werent you just over in the conifer forum .... asking conifer questions ....

and now you are asking conifer questions in the shrub forum..

its all so confusing ...

plant according to the link

if you ever decide to prune it.. prune it as a conifer.. NOT AS A SHRUB ....

google IMAGEs of such.. to see how it will grow .... i would NEVER do a straight line.. ever.. anything.. any plant..a NATURAL LOOK... never involves straight.. as there are few straight lines in nature other than a tree trunk ....

zig zag at best .... IMHO ....

ken

Here is a link that might be useful: link

Thanks Ken. Yes I realized after I posted it went to wrong forum. I hesitated to post again. Thanks for answering with the link. I just today removed the ponderosa pine we were talking about yesterday. It is now in the trailer headed to dump. Sad but probably best as it was about five feet from the house. I now am moving a bunch of sea green junipers that are planted too close to some evergreen trees. They will be easy to lift. No they will not be planted in straight line. I was thinking 3 or four feet apart but the tag says 8 feet. What are your thoughts on this?

Ken still has an odd perspective about "shrubs" vrrsus "conifers". Your juniper is a coniferous shrub.

If you plant your junipers much closer than 6 feet centers, you'll likely regret it in a few years. OR you can plant them 3-4 feet apart and plan on removing every other one in about two years. If you have the money to spare, that's a viable design option. I've done that on numerous commercial projects.

But, overly crowded shrubs of any kind, especially spreading junipers, end up looking terrible instead of graceful. You want your junipers to flow, not crash together.

If you research this shrub, you'll get an idea of the expected, mature size. Widths (branch reach) of 8 feet are normal. My preferred practice is to plant with the mature size in mind....not the present size.

About five years ago, we planted large beds of Parsoni juniper in the front of our house. They were purchased in three gallon containers. These are a rather fast growing, spreading juniper expected to attain widths of 8 feet, easily. Well, we planted them at 6 foot centers and they are too darned jammed together five years later, lol.

The beds looked pretty sparse for the first few years, which is what you're concerned about. We interplanted with sun loving annuals and perennials to take up some of the space but no room for those anymore.

Ken still has an odd perspective about "shrubs" vrrsus "conifers". Your juniper is a coniferous shrub.

If you plant your junipers much closer than 6 feet centers, you'll likely regret it in a few years. OR you can plant them 3-4 feet apart and plan on removing every other one in about two years. If you have the money to spare, that's a viable design option. I've done that on numerous commercial projects.

But, overly crowded shrubs of any kind, especially spreading junipers, end up looking terrible instead of graceful. You want your junipers to flow, not crash together.

If you research this shrub, you'll get an idea of the expected, mature size. Widths (branch reach) of 8 feet are normal. My preferred practice is to plant with the mature size in mind....not the present size.

About five years ago, we planted large beds of Parsoni juniper in the front of our house. They were purchased in three gallon containers. These are a rather fast growing, spreading juniper expected to attain widths of 8 feet, easily. Well, we planted them at 6 foot centers and they are too darned jammed together five years later, lol.

The beds looked pretty sparse for the first few years, which is what you're concerned about. We interplanted with sun loving annuals and perennials to take up some of the space but no room for those anymore.

Ken still has an odd perspective about "shrubs" vrrsus "conifers".

==>> well... in this case.. i was poking her in the ribs.. and joking with her.. because i KNEW she knew the difference..

i dont get why you plant peeps.. cant understand.. that words mean things.. and there is a reason.. there are two different words ... in one post you will suggest that common names are confusing [e.g. butterfly bush only means 3 different plants] .. and then come here.. and argue with me.. that commonly calling a conifer as a shrub is ok ... its not.. words mean things..

and that.. for those of you who dont know.. is me nudging rhiz. the same way.. and i would only do that with my good friends ....

you all have a great day ...

BTW mary .... sounds like you are relying on what the bigboxstore is offering in bulk ... i am thinking there might be some truly astonishing alternatives.. if you were will to research such ... and we could enable you in the conifer forum... especially if you gave a pic of your spot ... take a look at the link ... at a cat who is working a similar area .... but investing a lot more ...

ken

ps: dad taught me to call everything that was not a tree in our yard.. a shrub.. so i spent 35 odd years using the wrong words... but i learned....

Here is a link that might be useful: link

Rhizo That was very helpful. I appreciate the time you took to answer my question. Thanks to both of you and Ken for helping me out on this issue.

omg. you guys are so harsh. persnickety, etc. The people who use these posts are usually home gardeners, not master gardeners. Lighten up. If you have to explain why or what you said, then you should think a little more about what you say.

I'm finding it all entertaining (and glad Ken isn't "ribbing" me)