I dont think any of the P. Pungens varieties do well in Texas. I bought my 2 acres Aug 2012. Didnt plant anything that fall (super busy at new job) and by the time late March 2013 rolled around the only thing I cared about was getting the 2 acres completely planted out with conifers as quickly as possible. I went to this particular nursery the day they opened in late march 2013 (I actually went there the day before to check things out, cool nursery and manager). That day was wintry and I am pretty sure I was the only one there when I was there. At that time things were in a state if disarray. There were lots and lots of individual conifers that blew over and laid on their sides all winter (like everyone who worked there left the last day in the fall and didnt come back until the day they opened in the spring. There were also a bunch of smaller piles of conifers on their sides. They ended up tossing a ton of trees, that had they just been taken care of over the winter would have been fine. No new arrivals yet, pickings were slim, and the only thing I cared about was planting out 2 acres as soon as possible. I ending up buying enough conifers to fill their delivery truck and flatbed trailer. Most on here would probably have said “you couldnt pay me to take most of those things”. But I did because its what they had and I wanted (and did) start planting that day (also took some in my car, delivery didnt happen for 5 or so days). In addition, they had a bunch of groups of conifers that had probably been there a number of years sitting in the same place(upright in pots). IE, imagine 40 weeping white pines in 10-20 gallons that had been set together touching pot-to-pot 4 years ago, none sell, never rotated, probably never fertilized. Fast forward 4 years and that is the kind of stuff that was there (now its all cleaned up and has been for 4 or so years, i think they went under new management or something around that time). When I bought the fastigiate it was in the middle of about 20 other conifers. Every single conifer looked poor. Like all of them had been placed there 4 years ago pot-to-pot and only water (never rotated, never fertilized, never spread out as they grow, etc). The bottom half had little/no green. There was the main trunk and then a bunch of branches going up and out from the trunk. Then at the end of some of the branches there was minimal green(I had to cut a number of dead branches off). It was like a skeleton with a little green at the ends of the branches and this green was on the top half mostly. Did not resemble any conifer I have ever seen. That is my best guess as to how it became “thrashed”. I am reviving it just by taking care of it. Sad that an Iseli Fastigiate gets neglected to the point where it reminds you of the christmas tree in grinch who stole christmas, but it happened. It is one of my “conifer islands” as this area will fill up with water this winter/spring(ok its not exactly in ideal conditions but it gets reasonable/good sun and if I remember a yearly dose of hollytone for this one).

What?? Both your typical arborvitae and the columnar junipers are unlikely to "swallow up" a yard. That's why they are recommended so often for privacy screening - they present a narrow, fastigiate profile that is adaptable to a lot of tight places. This preoccupation with the anticipated future height of so many trees and shrubs discussed on these forums drives me nuts. That's why breeders and new plant developers focus on introducing dwarf, compact or narrow forms of popular plants.........simply so they don't easily exceed the spaces they were designed for. Can they get larger than their listed size? Sure, but it ain't gonna happen in any big hurry and not by any epic proportions. And many landscape plants never remain so long in place that they have an opportunity to readily exceed their typical mature size - new homeowners rip out existing landscapes all the time and replace with their own choices (and a good thing it is too, otherwise my business would be dismal!!). Even here in the PNW, where climate, rainfall and virtually ideal plant growing conditions exist to encourage rapid and large growth on most plants, you would have to look hard and long to find Smaragd arborvitaes that are much beyond 18' tall and 3' wide regardless of how long they've been in the ground. Plants are tagged with expected mature sizes for a reason. That's not at all to say that they will never exceed that - but to anticipate them all to double or more in height and width in a single homeowner's lifespan is excessive.

I want to say thank you to those folks who shared their conifer suggestions with me and to show you the current status of this project. Below is what I bought and all were transplanted without incident: (whew!) Pinus strobus Nana – 7x7 size: mature as is – street middle Jap. Umbrella (Sciadopitys verticillata Wintergeen) – to 20’ tall x 15’ wide-street fence gate S.border Jap. Umbrella (Sciadopitys verticillata Wintergeen) – to 20’ tall x 15’ wide-street gate - S.border Pinus strobus Sea Urchin - Spirit Garden Pinus sylvestris “Moseri” – mature at 5’- Gold -street-S.border Pinus sylvestris “Aurea” - mature at 7x3’ Gold – Spirit Garden – in line with Jap maple­ Hinoki false Cypress “Crippsii’ - mature at 8x3’ part sun – Spirit back aside of hemlock Hinoki false Cypress “Crippsii’ - mature at 8x3’ part sun – Spirit back aside of hemlock Hemlock – Tsuga ‘Gentsche White'-white tip – mature at 8’ x 4 – Spirit Garden center back 10.Mugo pine – in bucket – near Jap maple in Spirit Garden 11.Chionanthus virginicus (Fringe tree) – 20’tall x 20’ wide canopy –left corner of Spirit 12. BIG Hemlock – (tsuga heterophylla) 14' tall presently – center of N.border garden 13.Hamamelis “Arnold Promise’ – aside the hemlock, off center – N.border garden 14.Hamamelis “Arnold Promise’ – aside the hemlock, off center – N.border garden 15.Rhododendron ‘Hoopla’ - 5’ x 7’ (UCONN raise the roof TBD) – N.border garden 16.Rhododendron ‘Ken Janeyck’ – 4 x 4 – front yard – aside step 17.Rhododendron ‘Ken Janeyck’ – 4 x 4 – front yard – aside step 18.Rhododendron "Cunningham's White' - N. border A placement directory was made for the landscaper - which really helped. And as of yesterday, this is the result - and I am VERY pleased. North border South border Spirit Garden Jane

Your questions would be addressed if you could find mature examples of both of these trees in someone’s yard. I hope you‘re showing the nursery folks a picture of your planting setting along with measurements of depth of bed rather than a verbal description. I did touch on +/- of each type in last post but IMO, here‘s short list. Juniper - too wide - Christmas tree shaped even with tips growing upwards- scratchy ”needles” not soft for close to people on patio - will have lots of brown out in center due to half of tree smashed against fence., very pale blueish tinge in color so drab looking unless surrounded by other plant colors. can shear for some width control as long as don’t cut into browned out center but doesn‘t look great & shouldn’t cut tip top. Arborvitae, Emerald Green specifically- stays narrow & upright in growth, soft ”needles” bright green color, looks good when sheared for tighter & narrower growth as long as don’t cut into browned out center, can cut tops to control height, can limb up as grows if want to expose fence at base. The back side of these will also lose green growth as shaded by fence but the parts above fence will be green.These should be planted no closer than 4’ on center but 5’ on center will give them, when mature, a little air space between & make a healthier & more attractive plant. So, by my list of attributes or problems, you can easily see which I’d plant. Your other option is to hire a qualified plant person to come to your site & give you recommendations. $ well spent.