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.

I can't speak to your zone - I'll let others in zone 6 opine, but I love this tree. I have three, one planted as a specimen and two flanking an entry. They are the quintessential 'Whoville' tree to me, if you read Dr. Seuss. You sometimes need to straighten the leader of young trees with a small piece of bamboo while it hardens, but that isn't onerous. Another one you might look at are various Cupressus (used to be Chamaecyparis) nootkatensis cultivars - they are rangier and not as formal/elegant, but have very small footprints. Conifers should go very well with your maples and hosts. Check out the American Conifer Society website for more info. Have fun! Sara Here is a link that might be useful: American Conifer Society

You want the best of both worlds built into one conifer. That is not possible with the two you have chosen. Picea a. 'Pendula' has a wondering growing habit. It will grow vertical on the stake as long as on the stake. When it reaches a height you can no longer stake it then the central leader will begin to wonder. It will need more room horizontally to grow then "Glauca Pendula'. The only favorable thing it has going for it is the dark green color you like. On the other hand Picea glauca 'Pendula' will grow straight as an arrow without the stake. It will not wonder and stay very narrow in growing width. A much more formal looking conifer then . Growing height is similar with 'Reflexa' the stronger.. Actually I have two of each growing in different areas of my garden. I would not grow them together. The look would not be appealing with the mismatched growing habit. I have enclosed two photos of 'Reflexa'. 'Pendula' in the nursery trade. This one on the stake only 2 years then left to free range. This one was staked for 10 years but now off the stake. The main leader is now some what unstable and reverting back to its wandering growing habit. This photo is two years old and does not reveal this. And of course Picea glauca 'Pendula'. A true champion growing in any garden. I hope I didn't totally confuse you in your decision making. Both are great focal point conifers. If you decide to mix and match go for it. You are the one who needs to be happy. Dave

I agree and thanks guys for pointing me in the right direction, I really like the curves compared to my straight lines on the dog bone bed. The curves on the bed connecting the arbor will make my picea pungens 'hoopsii' and Picea glauca 'pendula' really pop! I like this much more than the round circle I had before that made these trees blend in. Dave perhaps this fall I will take measurements off my yard and work on this over winter. Right now I just want to get a basic scetch of what I think could look good. I won't be putting these beds in until fall 2012. Tonight I'll lay the roundup down for the arbor bed, mark the spot for the plants, etc to get it ready to plant in 6 weeks pending weather. A garden hose is definitely easier to use and lay out curves, I just use rope because the beds are very large. Just an example, the bed I have to the right of my house, I have about 400' of rope down to create this bed. The cost of rope is much less than the cost of hose. When I add those 3 beds to the back yard I'll lay out all 3 beds at once just to make sure I really like it. If I do one bed at a time with my water hose, I may not like the overall design once all 3 beds are in place. What looks great on paper could look bad in person and vise versa. I use 1/2 pink hose, it shows up pretty good and I can easily see the layout from the second story window. I took your design and modified the middle bed to force the design to stay out in the yard and not so close to the house. I couldn't have it wrap around the kidney bed like you have it only because it would have put the small bed to the far right of your scetch in the back deck. With this design, I should have around 20' of space. I may or may not make the middle bed arch out on the other side a little instead of a half circle. It'll depend on how much room I'll have.