and being able to say hello to neighbors walking down to the lake, or the elderly couple who lives up the road, they must be close to 80yrs now, and they walk hand in hand every spring and summer past our house, and then back. I love them. I would hate being fully blocked off from ever seeing them. I admit every spring I look for them, and always a little scared they won't walk anymore. I have 3 Lilacs on that side, and they are quickly growing and will provide some screen, so the yard won't be fully exposed to the road. We also live out in the middle of nowhere, so the only people who drive past here are the people who live here, and the few people who take our road as a short cut to a nearby town. And now, I'll be able to relax and plant what I want, and for no other reason than pure pleasure. Who knew! lol We still plan on planting Junipers and other shrubs, but now they''ll be here and there, for a focal point, not for a screen.

seed grown trees are not clones of each other ... there is variation within the theme ... clones being defining as perfect replications ... those are brand new large transplants .... you have no idea what may have been done to them at the growers .... perhaps pruned or whatever.. to grow them to salable size .... etc ... and each could have differing stress levels.. from field digging to planting in your yard ... making them look a bit different ... etc ... many variables as to why they dont look perfectly alike ... personally.. i like it .. and if you are looking for more duplicates.. i would suggest to you.. to diversify.. and plant a variety of different plants for the future ... first .. in case some plague comes along affecting one type.. or some bug ... but also for textural, visual. diversity ... where are you ..???? ... if these are juniperous viginiana .... they are native down south .. nearly invasive up north ... and in certain areas.. subject to disease and another problems .... so it would not be a great idea.. to string out another dozen of them ... ken ps: when using a search engine.. use the latin names .. you get much better information .... besides the fact.. that there are 2 or 3 families of conifers.. that are commonly called cedar ... whats that all about.. lol ... https://duckduckgo.com/?q=juniperous+viginiana&t=ffcm&ia=images&iax=images