Rick, I like 'Sester Dwarf' a whole lot, but i think you may be unhappy waiting on it to become a wonderful specimen tree by your home entrance.Mine is nice,but very very slow.Im guessing about 4" annually.
`AL

The crab is decent, really.....

The problem with the conifer is slow growth....

Man. IF you have the patience to wait until the conifer is six feet tall, by 2020 or so you think? Maybe? Can you keep the crab there and thin it out enough annually to allow the conifer to round into shape?

My vote is for a larger conifer transplant or faster growing cultivar.

The flowering crabs have their special time. Short for sure. The rest of the time they are a trash tree.

It should not be a focal point for that area and is just taking up room.

Get rid of it.

The 'Sester Dwarf' isn't suited for that spot either unless you can work it in with other cultivars/companion plants for a balanced look. It doesn't come of well as a stand alone specimen. It's too dwarf.

I know your just getting started and it will take time to bring that area to fruition.

Get something spectacular growing in that area like a Metasequoia g. 'Ogon' , Picea o. 'Pendula Bruns' , Cupressus n. 'Van Den Akker' or some of the beautiful; Picea pungens blues just to name a few. Then you will have something to work with.

Dave

I agree. 'Sester's Dwarf' is a nice small formal looking tree but i wouldn't use it as a focal point for that location. I think you need something that will grow tall for that location. I second all of Dave's suggestions, but I like 'Green arrow' over 'Van Den Akker'. My green arrow has a nicer bluish green color. 'Van Den Akker' is narrower but is more green. Definitely go for something fast growing and maybe kind off narrow if you want to plant stuff around it or get yourself a Metasequoia g. 'Ogon'. You could limb it up if you wanted to plant under it as it gets bigger. I would put one in everyones yard if I could. I thought about clearing part of my property to plant a forest of them, lol, but that would detour from the grandeur of my one. It grows a little narrower than the species and will become a big tree fast.

Rick..don't mean to sidetract you post but this one is a consideration for you as mentioned above.

Also if you would use 'Ogon' you would have to up limb it. Which by the way looks good.

Garen,

The 'Van den Akker' can be found with the bluer foliage. I have two. Lime green and the blue green shown here.

{{gwi:718688}}

Dave

I'm so sorry for the incorrect information. I was going off my observation from the trees I saw at the garden center.

Dave, that's nice to know. I was really just trying to get you to post some pictures of your trees. Yah, that's it, yah. =) Oooh I really like that one.

but I'm not sure it's worthy of being at the entry point to my house.

==>>> my work here was done by the poster himself.. congrats ... lol ...

the Ogon.. though spectacular.. might have too much potential .... i cant recall the view or distance to the house ...

besides.. it will be nudey for 4 months or so ... which might be a plus or a minus.. if you can convince yourself.. its really entertaining to look at a bare tree ... lol .. i dont know if i could.. at the front door ...

ken

Thanks everyone, I'll take your advise and get rid of the crab... probably sometime after the flowers drop and it reverts back to what appears to be an ugly tree. It'll be easier to see it go than when in bloom.

Regarding Sester dwarf; I was actually hoping for a slower growing conifer here because the bed is 10 x 10

In this bed I have:
Pinus mugo 'Carstens', Chamaecyparis pisifera 'King's Gold', Picea pungens 'Sester Dwarf', Picea abies 'Kellerman's Blue Cameo' (not pictured), plus other perennials and evergreen ground covers.

Dave - Here was my plan to fill the space out to create more of a balanced look. I definitely wasn't going to use it as a stand a lone specimen. Sester's dwarf will be the tallest conifer in this bed, Around it you'll have smaller rounded conifers, then some tall perennials, then ultimately out at the edge of the bed I'll have the phlox for color.

The bed lacks structure, or 'bones'. It needs evergreen trees, shrubs and groundcovers, then design in deciduous plants as 'frosting'. The bed size determines scale. Rocks arranged in a formation would help also. Not just randomly scattered about.

Good decision in removing the Crabapple. I'd move it to left field, way in back. That way you only see it when it shines. It can still be transplanted. Maybe this Fall.

The design process is as orderly as an outline. At least that's the way I look at it. Not much different than building a rock wall or outcropping. Start with the largest and work down. Things just seem to fall in place, and indecision and confusion about details just fades away.

Mike

Well said Mike.

Nothing more to add.

Dave

But I like the way the most of my beds are turning out lol... I try to design by placing taller conifers in the middle or behind, followed by smaller conifers, then ultimately place ground covers in the front. That bed definitely looks a little empty since everything is so small. I'm finished adding conifers to that bed, I just need to fill in the spaces with perennials and stuff.

Last weekend I just finished adding colorful perennials over by my arbor in front of the conifers, it looks great. They really tie everything together.