There are lots of mature blue spruce around the northern metro (if that's where you are) to prove the naysayers wrong. The home depot in Buford had Bacheri Blue Spruce which was a dwarf. Not sure if it's still there. Pikes in forsyth county had a bunch of fat alberts. So does B.L. Mullinax nursery in forsyth cty. In fact last time I was there they had them on sale. There's also norway spruce.
There's Balsam fir, fraser fir. Long term success unknown but I have a couple of small balsam firs growing here. You could be very ordinary and use something like leyland cypress or red cedar or white cedar but what's the fun in that, eh?

Oh and that tree they prop up on the top of macy's in atlanta each year is a white pine. They grow fine in n.ga and are native despite many garden centers excuse for not carrying them because they don't grow here. It's bogus.

So glad you asked this question, Heavenscent. And thank you QQ for mentioning the Bacheri Blue Spruce. Only problem I have is one website has this listed as growing to 60' - others say 20', if I recall right. Is either of these correct? I'd love to have the blue foliage in my garden but definitely not 60' worth.

Rosie in Sugar Hill

Oh whoops I overlooked that the OP wanted a dwarf or semi dwarf.
Never mind my orig post since those are all huge trees.

Another idea...
Vanderwolf's pyramid Pinus Flexilis 'Vanderwolf' Mullinax had a few of them in stock B&b

there's a bunch of semi-dwarfs like Hoop's blue spruce (p. pungens 'hoopsii')

By the way. "Bacheri" is a typo. Meant 'Bakeri'... as in Baker's Blue Spruce. Try googling that.

The problem with a lot of these dwarf evergreens is either they are fairly recent introductions and not yet know their eventual size or sometimes they revert back to the full size with age.

Thanks Quirkyquercus, both of those are very beautiful and have the exact look I am hoping for, I just wonder how the heat and humidity will affect them? I had a landscaper and the nursery he used try to talk me out of a Fat Albert spruce and a hinoki false cypress stating that they just do not do well here and that is why they are hard to find. On the other hand, earlier this summer(or perhaps late spring) I saw both of these trees at Pike. I am really hoping I can narrow one down by fall so I can plant this year!

I haven't grown these myself but I have seen 2 or 3 of the golden hinoki false cypress in a few yards locally and they are beautiful and have been there for years. I don't know what care these home owners give them but whatever it is they seem happy despite our heat and humidity. Maybe as a rule they don't prefer our climate but it's definitely not impossible to grow them here. I plan to try a few in my yard next year.

Danielle

hinoki false cypress are a dime a dozen. I don't know why you'd have any problem finding that but that is not really a living Christmas tree.

Nursery workers generally say that something doesn't grow here when they don't have it in stock. I regularly get this line when I ask if someone has a certain tree that is native to the area. In the past I've asked about red maples and got "You're kidding me right? Those grow in Boston, not here!"

I admit I do not know what the long term liabilities are of these trees here in GA. All I know is I see they are popular in similar climates (like DC) and I pass by many that are large. You take a chance, plant it in the right spot and it will probably live just as long as any other tree in the urban landscape.

I've been buying and planting live Christmas trees since we moved here in 1994. I don't know of any that are going to stay that small for sure. I have had good success with Norway and Serbian Spruces (and white pine, of course). I recommend against Blue Spruce of Fraser Fir, neither of which I have seen or heard of doing well here.
jg

Have you heard of them doing poorly here?