Miniature conifers
Anyone growing
miniature conifers? Outdoors in the ground? Any advice to a newbie? Some are really beautiful, combined with companion plants and rockery!
(The ACS defines 'miniatures' as having a growth rate of less than 1" per year, and less than 1' size at 10 years.)
Comments (10)
stuartlawrence (7b L.I. NY)
7 years agolast modified: 7 years agoI'm growing Picea Glauca 'Daisy C White' for 3 years.
The Picea Orientalis 'Mt. Vernon' has been in the ground since the spring.
My advice would be to water the plant when the soil dries. I like to water most newly planted trees twice a week for about a month. I find that doing this helps with any transplant shock.
I don't water Daisy C White anymore now that it's established.
Ontario_Canada5a_USDA4b thanked stuartlawrence (7b L.I. NY)User
7 years agolast modified: 7 years agoI planted one of those Iseli miniatures containing 5 or so plants/conifers in the ground a couple years ago. It is doing well but if I could do it again, id separate the plants and spread them out a bit. Since I planted in December, I didnt want to add any stress so I didnt do that.
This "mostly miniature" garden was finished about 1.5 months ago. The Jean's Dilly and Little Gem (and one in the way back) have been in the ground 2-3 years. Im going to add more next year as well. The willow got thrashed by deer (as did my picea abies formanek that is just out of the pic on the left)
Ontario_Canada5a_USDA4b thanked UserRelated Discussions
Next Project: Railroad Garden + Miniature Conifer + Alpine Plant
Comments (5)My dream! Too late for me though. Getting the plant and rock scale right will be the tricky part. I saw a garden RR once where the tracks led right into his garage through a special motion sensitive door. The train was parked in there when not in use. He also had a 'cowcatcher' on the front of one of his locomotives to clear the track of debris. You're gonna have fun! Mike......green with envy....See MoreMiniature conifers - the real thing.
Comments (48)Can't let this post disappear from the front page! Too many cool plants! Picea smithiana 'Ballarat' Picea sitchensis 'Thomas' Abies lasiocarpa 'Alpine Beauty' Cedrus atlantica 'St. Mary' or 'Mt. St. Mary' (Thanks Bob!) Abies koreana 'Silberkugel' Probably a couple of these are a more like 1.5-2" a year, but I snuck them in!...See Moreminiature conifers
Comments (3)I noticed the minis for the first time last season at some of our better garden centers (www.edelweissnursery.com) for one - unfortunately before my interest in replacing some of my blooming perennials with dwarf conifers was really piqued. Did not look for prices, but I assumed high. And are you sure this is what you're really interested in as opposed to the smaller, slower growing varieties? I agree with looking to the big boxes and their sales - since their stock changes rapidly, it's not unusual for them to carry some out of the ordinary items - possibly not the niche market minis, but certainly dwarf varieties of many of the evergreens and conifers that you're familiar with. And the prices are more apt not to break the budget. But as for the minis, I'm thinking if we have them here, they're going to be everywhere. They are tiny (looked at a mugo pine that was hardly bigger than a petunia blossom) and my biggest problem with them would be protecting them from nibbling wildlife, accidentally stepping on them, and planting them where they could actually be seen and enjoyed....See MorePlanting miniature conifers around a boulder
Comments (11)Yeah, I use concrete edgers but with an irregular top surface to make it look nicer. I get the most formal look with the edgers going all around the garden bed although of course deviating from a perfect circle. A less formal look can be had with the edgers only as part of the perimeter. My best looking has a cut root flare as part of the perimeter, the cut root flare also serves as a stand for a pot for annuals in the warm season. I will certainly use such design elements (and more, e.g. small rockeries in the planting strip) around the boulder, but one vital consideration is that those design elements have to be in proportion with the boulder (i.e. those design elements have to be small for a 1 cubic yard boulder) hence miniature conifers and hence the edgers can't be too wide either or the entire aesthetics won't work. I am positive that in a practical sense, the edgers can't protect the miniature conifers from the mower or the string trimmer, i.e. I will have to literally manicure at least 1' of lawn around the whole thing even with the edgers in place. I think I have a 50-50 chance to make the whole thing look good, and that is if I can overcome my fear of rodents inside the artificial boulder, LOL Edit: I don't have any rodents in my front and backyard BTW and want to keep it that way :-)...See Moreken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
7 years agoOntario_Canada5a_USDA4b
7 years agolast modified: 7 years agoSome of the miniature conifers that I have been looking at, comments welcome!
Abies
lasiocarpa 'DuFlon'
---------------------------------------------------------Picea abies 'Blatný'
---------------------------------------------------------
Picea
abies 'Brno'---------------------------------------------------------
Picea
abies 'Jessy'---------------------------------------------------------
Picea
glauca 'Pixie' looks like a Christmas tree for my garden gnom!---------------------------------------------------------
Pinus strobus 'Josh's Ornament' Fantastic close-up! I am particularly interested in this one!
---------------------------------------------------------
Pinus
sylvestris 'Bexel'---------------------------------------------------------
Abies
alba 'Pygmy'---------------------------------------------------------
Picea
abies 'Skyhigh WB'---------------------------------------------------------
Pinus
strobus 'Greg'
Ontario_Canada5a_USDA4b
7 years agolast modified: 7 years agoAbies alba 'Pygmy' detail
In my notes, I have Abies veitchii as a large species tree, and 'Kramer' and 'Rumburk' as dwarf (not miniature) cultivars.
clement_2006
7 years agolast modified: 7 years agoOntario_Canada5a_USDA4b
7 years ago
ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5