lets start.. with how far from the corner of the house. you can plant ...

perhaps a pic of the spot ..

searching is probably best done .. outside of GW/H .... as the usual problem is that here.. they search by title.. and peeps arent great with theme specific titles ...

ken

https://duckduckgo.com/?q=dwarf+spruce+gardenweb+houzz&t=ffcm&ia=web

blue spruce is picea pungens... and often that really helps in a search engine

https://duckduckgo.com/?q=dwarf+picea+pungens+gardenweb+houzz&t=ffcm&ia=web

i think your best bet.. is to shake his hand.. and walk away ... lol ...

reminding him that there are very specific rules for pruning conifers ....

agree on your search engine comments ...

and i suspect he isnt one who is willing to mail order a plant that will actually work in the space given ... and there isnt much offered.. bigbox .. like GGs .. that will work ... so it lose lose all around ....

crikey.. i suspect the old standard picea glauca conica ... is probably his best bet ... dwarf alberta spruce ... and even better if he would invest in a rainbows end.... its heresy to most of us.. but might be right up his alley ...

https://duckduckgo.com/?q=dwarf+alberta+spruce&t=ffcm&iax=images&ia=images

https://duckduckgo.com/?q=picea+glauca+rainbows+end&t=ffcm&iar=images&iax=images&ia=images

ken

https://conifersociety.org/conifers/learn/growing-and-caring-for-conifers

pruning here: https://conifersociety.org/conifers/learn/designing-with-conifers

general: https://sites.google.com/site/tnarboretum/Home/planting-a-tree-or-shrub

dwarf alberta spruce would fit...but ugh... I don't want to look at it! LOL. The original builder put many of them around here. They get their fair share of winter damage and also bees making nests inside them cause owners to spray the plant to death with Raid making more damage. Waaaaahhh... condo living certainly has its downside!!!!

I'm now thinking Buxus Green Mountain is a good choice. Readily available, pyramidal, very trimmable, grows at a moderate rate.

But I still think I should stay out of it. will see....

I agree, a dwarf alberta spruce would be a solid choice if this neighbor doesn't mind something rather boring and ubiquitous. And since they are so cheap, there's no need to prune. When it gets too big, rip it out and buy a new one.

.but ugh... I don't want to look at it! LOL.

==>>> and therin lies the rub ... i should have known it was personal ... lol ...

ken

Yes, i agree with the over use of the dwarf alberta Spruce. They do have their place, and do check the boxes for certain cicumstances where there aren’t many options. I think it’s important to keep an open mind. Like Wendy mentioned, a pyramidal boxwood or japanese holly, like ’green mountain’ box would look nice work well.

i know i’m a little late to this post. oh, well. It’s still a relevant conversion. One that will continue indefinitly, haha. Cheers.

Wendy, nice thread. Thanks for the tip on searching on DuckDuckGo, as that is the search engine I use too. I gave up searching on Garden Web a long time ago. [g]

thanks for bringing this thread back up. I had meant to post a picture of the "little Christmas tree" the neighbor finally planted. I don't know which spruce variety, but it's grown almost a foot taller in 2 years since this picture was taken August 2021. The landscapers (or possibly the homeowner) are trimming the abutting viburnum on its left side as a V on one side to keep space from the spruce. In a few years surely my OCD is not going to like more of that! It's also hard to tell how close it is to the porch railing. Probably too close.

Thanks for posting a photo to show how it turned out. I do try to come back and finish a thread but it's not easy to remember that. [g] Yes, I must have that OCD to some degree because things like that will catch my unwanted attention. I think that new spruce is way too close to the house and porch. Our neighbor planted a row of spruce and they get huge. Not quickly but eventually.

Well, I guess many of us have to learn the hard way. I know I have at times. And really I have a real struggle to place plants with the right space. Half of the time I end up having to go back and move things. I do give special attention though to placement of a tree. They're just too much work and disruption to have to move.

I wonder why he didn't bring the tree out into the lawn and give it the right amount of space so when it matures it will complement the house and be less work? He has plenty of space there.

Well, here in condo-land they are pretty good about letting us do what we want in existing beds (at our cost even though its technically "community" land). But disrupting lawns gets trickier because of irrigation lines and general control. If I could remove lawn for more beds, watch out!!! But even so, I do push out one of my bed edges a little bit each year - "just fixing the curved shape" I will say when the condo police stop by! I know where the irrigation lines are and where it's safe to play. I'm kidding. They are not that bad. The Board president is a gardener and pushes the boundary ridiculously. His place is a mess and a good example why some controls are needed, but not worth shaking up the peace.

Oh....so that makes sense then. You do hear stories of people ending up in conflict with the Condo Board. Especially over garden related decisions. I agree, it's just a fact of life that there is a need for rules, but sometimes an exception works out for everyone. Maybe not in this case. Well, if the tree gets to be way too big, he can always keep trimming it and remove it at some point before it gets too hard to remove.