Jim Putnam loved conifers, He'd hug them every day, He'd whisper secrets in their leaves, And watch the branches sway. The trees would nod in agreement, To all that Jim would say, And in their company he found, A peaceful, calming way
We’re currently significantly upping our conifer and ground cover game. Thank you for including the technical names and habits of these wonderful varieties.
Don't plant SPRUCE OF ANY KIND, DEER ATE OURS UP and killed them, including Colorado Spruce and it was 3 ft tall. We were sick about it. We also live in North Carolina, 30 yo 40 minutes South of Raleigh.
I have a contact allergy to most conifers so watching Jim run his hands over all of these made me very itchy! 😅 Despite that, my favorite I have in my garden is my black dragon cryptomeria. Love its unique form and how no two look quite the same. I ripped out a very boring green arborvitae that was struggling and the black dragon has been much happier there.
That Frankie Boy is a standout! I keep a photo album on my iPad of plants I’ve love to have and that one has been on my wish list for a while. Such a cool looking plant!
A word of warning - this shrubs gets to be at least 4 ft tall and wide. If you are looking for something smaller that could be used an ornamental grass alternative, I would go with whipcord…
Cryptomeria Dragon Prince is my favorite! Finally got around to adding one in my garden front entryway area this past December. Still a round ball, about the size of a basketball, but so soft to the touch and has bright green new growth on it. Zone 8B San Antonio area. Absolutely love it!
My favorite in my garden is Chamaecyparis pisifera 'White Pygmy.’ You have definitely sold me on the night light and I have loved that Green penguin since you showed it at Mr Maple.
Would love to have them all, but I'm especially fond of the last one - the Cedrus (I'm hoping to add 'Feelin' Blue' this year), and the Dragon Prince Cryptomeria (I'm upstate SC zone 8a). Interested to see how that 'Limeade' develops over time.
I do love a gold conifer. I am so intimidated by conifers though. I have a very small garden and other gardeners in zone 7 here tell me they get small conifers that outgrow the space quickly or they can’t handle the humidity. One day, I’m gonna try it though.
Added dragon prince this spring per your suggestion. Night light is great too! Taxus baccata reminds me of lemon coral sedam a nice contrast. I like your green penguin pine too.
My favorite Conifer I have is Picea Abies Dandylion. Striking new gold growth each spring. Grows around two inches a year. Very happy in my woodland garden
Thanks Jim! Love all your conifers. We have a 20’ Deodar cedar that was planted where an Ash tree once lived. The Ash tree succumbed to the emerald ash borer. We have 8 more ash trees on our property that we have saved by injections done by an arborist. My husband and I plan to plant more conifers as they are so beautiful especially in a winter garden. Landscaping with Conifers and Ginkgo for the Southeast by Tom Cox and John M. Ruter is a great reference book.
My current favorite conifer is a Jade Waves Fernspray False Cypress. I love its dark green irregular growth pattern. It reminds me of something out of a Dr. Seuss book!
I have a Picea pungens ‘the blues’ that is turning out to be one of my favorite plants. Very interesting, weeping growth habit with the striking blue spruce color. A specimen plant in deed.
My newest conifer was purchased yesterday. It is Cryptomeria japonica 'Spiralis'. A very interesting looking Japanese Cedar. It has curled needles in a cork screw fastion and has been called “granny’s ringlets.” Also a very soft touch conifer.
Great Conifer video Jim. I have sort of a conifer trial going on down in Sanford,NC. I so far have had success with various Cryptomerias, Serbian Spruce, Oriental Spruce, Mexican Spruce, Korean Ice breaker, Sequoia Semperverins, Blue Spruce and of course for the South Momi Fir. Love Conifers more than anything else.
🌱I would love to have a Chirimen. I was at my favorite nursery and the owner showed one to me and kind of "planted a seed" so to speak. I have never stopped thinking about it since. I've been looking for a Japanese white pine, black pine or weeping white pine. I'm in the Pacific Northwest coast of Washington state zone 9A. Great video! Love your channel. 👩🌾
I've seen eastern arborvitae growing well into zone 2. Very cold hardy. An famous example is the Witch Tree growing in (nearly) solid rock overhanging Lake Superior, It's centuries old. I really appreciate the Chamaecyparis and Cryptomeria cultivars in zone 8a Virginia. Thriving for me are 'Red Star,' 'Crippsii, ' 'Sekkan' and 'Gracilis Nana.' I just got a 'Southern Lace' chamaecyparis from Wilson's mail order nursery.
Blue star juniper, Anna's magic ball arborvitae, dwarf mugo pine, gold cone juniper. Philly PA z7. A cool looking conifer that I thought about adding is a whipcord arborvitae on a standard.
Thank you for this great tour! Appreciate your tips. It’s reassuring to hear about shedding and good to know about shading their roots. Our favorites so far are Blue Rug juniper, Pacific Blue juniper, Dwarf Mugo Pine and Blue Arrow Juniper. Zone 7a, Tx Panhandle.
Thank you for the conifer tour! They are such interesting plants. I had planted a Dragon Prince and Night Light this past mid-September, but the December deep freeze got them. Replacing them with inkberry, yaupon, and helleri hollies. Will plant some more conifers in the future, though. The retailers push the arborvitaes which promptly die in our hot humid summers...NW Miss 7b.
I have my eye on the Night Light Chamaecyparis for quite some time due to its sun tolerance and brigth color. Already have a Nana Gracilis that I bought on clearance last year.
The trick to growing spruces in our area Is watering during dry.s? You can never treat them as established plants. You always have to water in the heat of summer and the dry of fall. I am in zone 8 and have yard full of them. More than JayS
I love Chirimen for it's architectural qualities. Unfortunately I killed the one I planted a few years ago when I knew much less about conifers, so it's time to try it again.
I love conifers so much. I'm in zone 9b and feel very limited in the ones I can grow well. I know there a couple varieties that are ok in zone 9, but seems like many of the ones that I love most thrive in lower zones. I wonder if you could do a video on how to grow outside of your zone, or is that just a no no? In this case, I'm guessing if it's even possible, I would have to keep them in containers and move them to the shade in the summer?
Question: Getting ready to plant some evergreens as anchor plants. Are there dwarf varieties that will not damage the foundation of one’s home? Luv the channel. Thanks.
I'm really getting more and more into small conifers. It really started when I had a group of Japanese plum yews (Cephalotaxus?) planted as an understory to my azalea, rhododendrons and nandina nearly six years ago. For some reason, I seem to recall you had planted a small Mugo pine (?) on your property. Maybe it's in your backyard?
Hi Jim. I have a Gold Coast Juniper. When I first planted it, had beautiful gold tips. Now 3 years later it’s always been full green. Is this normal? Otherwise it’s a healthy conifer. Grew twice big.
I’m in Plano, TX. I have two False Cypress Gold Mop that are doing well in a Part Sun/Part Shade(morning sun afternoon shade) location. I have a friend who planted the same but in a full sun(west) location and these burned this past summer.
Might check out Crime Pays but Botany Doesn't on Texas natives. He's grown different stuff from seed, is entirely self taught but a bit of a potty mouth.
Hi Jim and Steph my favorite dwarf conifer is Ruby Teardrops Colorado Spruce, I actually transplanted it to a container yesterday, we are moving in the near future and don’t want to leave it behind. So I wanted an evergreen for a container and I found a Steeds Holly in my local garden center the tag says it is a zone 4! But I’m pretty sure they are hardy to zone 6? Can you clarify this for me? Thank you 😊 I am in zone 6b Pennsylvania!
I'm thinking about adding conifers to my yard too. I find that a lot of my garden just dies as soon as the heat. It's only about 80 deg now but in a month it will be 90 and summer will hit triple digits. I plant and things about half of the stuff dies immediately. The heat is deadly. My watering system goes on every other day. What should I do?
What zone are you? Maybe try planting as early as possible to give time to establish their roots before heat sets in and tip pruning the new growth upon planting. Jim’s technique of planting thick & shading roots would probably help you a lot if you get that hot!
Jim Putnam loved conifers,
He'd hug them every day,
He'd whisper secrets in their leaves,
And watch the branches sway.
The trees would nod in agreement,
To all that Jim would say,
And in their company he found,
A peaceful, calming way
Love the idea of having smallish/dwarf conifers in the landscape. Thank you for the tour of yours!
Conifers will forever be my favorite in the garden!!💚💚💚
We’re currently significantly upping our conifer and ground cover game. Thank you for including the technical names and habits of these wonderful varieties.
Great conifer tour!! I am entranced with Franky Boy - I can imagine how beautiful that would be swaying in the wind!
Question for Sunday Q&A would be which groups of these southern-tolerant conifers are deer-safe.
Don't plant SPRUCE OF ANY KIND, DEER ATE OURS UP and killed them, including Colorado Spruce and it was 3 ft tall. We were sick about it. We also live in North Carolina, 30 yo 40 minutes South of Raleigh.
I would love to have your penguin , so cute !!!
I have a contact allergy to most conifers so watching Jim run his hands over all of these made me very itchy! 😅 Despite that, my favorite I have in my garden is my black dragon cryptomeria. Love its unique form and how no two look quite the same. I ripped out a very boring green arborvitae that was struggling and the black dragon has been much happier there.
Love your collection of Conifers
Hello Mr Jim Putnam and Stephany. Happy gardening. ❤️
Dragon Prince is great! Soft and easy to find.
That Frankie Boy is a standout! I keep a photo album on my iPad of plants I’ve love to have and that one has been on my wish list for a while. Such a cool looking plant!
A word of warning - this shrubs gets to be at least 4 ft tall and wide. If you are looking for something smaller that could be used an ornamental grass alternative, I would go with whipcord…
Love how much I’ve learned about dwarf conifers on your channel!
Weeping spruce.. although deodars are fun ... I need more conifers for my jm's
I’ve really been wanting to add a few conifers to my garden. This makes me want to even more now.
Donna's Rainbow Blue Spruce!
Cryptomeria Dragon Prince is my favorite! Finally got around to adding one in my garden front entryway area this past December. Still a round ball, about the size of a basketball, but so soft to the touch and has bright green new growth on it. Zone 8B San Antonio area. Absolutely love it!
Very cool! Thanks for the tour. I'll have one of each please? You have opened my eyes, yet again, to conifers.
False cypress Confucius! Wonderful tree!
I LOVE the chirimin, too. Well, I love ALL the conifers.
Definitely gonna keep my eyes open for the Nana gracilis Chamaecyparis, it's so different looking
I wish that eastern red cedar were more of a presence in the horticultural trade. Limbed up, they have a Mediterranean vibe that is priceless IMO.
Love your videos Jim. Concise, to the point and no pointless waffle! AND I'm so pleased you call it "soil" and not "dirt"!
Been waiting for this on confers! Thank you.
Love your conifer videos. I admire your restraint and discipline by planting zone appropriate plants. I could learn from this
Great video! I purchased the Night Light chameacyparis from watching your videos..A beautiful conifer in my zone 6 garden, central MO.
My favorite in my garden is Chamaecyparis pisifera 'White Pygmy.’ You have definitely sold me on the night light and I have loved that Green penguin since you showed it at Mr Maple.
Would love to have them all, but I'm especially fond of the last one - the Cedrus (I'm hoping to add 'Feelin' Blue' this year), and the Dragon Prince Cryptomeria (I'm upstate SC zone 8a). Interested to see how that 'Limeade' develops over time.
Can you show us how you trim the Nightlight and nana gracillus?
I do love a gold conifer. I am so intimidated by conifers though. I have a very small garden and other gardeners in zone 7 here tell me they get small conifers that outgrow the space quickly or they can’t handle the humidity. One day, I’m gonna try it though.
I have a nana gracilis too, and I love it. My Lawson blue cypress is my absolute favorite.
Added dragon prince this spring per your suggestion. Night light is great too! Taxus baccata reminds me of lemon coral sedam a nice contrast. I like your green penguin pine too.
They will be pretty with Snow on them if we ever get Snow again.
My favorite Conifer I have is Picea Abies Dandylion. Striking new gold growth each spring. Grows around two inches a year. Very happy in my woodland garden
Wonderful video as always! Thanks for mention also!
Thank you for showing these especially some for my zone 5🥰Indiana garden
Thanks Jim! Love all your conifers. We have a 20’ Deodar cedar that was planted where an Ash tree once lived. The Ash tree succumbed to the emerald ash borer. We have 8 more ash trees on our property that we have saved by injections done by an arborist. My husband and I plan to plant more conifers as they are so beautiful especially in a winter garden. Landscaping with Conifers and Ginkgo for the Southeast by Tom Cox and John M. Ruter is a great reference book.
Love the conifers
My current favorite conifer is a Jade Waves Fernspray False Cypress. I love its dark green irregular growth pattern. It reminds me of something out of a Dr. Seuss book!
Great collection. I need to find a limeade! Never seen that one
I have a Picea pungens ‘the blues’ that is turning out to be one of my favorite plants. Very interesting, weeping growth habit with the striking blue spruce color. A specimen plant in deed.
Currently my favorite conifer is pinus Sea Urchin. Totally adorable.
My newest conifer was purchased yesterday.
It is Cryptomeria japonica 'Spiralis'. A very interesting looking Japanese Cedar. It has curled needles in a cork screw fastion and has been called “granny’s ringlets.” Also a very soft touch conifer.
Thanks Jim. 🌷💚🙃
Great Conifer video Jim. I have sort of a conifer trial going on down in Sanford,NC. I so far have had success with various Cryptomerias, Serbian Spruce, Oriental Spruce, Mexican Spruce, Korean Ice breaker, Sequoia Semperverins, Blue Spruce and of course for the South Momi Fir. Love Conifers more than anything else.
I love conifers!
🌱I would love to have a Chirimen. I was at my favorite nursery and the owner showed one to me and kind of "planted a seed" so to speak. I have never stopped thinking about it since. I've been looking for a Japanese white pine, black pine or weeping white pine. I'm in the Pacific Northwest coast of Washington state zone 9A. Great video! Love your channel. 👩🌾
I've seen eastern arborvitae growing well into zone 2. Very cold hardy. An famous example is the Witch Tree growing in (nearly) solid rock overhanging Lake Superior, It's centuries old.
I really appreciate the Chamaecyparis and Cryptomeria cultivars in zone 8a Virginia. Thriving for me are 'Red Star,' 'Crippsii, ' 'Sekkan' and 'Gracilis Nana.' I just got a 'Southern Lace' chamaecyparis from Wilson's mail order nursery.
I never thought of using conifers in the garden, you opened my eyes to new possibilities!
I have Forever Goldie Arborvitae. Love them!! Alabama 7b
Favorite conifer: Ginko tree.
Love little conifers in the garden!!
Blue star juniper, Anna's magic ball arborvitae, dwarf mugo pine, gold cone juniper. Philly PA z7. A cool looking conifer that I thought about adding is a whipcord arborvitae on a standard.
Is it okay to remove the brown foliage on conifers? Does it inhibit regrowth? Thanks! I love my hinoki cypress
I'm curious about deer resistant conifers. Does anyone know if any on this list are deer resistant?
I love conifers and just purchased what I believe to be Picea abies for a new garden bed here in Raleigh NC.
Thank you Jim. Very informative and very much appreciated! Loved them all, but may try the chamaecyparis obtuse night light.
Thank you for this great tour! Appreciate your tips. It’s reassuring to hear about shedding and good to know about shading their roots. Our favorites so far are Blue Rug juniper, Pacific Blue juniper, Dwarf Mugo Pine and Blue Arrow Juniper. Zone 7a, Tx Panhandle.
Thank you for the conifer tour! They are such interesting plants. I had planted a Dragon Prince and Night Light this past mid-September, but the December deep freeze got them. Replacing them with inkberry, yaupon, and helleri hollies. Will plant some more conifers in the future, though. The retailers push the arborvitaes which promptly die in our hot humid summers...NW Miss 7b.
Not to mention that rabbits and deer love arborvitaes.
Very nicely
Thanks!
I have my eye on the Night Light Chamaecyparis for quite some time due to its sun tolerance and brigth color. Already have a Nana Gracilis that I bought on clearance last year.
The trick to growing spruces in our area Is watering during dry.s? You can never treat them as established plants. You always have to water in the heat of summer and the dry of fall. I am in zone 8 and have yard full of them. More than JayS
I love Chirimen for it's architectural qualities. Unfortunately I killed the one I planted a few years ago when I knew much less about conifers, so it's time to try it again.
I wish I could grow green penguin here. I'm zone 9a
Great overview
I love conifers so much. I'm in zone 9b and feel very limited in the ones I can grow well. I know there a couple varieties that are ok in zone 9, but seems like many of the ones that I love most thrive in lower zones. I wonder if you could do a video on how to grow outside of your zone, or is that just a no no? In this case, I'm guessing if it's even possible, I would have to keep them in containers and move them to the shade in the summer?
Just truly beautiful. Enjoyed the Franky Boy & Sapphire Nymph.
Can I ask What is your drip system? Saw a brownish pipe in certain areas
Question: Getting ready to plant some evergreens as anchor plants. Are there dwarf varieties that will not damage the foundation of one’s home?
Luv the channel. Thanks.
Super collections❤
Gave up on finding "Forever Goldy" and settled for "Janed Gold". Is it the same as a "Highlights"? .. They are all so similar..
Oh my gosh, what is that verigated single ball topiary? The one that is planted in that planter box on your steps?
Jim,
The Thuja "Franky Boy" is adorable! What size does it get?
Thank you! 😊
QUESTION - Love Conifers…..any nursery in the Triangle area that specializes in conifers and evergreens? Thank you
I'm really getting more and more into small conifers. It really started when I had a group of Japanese plum yews (Cephalotaxus?) planted as an understory to my azalea, rhododendrons and nandina nearly six years ago. For some reason, I seem to recall you had planted a small Mugo pine (?) on your property. Maybe it's in your backyard?
Hi Jim. I have a Gold Coast Juniper. When I first planted it, had beautiful gold tips. Now 3 years later it’s always been full green. Is this normal? Otherwise it’s a healthy conifer. Grew twice big.
I live in DFW area of Texas and have had great luck with Arizona Cypress. Does anyone else have other conifer recommendations for our climate?
I’m in Plano, TX. I have two False Cypress Gold Mop that are doing well in a Part Sun/Part Shade(morning sun afternoon shade) location. I have a friend who planted the same but in a full sun(west) location and these burned this past summer.
Might check out Crime Pays but Botany Doesn't on Texas natives. He's grown different stuff from seed, is entirely self taught but a bit of a potty mouth.
@@soniaverduzco9225 Thanks! I'll give them a try!
😂 ' Franky Boy' would've been in the weed circular file by accident....I thought it was a weed
Hi Jim and Steph my favorite dwarf conifer is Ruby Teardrops Colorado Spruce, I actually transplanted it to a container yesterday, we are moving in the near future and don’t want to leave it behind.
So I wanted an evergreen for a container and I found a Steeds Holly in my local garden center the tag says it is a zone 4! But I’m pretty sure they are hardy to zone 6? Can you clarify this for me?
Thank you 😊 I am in zone 6b Pennsylvania!
I'm thinking about adding conifers to my yard too. I find that a lot of my garden just dies as soon as the heat. It's only about 80 deg now but in a month it will be 90 and summer will hit triple digits. I plant and things about half of the stuff dies immediately. The heat is deadly. My watering system goes on every other day. What should I do?
What zone are you? Maybe try planting as early as possible to give time to establish their roots before heat sets in and tip pruning the new growth upon planting. Jim’s technique of planting thick & shading roots would probably help you a lot if you get that hot!
@@rachelsgarden I think it's zone 11.California. It is hot for this time of year... tomorrow supposed to be in the 90's.
🌳🪴🌳ENJOYED 🌳🪴🌳
🙋
Bring back the old intro.