the only thing i would plant 3 of.. is the ground cover plants ... many in the juniperous horizontalis family ... with some artful pruning.. you can plant other mini conifers in among them ... there are yellow ones .. blue ones.. and some that change color over the season ...

but then.. i am . or was.. a collector.. never really had a need for more than one anyway ... lol ...

ken

https://duckduckgo.com/?t=ffcm&q=juniperous+horizontalis&iax=images&ia=images

Ken! You nailed it, I guess I’m a collector as well. You should see my chicken coop, my husband says my motto is “collect them all”.

So here are some screen shots of my carts. I’m not buying everything just putting in stuff that I like. Are any of these an absolute no-no for North Georgia mountains, zone 7a, smallish space. The front bed I’m doing is on the south of the house. I think I’ve discovered the 2 blue spruce aren’t a great option?

Hopefully some southern conifer collectors will chime in with other advice but I'd pass on the blue spruces. They will not be happy in your humidity and prefer a climate that has more extremes....cold snowy winters and hot dry summers.

A pic of the area and how it relates to the house and the rest of the yard would help. Also, a trip to the Cox Arboretum in Canton, GA may be of great benefit to you.

tj

The cabin isn’t pretty so I’m focusing on the front bed.

Thoughts from my little 7b arboretum and the ups and downs of professionally designing/installing for clients the past few years.

Picea - They hate wet feet, and largely hate the Cecil clay in the southern piedmont region. planting on berms and amended beds is critical. Orientalis cultivars do excellent, and pungens does great as well (surprisingly so). I’ve had 0 luck with omorika (Aurea, Burns, & Nana)

Pinus - all of the Japanese pines have done great for me and my clients. Parviflora is waaaay underused in zone 7b, but the big box stores are starting to carry more varieties, so I imagine that will be changing

I don’t know about 7a, but 7b seems to have thunbergii cultivars on steroids. My kotobuki has pushed a 12 inch leader this season, and a 1 gallon ‘Thunderhead’ has quickly put on size. ‘Aocha Matsu’ has the makings of a tree that could quickly overpower that space, considering it is a fast growing, full size cultivar. Or perhaps you’re starting a dedicated Niwaki journey?

Densiflora does excellent as well; looking at your space, a ‘Low Glow’ or ’High Glow’ would serve you well.

Western Pines (flexilis, contorta, etc.)

These guys struggle here, and I’d be surprised if they make it through a summer. Our nighttime humidity seems to be a death nail.

Cryptomeria - ’Globosa Nana’ is a staple in my design work, and is a workhorse in a shrub border, island, mass planting, or foundation planting. There’s a reason most southern nurseries carry a multitude of cultivars.

Thuja - I’ve only had bad luck with one cultivar, and that’s ‘Whipcord’. I’ve lost one and three clients have lost theirs. All were irrigated and properly planted. A much hardier, and better looking (in my opinion) option for that thread-leaf appearance is Platycladus (previously Thuja) orientalis ‘Franky Boy’.

Abies - Always aim for varieties on firma, otherwise you’re probably throwing money away.

There are lots of other great options available to you, and an indispensable book for your Southeastern conifer knowledge would be:

Landscaping with Conifers and Ginkgo in the Southeast by Ruter and Cox

Here is a non exhaustive list of other species that have done excellent for myself and clients. There are certainly dwarf cultivars that can be used.

Cedrus atlantica, brevifolia, deodara, brevifola (They all kick ass in the southeast, though atlantica is a bit slower growing here)

Pinus koreana

Pinus bungeana

Pinus wallichiana

Chamaecyparis nootkatensis

Juniperus chinensis

*(though Juniperus squamata ‘blue star’ is ubiquitous at all big box retailers avoid it.

Thuja plicata

Metasequoia (‘Bonsai‘ or ‘Miss Grace’ would fit your space)

Taxodium distichum

Not a very big bed. And with the maples and the yellow Sawara already there, setting a certain tone I would study some small Japanese garden layouts, continue with kinds of plants consistent with that theme.

The structure behind even has a look that might fit with that. In fact when a couple family members had a log house building business part of their clientele was Japanese people living in Japan. Because of this vogue for (their idea of) western Americana that was going there at the time.

Thanks all for the great input. It has taken me some time to order some plants as I’m late getting going and much is sold out. I will post pics as stuff starts to arrive. I have actually forgotten most of what I ordered as I had to keep redoing my carts to adjust for sold out items. I did get a Parviflora at least.

Any suggestion for something conical and weepy? Dwarf or miniature.

I had to leave some space for perennials as I like to have some flowering stuff for my hummingbirds.