And not a great choice for areas with hot and humid summers.

Mmm. Maybe why they're not so easily found locally? Our summers can be pretty miserable.

The downtown has a beautiful tree that looks similar, but it's a much lighter green, and very weepy, more like a Sawara Cypress. And it's only about 8' tall, but shaped like the Serbian Spruce.

Gardens tend to look best when developed over a period of time....not overnight like some HGTV landscaping show!

But... but... I love HGTV!! LOL

I have the same rule with my flower gardens, of course, and they're always changing and developing. But trees are a horse of a different color! By time they've fully grown I'll be near the end of my life, so I don't get a second chance to tear down and start over... whatever I do, this is pretty much it.

Wait for the plant you want and don't settle for second best just because it is convenient or more immediate.

Therein lies the rub, I don't know what I want! LOL I loved the picture of the spruce that @Dig Doug's Designs gave, but the ones that I'm seeing don't look the same so I'm not sure if it's really what I want. And, of course, 60' mature height is a little daunting to have in the very front! I'm tossing around the idea of a Southern Magnolia hedge at the perimeter, then wiping out all of the wild woods and filling in with shorter flowering or fruit-bearing trees; if I do that, then those 60' monsters in front would just be in the way.

Although not the correct binomial, ask your nursery about any weeping Chamaecyparis nootkatensis they may have and how they fare in your area.

tj

Any idea what this is? It's in my downtown, but my plant app doesn't know for sure what it is.

Haha, sorry, I'm the OP! I'm on my phone and didn't realize I'm logged in differently 🙃

I am far from proficient at ID'ing conifers....especially from just a photo or two :-) But that looks to me like a really challenged/poorly sited gold tinted Hinoki cypress. Like Chamaecyparis obtusa 'Crippsii' grown under torture :-) Crippsii come to mind as it typically will present with those upswept branches and with the most gold coloring on the side that receives the most sun. The gold foliage in the photo seems to be focused on the right side..........

But whatever it is, it is not very happy.

I had it narrowed down to the Hikoki Cypress, too... or this one from Lowes, a Thuja "Monpin":

As compared to the Hinoki Cypress picture that I saw:

https://kiginursery.com/conifers/chamaecyparis-obtusa-fernspray-gold-golden-hinoki-cypress/

I've seen this tree in the downtown for a few years and always loved the look, but you're right that it doesn't look healthy :-/ The Hinoki is part shade, so this one being in direct sun could be why it's struggling.

I'm leaning towards the Thuja Monpin in place of the Radicans in @Dig Doug's Designs pic, though, mainly because they get to 25' instead of 60'. Then I could layer Tasman Ruffles (10' tall expected) in front of them, also sold locally and hardy for this area:

https://www.monrovia.com/tasman-ruffles-pittosporum.html

Hinokis can grow in full sun quite easily. I collect them and I have a bunch, most in all day sun. As long as they get adequate soil moisture, are not confined to a skimpy planting location with crummy looking soil and then subjected to horrible pruning to keep to its confines and avoid all those wires it is planted amongst..........it should do quire well and look more like online photo specimens do!

Do you have deer?

@gardengal48 (PNW Z8/9), with these being planted by the town, God only knows what they're subjected to! Sporadic water, shredded hardwood mulch, salt from the roads, reflected heat from the asphalt, and yes, they're supposed to be hiding ground wires. And I'd bet pennies to dollars that the area it's planted in is about 2' of dirt and mulch on top of asphalt.

It's hard to tell from pictures, but with my location, would you suggest the Thuja Monpin that grows to about 25' and is readily available for about $40, or the Hinoki that grows to more like 6' and I'll need to order for about $100?

@kitasei2, definitely!! This area is not enclosed at all, so there will be plenty of wild deer and rabbits. Along with squirrels, wild turkey, the occasional racoon, fox, or possum, and sadly, coyotes. I'll also be fighting greenbrier that's just dying to kill some trees :-/

Deer adore the thujas so 6' is more likely for them as well. Or turning into deer height lollipops! And depending in which Hinoki you pick, 6' is only a starting point. 'Aurea' can easily hit 25' and 'Crippsii' 10-15' or more with time. Both slow growing compared with the thuja but seldom ever bothered by deer.

With deer, I’d stick with spruce or pine, and protect even them while young. I’ve lost both to winter browsing and rubbing. Even with a high fence I wouldnt plant thuja. Just one breach of the barricade left us with a row of lollipops that have been sn eyesore ever since.

Deer ate my hinokis too!

Well shoot, I'm getting mixed information on the Monpin :-O I saw several sites stating that they're deer resistant, although subject to deer rubbing their antlers on them:

https://www.greenhousemag.com/product/ember-waves-western-arborvitae-monrovia/

https://dawesarb.arboretumexplorer.org/taxon-32411.aspx

I'm starting to run out of time for this planting season, so I have to make a decision... I was leaning towards planting Thuja Green Giants along my property line to create a hedge, they're a LOT cheaper than the Southern Magnolias at $10 /each for 2-3' trees locally! I have a Little Gem Southern Magnolia that I planned to plant a little in front of that, then I was going to layer the Monpin and Tasman Ruffles. That would be $300 total, and they're all supposed to be deer resistant.

I have fringe flower bushes that I was going to prune this year, so I could plant cuttings in this new area, too. And then I would still have plenty of room to add flowering trees and shrubs next year.

But if the Monpin really isn't as deer resistant as the sites are saying, then that kinda squashes all of that plan. Except maybe for the Green Giants, I think they're close to indestructible.

I hadn't read up on your Monpin/Ember Waves and just assumed it was a regular American arborvitae, Thuja occidentalis. And that plant is a deer magnet!! But it is instead just a golden version of the Green Giants and they do have a very strong reputation for deer resistance. One of the parents of this hybrid, Thuja plicata, is native to my area and even with a very heavy deer presence, these trees are left alone. You should be fine with your choice of either Monpin or Green Giant.

Phew! Thanks, @gardengal48 (PNW Z8/9) :-)

I was planning to pick everything up locally this week. Can you suggest anything else that I should consider other than the Monpin? I want it to complement the Green Giant hedge wall, but obviously a different color so that it stands out (thus the appeal of the golden Monpin). Fast growing is preferred, and a mature height of 15-25' is ideal.

The Monpin/Ember Waves hasn't been on the market long enough to make any significant assessments, but if it is just a gold GG clone, expect it to get much taller than 15-25' !!

I bought the Monpin and Tasman Ruffles today :-) I'm not going to be upset if the Monpin gets taller, but it IS a little harder to plan the placement of complementary trees if I don't know how wide it'll get :-/

But I love the Hinoki Cypress so much, I'm going to order one to put in my enclosed back yard :-) That'll probably be next year, though, so I have time to figure out what else to plant near it.

But the whole reason I'm posting... have you watched season 2 of Upload on Prime? Season 1 was great, season 2 is... meh. But I just saw episode 4 (no spoiler, I promise) where AI guy came out of the trees to talk to what's-her-name, and I'm almost positive that he came out of a hedge wall of Monpin!