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| Garden Layout - Plants - Conifers
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| I have a few conifers dotted around the garden, all of them are 'dwarfs' and I use them to give height to flat beds and provide year-round colour. I'm definitely *not* one for 1970's style conifer beds, preferring to use them sparingly, thereby accentuating them, instead of clumping them together, where they lose theirselves in their neigbours' foliage. | |
| This is the only conifer in the rockery, Juniperus chinensis pyramidalis, a small, blue-green conifer that is about 600mm high and has the archetypal tapering juniper shape. Growth is very slow, perhaps 50mm per year and it does not seem to mind residing in the shady rockery. The needles are quite short, less than 25mm in length, and it is a good, dense tree, with none of the main stem visible. As an added bonus, it is very amenable to semi-ripe cuttings in late summer. |  Juniperus chinensis pyramidalis |
 Conifers at start of path |
In this picture, the 2 conifers plated either side of the path can be seen. Nearest the camera, on the left, is Chaemycyparis pisifera 'Silver Boulevard', another slow-grower, with a wonderful conical shape and blue-green foliage. Farthest from the camera, on the right, is Thuja orientalis nana aurea, an extremely slow growing but fantastically coloured dwarf conifer. This tree has been with me since we were first married, starting out as a 150mm high cutting in 1983. It has now reached the lofty height of 900mm, and is trimmed each year to maintain the 'standard' appearance. |
| And if you look really carefully, you might just be able to make out the 200mm high dwarf conifer Chaemycyparis lawsoniana 'Treasure', on the far right, in amongst the heathers. This relative youngster has marvellous cream and green foliage, but it will be a few years before it's ready for a spot of its own. | |
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