Juniperus virginiana 'Canaertii'. You don't say where you live. Susceptible to Bag worms...easily controlled. Juniperus virginiana is a host tree for apple ceder rust. This fungus produces the familiar rough, brownish galls known as cedar apples. From these it spreads in the spring to apple leaves and young fruits, but it must pass again to a red cedar if it is to continue its development. Cedar-apple rust generally does little damage to cedars or junipers. In many cases, the disease is not noticeable except in the spring when the galls are producing the bright orange spore horns. If the disease is very severe, however, twig dieback can occur. Rust galls on small cedars and junipers can be pruned out in late winter or early spring (by April 1). Aside from that I have about 14 planted as a screen in 1981. Very mature with never any issues. If you like it buy it and plant it. Here's the above link. Dave Here is a link that might be useful: Juniper link

They are wrong as I have found most who comment on it. The tree in the picture and the many I finally have (after 4 years of searching) is called 'Select Weeping Nookta Cypress', aka Weeping Alaskan Cedar, botanical name Chamaecyparis (or Cupressaceae) Nootkatensis 'Select'. Langendoen Nursery Inc, (http://www.langendoennurseries.com/) 52 Carlton St, Niagara-on-the-Lake, ON L0S 1J0, Canada grows them and supplies them wholesale to garden centres but most are gone by mid-spring. I have had garden centres tell me that same as you have been told and then when I go see the tree or they send me a pic of their Pendula Dense Form or Pendula it is not the same. The tree is quite rare and few places offer it. That's why even garden centres and other nurseries get it wrong all the time and also why you rarely see it growing anywhere. I have seen fewer than 20 of them in all of the GTA. When I look at the tree is reminds me of a waterfall and part of the reason I find it so beautiful, not to mention I love having a tree that rare.

I'm going to check with the U of MD about this. The people in their libraries are always enormously helpful when I've used that library, even though I didn't go there. (Unlike using the National Agricultural Library, which is truly like a scene out of the 1985 film "Brazil") So hopefully that will extend to the groundskeeping staff. Do you have any idea where it was? It could be languishing there without horticulturalists knowing about it! I was told about 10 years ago there was a 45' one in Silver Spring, I need to contact the person again to get its exact location. At the time he tried to get Hines to micropropagate it but they weren't interested. (Hines did briefly sell some of his other discoveries, before they went under) I'll be the first to say some HAVE been known to die on the East Coast, but the overall success ratio is high enough to safely say the species is growable there. Unlike monkey puzzle, where the majority of them clearly die from our steam heat. If W&M had planted a grove of them and only 2 had remained, it would be fair to be more skeptical. They planted 2 and they lasted 50 years until their tops became targets for hurricanes and lightning, as we would expect. This post was edited by davidrt28 on Sat, Dec 1, 12 at 15:07

I'm not in your area and most of my advice won't do you a lot of good this season, but ... set aside a place to make your own compost and you don't need to buy! I get a cheap, unwanted spring hay or straw and it makes a rich compost. I add leaves, horse manure from my pasture, wood ashes and charcoal, and many other things. I double dig my beds and mix it well in, checking PH. If I must buy, I purchase cheap top soil and composted manures to mix my own. I may also add in some good potting soil so it's a three way blend but you are right, that stuff is way expensive if you need a lot of it like I do so I don't buy much of it. I also add in some of my native red clay for minerals but break it up and mix well. For mulch, I get /dump truck/ loads delivered for free from the electric company. Now mind you it's chipper shredded mixed woods, not pine bark, etc but it works great for me. I sort out larger pieces if I am using it containers around my plants and the larger bits go into the big garden or the compost pile. Some tree trimmers will also give it away for free if you call around. As noted already, there are free compost areas so check around. Probably your local Master Gardeners and any Victory Garden goers in your area will also have sources to share.