Very nice choices. I have/had a few of those myself. Be aware that 'Bush's Lace' will want to be 10 feet in diameter some day and I saw a 'Mucronata' that was all of 15 feet in diameter (although it was about 40-50 years old).

tj

Thanks Tsugajunkie. Yeah, I know they will get bigger and I'm willing to do some work when the time comes. I can always move them or cut them down.

Low Glow is Pinus Densiflora and not Picea...apologies.

Hi alley_cat - that Low glow looks amazing and very happy. I honestly have not seen too many photos of that one before and was a little blind on what i was getting. Seeing that guy reiterates that I will need to further think out some spacing. Looks like you have some visitors living around your plants. :)

THanks for respondgin and feel free to keep showing that yard!

Your going to love ' Hillside Upright ' , I've had one in the ground for 15 years and they mature wonderfully, overall nice planting. I'd shot that rabbit, worse than deer

Thanks for the input, Harv. Mine currently looks a little ratty. I got it for free from a friend and am trying to nurse it back to beauty. I love to see a picture of yours if you can sometime. Thanks!

Its a 10 maybe a few more years in the ground and I'd guess six foot tall. The pic ''twas hard to capture the clumpy side growth that contrast with the longer top growth and it has a wonderful dark green color. At least you can get an idea of how big it will be in a decade

So I know a lot of you guys have well manicured gardens...I have 8 acres that I have been planting out and although things are healthy and strong, I can't always maintain the nice manicure that I would want. Please disregard any weeds that you see... :)

Taxodium distichum 'Shawnee Brave'

Picea abies 'Aurea Jacobsen'

Baldcypress and Serbian spruce

Pinus strobus 'Hillside Gold'

Pinus bungeana 'Silver Ghost'

Pinus bungeana 'Silver Ghost'

Taxodium ascendens 'Debonair' - two winters ago, this split occurred. Unknown why.

Unknown

Pinus parviflora 'Gimborn's Ideal'

European hornbeam 'Pyrmadalis'

Pinus strobus 'Hillside Gold'

liriodendron tulipifera 'fastigiatum'

Picea abies 'Aarburg'

Abies concolor 'Blue Cloak'

Pinus koraiensis 'Jack Korbit'

Pinus koraiensis 'Jack Korbit'

Looks really good to me. The long view should be spectacular in a few years. If one likes to plant trees, it's good to have an abundance of patience.

Is the crack on the Debonair pondcypress on the southwest side? Could be simple winter sunscald. Shouldn't be as much of a problem once the bark thickens and branches develop. Only time I've seen something like that on Taxodium was from a deer attempting to de-velvet his antlers.

Hi pakersuga,

The crack is on the west side. If it is deer damage, it isn't like the other damage from deer I've had in my yard. The bark was not damaged that I saw and one day it just fell off exposing what you now saw. Maybe there was some light rubbing and then it went on its way to kill some other of my trees :)

Thanks for the comments.

Matt

That long view is killer.....reminds me of Dax's place....really nice !!!

Al

Thanks Alley_cat...being a lurker I've been feeling guilty that I haven't contributed much. I have been lurking on/off for 6 years. I still probably have 3 other sections of equal size that I haven't gotten around to sharing yet. I hope to show more pics of some of the other items that I have picked up in that time. My neighors think I'm nuts, always planting trees and other stuff in the yard, but it is well deserved cause I do agree...I am nuts. haha

Thanks,
Matt

8 acres sounds very dangerous for a garden nut!

Thanks for sharing the pics.

Matt_W, below is one of my (straight) Taxodium ascendens & what yours will prb'ly look like in some yrs:

Hi Beng12 - That is a beauty, is that the straight species or a cultivar? I have 2 T. ascendens on my property, both of them Debonair. My biggest is probably 6 feet now. It looks like yours is probably 25 feet or so. Thanks for the picture.

Cheers

Matt

Straight -- yes. Here's a look at autumn colors:

Wow Matt. Fantastic looking place you have and great plantings. I really like the expansive arboretum setting and your thought out beds.

Just a heads up on the fluffy pine in photo #5, I think it is Pinus schwerinii 'Wiethorst'. I don't mean to be an annoying stickler but I see conflicting information about it's growth rate quite a bit and I've seen a few older specimens in person. My friend in Ohio had a small one that he planted in a tight spot next to a path and now it is putting on 12-15" of growth a year. I've only had mine 2 years and it is still slow but It looks like they have potential to pickup some pretty good steam.

Beng12 - Thanks for the additional picture. I love the pondcypress and don't understand why more arent' around due to the interesting needle structure. The texture and shape of the tree is one of my favorites. It is one of those trees that, for some reason, I just like...Anyway, thanks for the additional pics.

Garen Rees - you are totally correct. It is Wiethorst, I don't know why I didn't type that. Brain fart I suppose. After talking with Alley_Cat above, it has become apparent that my Low Glows, Bush's Lace will need aditional room. I didn't realize the P. Densiflora Low Glows would get 5 feet diameter. That will of course look beautiful, but it will grow into the Bush's lace. I may need to take the Wiethorst out and put him somewhere else. That is a bummer because his texture his amazing and I like it right there on the corner of my garden bed. People will walk by and ask the question of, "What is this?" which is the best comment a gardener can get because that is the "in" to drone on about all of the awsome plants that he has.

It is the eternal struggle of how to plant your garden. Do I plant it so it looks full now, full in 5 years or full in 10? I suppose I planted it to look full now, with the intention of moving things out into the yard as they needed. I perpetually have potted conifers waiting to be planted due to attending arboretum sales at Dawe's, Secrest, and other conifer friends. On top of that, I have discovered StanleySons and Conifer Kingdom which only adds to the dilemna. So in some ways, the beds around my house are my incubator area, if that makes sense? A place that I can nuture the small stuff and eventually move it into the yard later.

It's been fun engaging with you guys on this thread. It has helped me correct some thoughts on my garden philosophy, and I have gotten some great pictures from other members.

Again, thanks for the comments.

Matt

Your bark issue sounds like sunscald. Basically warm winter sun on the west side activates the vascular system and trunk cells, then it drops below freezing at night and freezes the cells to death. You usually don't notice anything until a big patch of the bark fall off the next year as the tree grows its scar tissue to try and grow over the dead zones. You might try wrapping the trunk this winter. Just remember to take it off in the spring!

Parkersuga - interesting! I have a 20ft dawn redwood where something similar happened. West side...large patch of bark fell off. I will look more into it.

Picea 'Troemner'

Picea 'Troemner'

Picea omorika

Japanese Larch - The leader was removed by a deer which is the reason for the funky shape

Black gum 'Wildfire'

Gratuitous pic of some river birch bark

Picea pungens 'Schwartz'

Liquidambar 'Silver King'

Abies koreana x Abies lasiocarpa

Oklahoma redbud

Acer 'North Wind in front.

Unknown...I received it in trade and don't really know what it is. I like it though

Kentucky coffee tree

Bosnian pine 'Compact Gem'

Abies concolor 'Wintergold'

Picea pungens 'Walnut Glen'