Conifer rescue

The theme for this weekend is 'Neglected Conifer Rescue'.
Not a mission for the weak-of-heart.
I planted a gazillion cute dwarf conifers on a limestone hillside right outside my living room window.
I pictured one of those great conifer rock gardens you see in botanical gardens.
15 years later, it somehow morphed into a botanical free-for-all.
Yesterday I started the job of trying to bring it all back under control.
I thought my experience might serve to help others starting down the same path to avoid the same pitfalls.
I think my over-riding suggestion is to allow room for these guys to grow.
#1 is a picea pungens I rescued from an innocent-looking juniper (j. x pfitzeriana Saybrook Gold).
I love this juniper when it has room to spread - beautiful arching sprays of golden foliage.
But it was smothering the blue spruce. I pruned the juniper to expose the spruce.
But pruning the juniper also left a gaping hole in the otherwise dense foliage of the neighboring pine.
#2 Next I rescued a pitiful picea omorika Nana from an overgrown chaemacyparis pisifera filifera. I don't know if the spruce will ever recover its nice form.
#3 Here are two runts, pinus koreana & a thuja who I found after clearing away layers of jungle. I suspect intervention too late in their cases...
#4 A different picea pungens also overwhelmed by neighboring golden juniper. I cut is back, so maybe now he can get a little sunshine.
#5 is a trailing juniperus procumbens nana which has trailed all the way down the slope.
You can see the coniferous jungle it's escaping up top.
Lots of work left to do today, but it's raining, so of course I'm posting instead!

Edited to correct ridiculous spelling errors...

This message was edited Jun 22, 2014 11:54 AM

This message was edited Jun 22, 2014 12:00 PM

#1 is a beautiful picea orientalis Bergman's Gem growing into an equally beautiful dwarf pinus strobus. The equally beautiful weeping cedrus libani had to be cut back to expose them & the equally beautiful procumbent pinus sylvestris Hillside Creeper. All beautiful plants, just too close to each other!
#2 is another picea pungens which had to be rescued from an overhanging weeping hemlock.
#3 is a nice picea pungens Montgomery, which is supposed to be a cute little dwarf bundle of blue, so I planted right in the front next to the deck. Of course it's already huge and getting bigger, so let's just say that one must have been mislabeled!


This message was edited Jun 22, 2014 11:53 AM

It's an awful curse, Weerobin, to have so many wonderful plants. ;) I kind of have the opposite problem as I try to judiciously fill this landscape in a somewhat coherent theme. Sometimes I surprise myself, but I'm often dissapointed with the outcome. Planting too closely does seem to be a common mistake, and one I'm pretty sure I've already made as I continue to collect plants at a furious pace. The urge to fill open spaces with more plants is powerful, and I think what you're trying to tell us from your long experience is to leave adequate space for them to grow old AND healthy together. I'll try to heed your advice, but it's a bit like hiring an alcoholic as a bartender.

That P. p. 'Montgomery' is a very nice specimen. I think I'd leave it another year...and then another. The juniper spilling itself down the slope is beautiful. Please tell me you're not thinking of pulling that one out!

looks like yearly trimming might have been in order:)

i have a few montgomery's here and I trim them back every year to keep them in that bun shape. if you have the room keep yours the way it is - looks great

Have you considered transplanting some of the small buried treasures? I think your hillside makeover will be a lot of work but what gorgeous raw materials you have!

Certainly a little annual maintenance would have helped, of course. But diligence has never been my strong suit.

Some of the smaller guys may be transplantable, though will be hard because they're planted into an exposed limestone ledge with fairly shallow soil. I fear the roots will be so integrated in & around the rocks, will be hard to get a distinct root ball. Maybe this fall, I'll tackle a few. Too hot & humid right now...