what kind of evergreens do well in pots?

I'd like to find an evergreen to grow for market garden sales in the weeks before Christmas. What kind of conifer would make the best potted Christmas tree?

thanks,
katie

Dwarf Alberta spruce? Or maybe an evergreen ivy topiary?

We keep a lot of trees, of all varieties, in pots, at work. 12' Sweetgums, Silver Maple, Norway Spruce, etc. have all been in large (36-42" dia.) pots (some for several years), just waiting for a place to be planted. With the recent ice damage, I've a feeling they'll be finding a new home in a month or so. =)

So, you could take any common "Christmas tree", and do as you're wanting. You'll want something drought resistant, and listed as hardy (at least 1-2 zones north of yours). Juniperus, Chamaecyparis, Pinus, Picea, Abies, even Tsuga would probably work. Like I said, take your pick. =)

HTH,
Eggs

I agree with Eggs. I think that spruce and fir are especially beautiful in containers. Down here in the near tropics we get a lot of Norfolk Island pines. I use them.

I'm not sure what this is. It was in-situ when I moved here. If you look in the lower right-hand corner you can see it's in a pot (about 14"). Look how happy it is.

What would you think about growing Japanese Hollies in containers? I have a bunch of them lining my driveway that I plan on digging up. They appear to be a dwarf or low growing cultivar. I have thought about growing evergreens in containers that I could potentially move around and/or use to provide winter interest.

On a related question, what types of containers work best for evergreens that would be left out during the winter? That is assuming that evergreens can be left out during the winter here in Northern Virginia. I have a couple of the containers that are like a firm Styrofoam material. What about concrete containers?

- Brent

Almost all of our plants are in plastic pots. They winter-over just fine. One Picea abies is about 15' tall, in a 42" diameter pot. It shows no sign of stress from the winter. All of the pots are pushed fairly close together, and sheltered from wind as much as possible. We have a few small (6"-12" tall) evergreens, in 24" hayracks, bolted about halfway up a handrail (no protection from wind except for the cocofiber liner). I checked them today, and they seemed fine, which was actually quite a shock, heh. I'll try and remember to take a camera to work in the next few days, and take a few pics. We're about to start the two week process of cutting back all of the ornamental grasses, so I'm not sure if I'll have a chance to get back up to the clubhouse. I'll try.

I'm not sure that I'd trust concrete. I think the heaving of the soil would surely crack something so rigid. Anything in the "foam" pots is in the greenhouse. I can't really say if that was by design, or it just worked out that way, so I'm not sure I'm qualified to offer any advice as to their durability in cold weather. We do have a few, with soil in them (no plants), that seem to show no ill-effects from the cold.

The most important thing is, choose a pot that's an appropriate size for the next few years. Know the growth rate of the species that you're putting in the pot. You won't want to be transplanting a tree every year. ;) If the tree is hardy 1-2 zones north of yours, it will most likely be just fine in a container, in your zone.

I'm sure it gets a bit colder here, than where you are. Until this recent zoning change, we were 5b. They're calling us 6 now, but I'm going to give it a few years before I totally buy into that one. =)

Good luck, and HTH,
Eggs

I've had a dwarf alberta spruce in a cedar tub for a couple of winters now... it's growing slowly, but it's surviving! I put it between the two garage doors, to give the eye something nicer than asphalt to focus on. In summer, I plant Torenia and/or trailing lobelia around it... cute!

P. glauca 'Albertiana Conica' would be growing slowly even if it wasn't in the tub. HEH.

Do ya put lights on it, and Xmas? =)

Next year it will be big enough to handle a 50 light string without looking goofy... this year, it just got a little red bow.

Bet you could have got a 35 light string to work. You could also cut the light strand shorter, and capped the snipped ends. Slacker. =P

LOL! You wanna talk slackers, DH still hasn't taken the icicle lights down from the porch... actually, the problem is that he has to put the ladder into the front landscape bed, which has either been iced over or way soggy. At least all the other lights are down (I don't do ladders).

Stellapathic, your unknow plant is some sort of Banksia, a native of Australia. I know enough to recognize the plant, but not enough to know the species for certain although, it might be a variety of B. spinosa. There are about 75 different species of Banksia. Google Images has lots of photo maybe you can find one that matches yours. You might try visiting a local botanical garden with a sample and see if they can identify it.
http://images.google.com/images?hl=en&q=Banksia%20photos&btnG=Google+Search&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&um=1&sa=N&tab=wi
http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://farrer.riv.csu.edu.au/ASGAP/jpg/840008.jpg&imgrefurl=http://members.ozemail.com.au/~casliber/banksialist.html&h=305&w=450&sz=46&hl=en&start=17&tbnid=2bCh-WkwwqHQ2M:&tbnh=86&tbnw=127&prev=/images%3Fq%3DBanksia%2Bphotos%26svnum%3D10%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DN

This message was edited Mar 9, 2007 5:07 PM

This message was edited Mar 9, 2007 5:09 PM