what are the best dwarf conifers, and what should I avoid?

==>> wow .. thats a wide open question ...

you should avoid zone pushing.. until you have enough experience to deal with such ...

and you should avoid anything that will die.. lol.. if only we knew that in advance ...

i dont know if i linked you before to the intro to conifers... see below ...

pay particular attention to the annual growth rate info ... and then whittle down your question.. in new posts.. to something like 5 bulletproof MINIs .. one in each color group .. a pine .. a picea gluca.. a picea pungens.. maybe an abies ... etc ...

then in another post ... 5 dwarfs ... dwarves?? ... etc ...

now.. a. kor ... i can do them in MI ... dave in KC .. i THINK.. cant do them.. and its about NIGHT heat and humidity ... day heat is irrelevant ... as its hot as hell in my garden.. [mind you.. not right now.. brrr.. lol] .. and if i recall my geography ... w/o looking.. you are probably somewhere between us.. latitude wise .. so i dont know what to tell you.. other than to repeat what i think i have said before ...

find some local labeled arboretums.. and go see if they grow them ...

also.. if you join the ACSoc ... you will get a member directory ... many collectors.. would enjoy a phone call ... and offer an invite to their gardens... [though many just like the conifer quarterly, and dont necessarily have a collection.. per se] ...

and you mentioned 8 hour drive .. in that other post... man there are a lot of places to shop.. within that driving range.. lol ...

i hope dave chimes in to correct me.. if i am wrong on the a. kor. ...

finally ... clay is ONLY a 'planting issue' ... i have conifer friends in cleveland.. who has the worst clay soil i have ever seen ... and he can deal with it.. so can you.. its all about planting 'high' ... and berming a good soil ... its more about the transplant.. and giving the tree time to adjust with the drainage .. rather than ONLY certain trees can cope with such.. i am sure.. you have trees everywhere in your area ... and they grew naturally ... in your clay.. and cope well ... and they live hundreds of years ... again.. to come full circle.. most were not interfered with by transplant ...

and as for the area that retains water ... design a bog.. that is not a tree area ... or.. many years down the line in your learning curve ...

a more precise post.. will get you more precise info..

ken

Here is a link that might be useful: link

Ken, as always, I appreciate your input!

We get a "few" hot nights, but usually only have a dozen or so nights that don't drop below 70 degrees in summer...this past one of course the exception to that.

Average lows Jun-Aug are in the mid 60s. I'm not sure that tells you anything.

Oh, and I will go visit Dawes, since even Mr. Dannaher referenced them in his email yesterday.

For the record, Dannaher DOES sell several dwarf varieties of A. koreana, so they must do acceptably well here.

well.. two further thoughts...

you said: Ken, as always, I appreciate your input!

==>> its called enabling.. think of me as a conifer version of a crack dealer... lol ..

you said: Dannaher DOES sell several dwarf varieties of A. koreana, so they must do acceptably well here.

===>> no it means.. with his decades of experience he has mastered what MIGHT BE a hard to grow plant ... and keep in mind.. if he grafts 100 of them.. and get 20 to live to point of sale.. that doesnt mean they are easy ...

your temp info means nothing to me ... as far as i am concerned.. it will be an experiment for you to figure it all out in your garden .. with reference to relatively nearby gardens ...

but again.. my point is... start with the easy.. for sure stuff.. before you go trying the foo foo.. zone pushing stuff ...

i want to get you really addicted to the crack.. before you go trying the hard stuff.. lol

ken

I'll just take one "hit", I promise! Haha.

The thing that really interests me, esp. about dwarf conifers as opposed to their full-size bretheren, is the types of dwarves...some are just literal miniatures of the species, same shape, just smaller. Others weeping, globular, contorted, creeping on ground, etc.

As far as zone pushing, if we're talking the really small dwarves, wouldn't there be a situation where one could possibly wrap/protect something marginal and make it work?

If adding some type of protection for a conifer, is the lack of winter light an issue?