Try Whistling Gardens in Ontario. Darren has lots of cool stuff and I know he ships out east.

Thank you! At your suggestion I downloaded their catalogue. What a great variety of plants!

PS - whatever I plant, I do solemnly swear, I will not lop off the lower branches. And to the best of my ability, I will preserve, protect and defend its roots and shall not dump 3 feet of soil on top of them. Nor shall I plant a full sun loving tree under a canopy of maples. And also I won't let it have three central leaders (unless it's meant to). So help me God.

PPS Here are some other options I can get locally:

Abies koreana 'Aurea'

Chamaecyparis nootkatensis 'Sparkling Arrow'

Chamaecyparis obtusa 'Compacta'

Thuja plicata 'Zebrina Extra Gold' (but may need more sun than I have to offer)

This post was edited by robotropolis on Tue, Apr 29, 14 at 13:28

shade will not kill any conifer ...

but it might dampen annual growth.. if near cave like ...

and it might make yellow plants.. not yellow.. as they will react to DEEP shade by greening.. to facilitate photosynthesis ...

but its hard to tell anything with a winter pic of deciduous trees ... and near impossible.. to use words to define shade...

just do it ...

forget about you last two local offerings ... you can do better.. for your limited space ... mail order .. for fall planting ... unless you can have them inside two weeks ... talk with your seller as to his suggestions in that regard.. and the shade might actually be a benefit.. to a late planting .. since they wont be in hot blistering sun inside a month or so ....

in other words ... i am not sure your shade is an issue ... so dont limit yourself as to such ... too much .. but do ask on selections ... and we can dissuade you if any are high light requisite ...

ken

Hi Ken!

Thanks so much and thanks for helping rule out two options! I'll have a look around. It's still snowing here so I'm hoping mail order won't be too much of an issue but I'll hurry my patoot up on placing an order.

If it helps, here's a 9am photo with trees leafed out in October
{{gwi:688753}}

They don't much more sun than that until about 3-4pm as my giant house blocks the sun until then....that's why I'm loving the hosta! :) But wanted to pick out some trees before I start planting hosta back there.

The one thing those poor old pines do is screen our view of a busy street beyond the neighbors. We would need something about 30-40' tall to continue to do that. Obviously not happening any time soon. But I could underplant the pines with something more attractive. But I also hate the pines. They drop so much #$@ all over the yard and were never given a chance to thrive.

This post was edited by robotropolis on Wed, Apr 30, 14 at 11:40

What if I put something tall and common like two green giants in the back and put some more interesting smaller/slower growing varieties in the front? Is that like a total faux pas or just super too big? I would be happy to put something else that kind of fulfilled the same function as a green giant!

I also see a lot of terrrrrible half dead looking thuja foundation plantings around. So I'm not sure what's making them look so bad in my area and if I can avoid that.

This post was edited by robotropolis on Wed, Apr 30, 14 at 14:13

my GGs at about 15 feet.. are near on 10 feet wide... you caring to give up what little lawn you have???

and what is that purple flowering large bush ??? .. on this pic.. it looks like lilac.. but they dont bloom in fall ... they bloom in may???? .. in fact.. i cant think af many or any fall flowering shrubs ....

and how much time to you spend... from the vantage point of the camera??? if you are hoping for a sight block at that height.. you are screwed ... BUT... and there is always a big but around ... if its from those lawn chairs.. then you remove the need for 20 or 30 feet of height.. with the attendant foot print ... eh ... anyway ... trying to make you think outside that canadian tire box you might be perched in ...

and you need to start.. by define the area.. you will spend the most time in ... and dont get me wrong.. its a brilliant angle for the camera to give us a great idea of the space ....

lets keep working on this ...

ken

ken, thanks so much for taking the time!!

The camera angle is from our family room where we spend most of our time in winter. Winter here is super, super long. And it doesn't snow much so it's just depressing. I would definitely give up the tall tree thing (or plant a deciduous tall tree) to get a rich looking four season back yard. Or just keep those stupid pines and underplant if necessary.

I think that pink tree is a hydrangea paniculata (the blooms come out white then turn rosy). And then all the red stuff is burning bush. The previous owners also REALLY liked that. But burning bush is all going to come out, it's doing terrible.

Lawn space meh--but hosta space is important! But I have a few big hosta beds (compared to my tiny lot size).

My issue is, unlike a true conifer lover, I don't really have the patience to baby something from 1 foot to four feet for ten years. Or I would buy something bigger AND also the interesting babies to put in front. But am happy to pay specialty prices for interesting, appropriate, vigorous plants.

PS All my neighbours have tall trees so no one will complain if I plant something sizeable. But that doesn't mean I have to.

This post was edited by robotropolis on Wed, Apr 30, 14 at 15:42

seriously dude.. you.. in z6... are going to lecture this z5 MI guy a-boot how bad your winter is??

suck it up dude... lol

ken

ps: but i do understand what you are saying ... its just that i dont feel sorry for you ... lol

Let's just say it snowed twice this week (a little snow). But I've got some pips now.

This post was edited by robotropolis on Wed, Apr 30, 14 at 18:00

we finally had a warm rain ... which i take to mean.. it will warm the soil to some depth.. and maybe things will start popping.. with a little more enthusiasm ...

glad you have a sense of humor ...

ken

26f here last night !! If you don't laugh, well, you know the rest.

Well, I got my hands on a Black Arborvitae and a Yellow ribbon last week. I think I'm going to try to rescue the pines because I can't picture anything else giving that screening effect without taking up the whole backyard, and they're tall enough now that they probably get enough light compared to something smaller in the shadow of everything else.

I emailed Whistling Gardens with a few inquiries last week and haven't heard back so think I'd be looking at a fall order from them. I really like the sounds of Taxus Flushing and think a trio would look nice somewhere back there.

I also decided I needed to pay someone $$ for detailed help instead of being my normal cheap self, so I have a consult set up with a local landscape person this Friday. Hope it goes well, I'm pretty excited!

This post was edited by robotropolis on Mon, May 5, 14 at 16:30