It must be exciting (it would be for me) to have that many trees at that height, instantly... Really looking forward to your pics. You know I would forget the drip system (they're not as easy as people think to maintain- emitters get clogged, there a lot of work to put together- but I will defer to those that are more versed in them than I) ...I would recommend each tree has (2) 5-gallon buckets on each side - (your trees are large, other people (1) bucket is enough) with either one brick or a decent size rock in each. You drill a 1/16 hole or ~, in each bucket and come thru with a hose and fill each bucket a few times a week. Keep the buckets clean so they don't get clogged. Living in the country (Me) I have dust and dirt flying around. Put the drilled hole(s) near but not at the trunk and over the course of the summer bring them back away from the trunk say an inch per week. I'd start off with the holes 6" away from the trunk. You can find buckets at bars, restaurants, etc-. You want to keep the soil moist all summer so you may need to go 3x. I'd do 2x starting now per week. Congrats man. I'd be stoked. This is like the best birthday present ever in my mind. Dax

Yeah that would drive me crazy... I had a few light colored Jap maples that I took out... just because my mid summer nearly every leaf was brown. You just never know until you try something out. Actually, I don't really have anything blue to fit this location. Most of my blues are small ground hugging conifers with the Exception of 'Hoopsii'. Although the perfect color, it would outgrow the space fast. If you look close and I mean very close, you can see the 6" 'Hoopsii' in the photo above Actually, you can't see the plant itself... just the white nursery tag lol. I do have 2 picea pungens 'Sester's Dwarf'. One of them is in a bed by itself that I decided to put on hold for a couple of years. This bed doesn't have an mulch or other trees... just a little dead grass from the roundup I used to outline the bed. This could be another option. I'm thinking to much about it, I know... but it looks like my options are: 1) Picea pungens 'Sester's Dwarf' (right now it's about 2' tall) 2)Picea pungens 'Glauca Pendula' 3) A red Japanese maple such as Acer palmatum 'Skeeter's broom' or similar. Japanese maples offer the best red colored trees IMO, but I would hate to buy one until I see how my current 6-7 will do over the next few years. 2 of them hate sun, and the rest suffer slight dieback in the winter. So I'm still testing the water on these. I've just never been a fan of other red maples or other trees that may revert to green in the summer like my crab.

Fat Albert's aren't dwarf. I have seen them over 25 feet tall and still growing at a rate of 1 foot a year. They were touted as the next best dwarf to Glauca Globosa. Usually grafted. Iseli and a few other nurseries root them. Baby Blue is just what was posted above. Just a normal growing Blue Spruce selected with powder blue foliage. It retains it good colour year round and can be reliably considered uniform is growth. Nice plant but not outstanding and not dwarf. Just considered a nice landscape tree for those who don't want to buy a more expensive grafted form. Baby Blueyes is a grafted selection out of Oregon. One of the biggest plants around is at the National Arboretum in Washington which I think is 18 feet or so and still growing over a foot a year. I have a few here and they grow easily 1 foot a year. Nice colour with a dense form. For growers, needs less staking, pruning and less time to fill out before being shipped off to market. P.p.Neon. another superlative term given to a Blue Spruce. It is bright coloured. Comes from the U.S. and is carried or at least was originally carried in Canada by Mori Nurseries in Niagara-on-Lake. Nothing better than what isn't already out there. Must be grafted. On another note. Those tags that give height and size are often those sizes by 10 years of age. Just another sales tactic to try and get you buy a "dwarf" sounding tree. Most garden centres are too cheap to buy real dwarfs because they are more expensive to buy in. Do a little research before buying a "dwarf" conifer. If you can't find info on it. There are tons of folks in this forum that know a lot about conifers. Just post it. Hope this clears up a bit of the confusion. Darren

Well, I'll say that right now my Hoopsi (yeah, probably from Oregon) is one color, all the way down the branches and to the trunk ... and the new growth was spectacular and quite a bit more significant than my same-sized baby blue eyes. So for me, the Hoopsi definately grows more per year, which makes sense considering how small the baby blue eyes gets according to most sources. Both had nice blue color, but the Hoopsi put on new growth of 4-7" and the baby blue eyes only 1-2" . Mine Hoopsi is also more of steel-blue and the Baby Blue Eyes a tad darker ... but still striking. Based on what Ken is saying, I'll be interested to see if my 'blue all the way through' Hoopsi stays this way ... after a winter in Z4/5 CO at 6500' . I consider it a 'real winter' and the harsh winds and cold temps are real here, maybe not as bad as the upper midwest. If mine fades, then I'll subscribe to Ken's theory on the Hoopsi's being from milder climates staying all blue. If it stays all blue, then I'll stay with what Dave is saying about "some" having a fully blue characteristic, which is what mine is currently is like. The pictures of Kens Hoopsi looks more like the Thompsen I have seen locally at Lowes, but of course, Kens was WAY nicer!!!