Read up on auxin and apical dominance. I wouldn’t be too concerned as things tend to even out in the long run…or in tree time as Ken would say.

tj

first pic .. is it a yellow specimen??

if not.. it might be dead ...

how long has it been planted ... that top damage is often associated by someone grabbing a potted plant at that specific spot and moving ...

i dont see much wrong with the second .. other than looking like a recent transplant that is growing a root mass .. rather than vigorously where we can see it ...

how about some history of those plants ...

personally id like to see the whole grouping .... just out of curiosity ... i see many very mature plants ... and some newer babes ... look kinda neat ...

ken

My 'theory' is that although all of my plants get plenty of sun, the ones that grow a little weird on top are the ones that get much less morning sun (but plenty of afternoon and evening sun).

All my plants are healthy and growing well. The first pic is one of my 5 'jantar', and the second pic is one of my 16 'emerald green' (8 are in the backyard). These are my most common varieties (I have 3 or less of everything else). Over 95% of my plants were put in the ground as babies, less than 1' tall, so it has been a lesson in patience and delayed gratification.

I have been creating a "suburban dwarf forest" for 12 years - what had been a 14,000 sq ft front lawn is now just 4,500 sq ft. along with a huge mulched bed of dwarf conifers (mostly arborvitae and chamaecyparis) and bird friendly plants like viburnums and blueberries. I have 266 plants in all, but 151 of them were put in during the past 3 years, so there are lots of little ones that are not yet impressive. The front of the bed (facing the street) is a 140 foot line of daylilys (28 varieties) which is pretty amazing in July. AL

Wow, sounds amazing and a work of love. I'd still love to see pics of it.

I am definitely going to post some photos this spring and summer, in a new thread. I space things out pretty far, so the wide shots are pretty unremarkable. I don't collect any rare conifers, so it's not a yard that would impress collectors. I divided all the daylilys at the end of 2020, so last summer was a little thin overall, but this year there will be much more to appreciate. AL

one of the best things about conifers.. is that you can take pix of them year around ...

ken

Obligatory winter shot, facing the street, feb 2021

April 2021

Same view in June

View from the other side in May

Front view in July, more flowers in bloom (w/ sunflower patch)

Finally, the "pretty" picture from June

I realize these photos are off topic - not all conifers - but I always like to see summer pics in the dead of winter to cheer me up and remind me that warmer days are coming. I will post some recent pictures this upcoming summer in a new post. AL

not at all .. these types of pix posts ..... is what keeps us going during winter ....

thats one hell of a spider .. lol ..

i like how you accomplished your sight line blocks ... without planting a boring drape of one plant at the property line ... you can still see the neighbors house.. but the planting is so interesting ... you focus on that ... rather than the house behind ...

i also like the variety of textures and colors from the other.. non conifer plants ...

thx for dipping into the hard drive ... and taking the time to post some pix ...

ken

ps: did you have to go with berms.. to get out of that horrible OH clay ....???

Very nice. Thanks for the pix.

tj

Impressive and gorgeous. Thanks for sharing.

As far as rare .. they are rare to neighbors who don't garden .

You've done very nice with what you got.

Soon you will mail order the rarer stuff , then you will be hooked !

lets hope , ron