presuming your z5.. is like my ann arbor z5..

and conifers.. being trees..

we would prefer to do it in dormancy...

and the best indicator of tree dormancy time.. is when the deciduous trees.. get ready to turn color ...

when those leaves are dormant.. all tree leaves are dormant..

but that is not to say the roots will be dormant.. until the ground freezes..

so around late sept.. or so.. we are nearing the time.. and it is a good time to do bare rooting ...

that is MY EXPERIENCE IN Z5...

others prefer to wait until just after ground thaw ... and it has been suggested that yellow or variegated tissue plants will do better in spring ... and if done around 4/1 .. or so.. will give them 6 to 8 to 10 weeks to get the roots working.. pumping.. before the heat of next summer hits ...

ken

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Your P. omorika is happy to be in the ground! Pic three is a nice view. I always feel unimpressed after a fresh new bed myself. After it fills in with the existing plants and maybe a few other plants that may need to be moved in the future, I'm much happier.

I think you'll really like Picea abies 'Aurea Jacobsen', at least mine has a nice chartuese color right now. Picea abies 'Elegantissima' is another really nice one but may be a bit large for what you're after. It appears most of the gold seedlings from Bob maintain a good goldish color for the summer (so far for 'Honey Pot').

Will, it's Picea abies 'Aurea Jakobsen' instead of 'Aurea Jacobsen'...
Please keep in mind for ever that all the conifers selections found by Arne Vagn Jakobsen from Danmark must be written with a K.
Thanks!

Interesting, looks like all the major Nurseries need a good smackdown in the US! Google with a c, and you'll "c" what I mean.

Note taken, thanks!

"Pot ghetto" -- lol - you mean that little collection out back of things that you promised yourself you'd get in the ground a month ago, you water all the time, and you look at daily and say "well, maybe today, or maybe tomorrow".

denninmi, lol, yup, that's it!

Thanks for the advice, ken, and the sympathy, whaas! I will check out those plants you mentioned.

Edwin, one got by you! I accidentsally labelled my Pinus parv. 'Kin-Po' as a Picea. Whoopsie! Brain fart!

Shannon

All looks fine to me GH!

Yay, new beds! Looking great! Don't worry about being unimpressed. I often feel the same way after planting new beds. After you put the mulch in it will help define your canvas and give you a clearer sense of the layout. Add a few companion plants, ground covers, and I'm sure the satisfaction will come.

Of course if your like me you'll end up moving a few around and I've always been happier when I did. Sometimes I think I'm a crazy person as I often spend way too much time walking around staring at my garden contemplating plant positioning. Not only for looking good now but imagining what it will look like 20 years from now. That's a hard one to get just right but it sure is satisfying when you find that sweet spot that feels just right for a specific plant or when you add a few companion plants that make an area come to life that you didn't like before.

Love the 'Kin-po' One of my favorite Parvs. I'll have to find one. =)

Looks nice. With some more mulch, perennials, and maybe some largish attractive stones it will look amazing.

On another note, yours looks like a Picea abies 'Pumila'.

Matt

Thank you both, garen and Matt! As I have been reading these and working on that bed I have been seriously contemplating the difference between a design/install for a client and gardening at home. They are two obviously different animals, but I get caught up in the "finish it" mindset in my own garden.

Will Juniperus procumbens 'Nana' drape over that wall if plant at the top? I have three of those in my perennial bed that have no business being there and am thinking about moving them. As a matter of fact, as I type this I realize that I actually bought those (seven bucks?) to do just that.

Looks great! Thanks for posting these!

Shannon, brain farts can happen every now and then.
Please change 'Kin-Po' into 'Kin-po'.
Thanks!

one of the hardest lessons i learned.. moving from flat suburbia.. to minor hilly country.. was how to get deep watering on a hill ...

how have you addressed this???

otherwise.. super.. brings back memories of my first mass planting ...

below are pics of how i did it ... it involves digging into the hill and bringing the soil forward.. to create a moat .. to hold a few gallons of water.. that can stand.. so as to soak in ... you can probably still do that.. without disturbing the plant.. as planted ... native soil works best ... since it attaches itself to the rest of the native.. divergent soils.. dont seem to work as good.. i also accomplished this.. by using the sod i cut out.. on the downhill side ...and then.. bury it all with mulch ...

and if you already did it.. boy did i just waste 15 minutes. ..

ken

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Wow, Ken, awesome! Well, we have very well-draining soil, so not nearly the run-off one might have in a more clay-y soil. I pretty much used my soaker wand and applied probably three inches worth of water to each plant after planting. I really had very, very little run-off, that should give you an idea of the drainage here. :o/ A finger-check under the mulch indicates that I still have plenty of moisture under there even after two full days. I am taking for granted that the moisture goes deeply enough; that might be a mistake.

Edwin, thanks for the full correction, will change that in my records promptly!

you soil is fluffy .. and drains because .. well.. you just fluffed it..

wait until august.. when its back to hard pan.. and you are going to have a hard time.. getting a volume of water.. down into the root system..

thats my guess.. and if i am right.. you see how to moat them ..

and if i am wrong.. you saved yourself a lot of work ..

my mineral sand.. is near water repellant in august.. fill the moat.. and it will literally sit there for 5 minutes.. once its breaks the surface tension.. i can leave the water trickling as long as i want.. and it will disappear ...

but that first 5 minutes.. is hard.. without the moat ...

ken

That's a strange tendency and bit of physics huh Ken? Does Mulch help discourage this or is it irrelevant? I have some areas that behave like this and generally I find that running a sprinkler for a while does the job.

You have a nice landscape to work with GH: Some shade from trees, plenty of open spots and no doubt lots of good sunlight. We get bathed in sunshine here later in the year but much of my gardens are in a perpetual half-day sun. At times(maybe those 60 degree Spring days?) I wish for less shade/trees, and there are times(90s?) where I am glad I am not in a wide open field setting. You have a nice mix of both.

-Will

Ken, no fluffing for me. I scuffed up the turf about an inch, just enough to break up the dead turf. Soil was dry as a bone and crumbly all on it's own with no mechanical intervention, unless you are counting the actual digging. The only place we get run-off here is on the driveway, 500' of packed road rock. I still appreciate the tips, for those times when I do run across such situations.

Will, it is deceiving...We have a few trees, but really very little considering we are on five acres and two of the trees are not plantable under, being in the dog yard (and one being an apple tree.) We are actually very exposed here. It makes for most excellent views but does not leave a lot of room for mystery. I am making it two of my goals to 1) create some spaces that will stop the eye but not block our best views and 2) find ways to create some mystery here in the wide open.

Here is another reason to be grateful for your location, none of this: two winters ago it was drifted this deep over our entire driveway for two days following a huge blizzard! This was the path I had to shovel to the barn:

It's pros and cons. Those of us in rainy Washington state often feel the allure of sunny, open, warm/hot pasture sometimes, devoid frequently of slugs and with spectacular weather(ours is termed boring). You like our mild seasons and ability to grow a huge variety of plants with enormous ease, but it's also painful sometimes to watch tomato plants, echinacea and many other plants slumber along praying for heat - whereas yours seem to grow a few inches a day!

You really have no idea how different our climates are unless you've lived in both. I've spent several months of my life(totally a few years) in Wisconsin, so I have an idea of both - and they are startlingly different.

You've had 80s and 90s already? We've had about 3 days of 80-82 and ZERO days of 85+ and may not see any THE ENTIRE year. Yesterday we had rain, clouds, wind and a HIGH of 59! :) I'd give $100 for a stretch of mid 80s right now.

-Will

It is definitely pros and cons. I was born and raised in Vermont, lived in Florida for five years and am now in the Midwest; I have experienced some different climates. I have yet to get to the west coast, but it needs to be soon, I ain't gettin' any younger.

When our temps soar into into the hundreds this week (like it is forecast to do) we will be praying for some of your cool temps and moisture. We (collective 'we' not personal, that is,) are poised to suffer catastrophic crop losses if we do not get rain soon.

If I could send you some hot and dry I would.

If we could send you some Seattle rain (and slugs), we would...