As others will probably suggest, water when the soil is dry to a knuckle. If your climate is warm/hot/dry, I'd probably suggest daily watering for a few weeks for such small plants(very small root zones), but it also depends how quickly your soil drains, etc. Generally smallish conifers can probably go a couple days between watering in warm/hot conditions but unless you're in a heavy-slow draining clay, they can probably be watered daily with no ill effects. A pic would be helpful! -Will

Thanks Ken! Yes I know the definition of dwarf vs miniature, intermediate, and large. Besides the Taxus and the Abies lasiocarpa they are all considered dwarf if I remember right. We just wanted something slow growing so it won't outgrow the space. Hm, is it just that variety of Taxus or do none of the Yews do well in your area? The ladies in my garden club seemed to think that would be the one that would be taking off the fastest. I can't believe how big your Vintage Gold is! The tag said in 10 years it would be 3' x 3'. I know depending on the conditions that can vary a lot but 7' is huge. Is yours in the shade? We would not have the space for that. One of the flower beds is 25' long and 6' wide. That is where I wanted to have the 'Frostie', 'Hussi', 'Starker's Dwarf', and 'Vintage Gold'. The other 25' long flower bed is curved with the conifers being on each of the wider ends. The end where I was planning on putting 'Jeddeloh' and 'White Pygmy' staggered is 7' wide. And the other end is 8 or 9' wide where I was hoping to put 'Glauca Compacta and ÂNana Aurescens also staggered so they could each get that wide. We wanted some height on that end since you see down the full 25' length as you approach the house. Does that sound like a big enough space? I forgot to mention that the area is very sheltered from the wind also. Is it true that you aren't supposed to amend the soil when you plant conifers? Our soil isn't bad but has a little too much clay. What about fertilizer or root growth products? I've never used them but I've also never planted such costly plants!

Thank you, I'm going to be spending a lazy afternoon looking up all those plants and links. My next question would have been where to find them, I'm not sure there are any readily available around here, but I'm going to look in the spring. I did find Fairweather Gardens online for pines. I don't want to pay high prices for really big plants, but I don't want to get seedlings in 3" pots, either so it's hard to know where to order online. My beginning choices for pines were Pinus parviflora "Arnold Arboretum Dwarf", or "Banshoho" Dwarf Japanese black pine. Any ideas or experience with those two? I know black pines will grow in this area, we had one at our former house. I also found Chamaecypris Hinoki "Rigid Dwarf", and arborvitae "Holmstrup" which looked as if they might be promising for upright varieties, I might have spaces for two or three upright conifers. The rest should, I think be lower shapes. Blue Spruce and dwarf Albertas are about the only spruces that seem to live and do well here, but neither are suitable for my garden. I do love the look of spruces so I will consider the ones listed. I do understand about the difference between dwarf and mini, and the 10yr growth estimate, which is why I always look at the ultimate height. I don't want to be cutting anything down in 15 years and they can't be too big because of the cypress. I've been trying to look at more than one description of each one at different sites as I find that the sizes vary depending on who is telling it, lol! We don't have clay soil here, btw, it is upland rocks. There is a saying here that if you don't see the mountains (the Ozarks) dig down three inches and you'll find them. I do have pretty good soil with lots of compost(between the rocks) but it is very dry in July and August. We are in zone 6b with microclimates of z7.

It's been my experience that there are people who buy & have NO idea that the plant is infested with anything. They just aren't that observant or don't know what to look for. There's also that thing where people expect plants they purchase to be healthy & pest free, so they never check. Then of course, there are those who don't really care. If and when the plant fails to thrive, they believe they killed it somehow by over or under watering. This is usually the case when people have one or two plants. However, when you have a collection of 6 or more, and ALL of them seem to be going downhill, dropping leaves etc. and upon closer examination, you see something is amiss. You check the Google & find you've got house guests. The product I use is Bonide brand. Click link for a picture of the product. Also, it's worth noting that the life cycle varies from species to species of MB. If you're lucky enough to eradicate all adults, and miss some eggs, BAM!...just like that, you've got 'em again. This is why I chose to break the cycle through chemical means. Technically, I should re-treat every 3 months, but I choose to only do so as needed, so twice a year it is. I used to (upon bringing new succulents home) remove all old soil & re-pot in preferred mix. However, some of them didn't appreciate having to acclimate to a new home as well as new soil. Now I bring them home & let them sit for a bit while I hunt down a suitable pot. I usually re-pot after about a month. Some folks have good results with Neem oil. I did not =/ But I admit to being somewhat of a type 'A' person, I hail from NY, soooo, there's that 8D Some folks have also had good results with simply removing old soil & rinsing roots in insecticidal soap solution, again, I did not. Different approaches yield varying results, some quite satisfactory. It's just too variable to predict with certainty, unless using a product with imidacloprid. The seller I was most happy with on Ebay is ricklogeesrareplants (clickable link) and coastaltil1. Be warned, not the cheapest option out there. However, I don't sweat where I get my plants anymore, now that I've found a reliable way to eradicate these pests. There's a large greenhouse near me and they have a great selection of mature plants, but ALLLLLL are infested with mealies. Despite this, I choose plants according to what pleases me & I treat liberally with imidacloprid before adding to my collection.