That 'de Ruyter' is sweet!
Don't forget to pull that mulch away from the trunk.

Nice set up on the plants. I have a similar carry over bed where 2-3 year olds reside. They are fenced in so they can put on some growth and replace those that either die or just don't perform out in the wild.

Besides all of them, any favs in the collection. I can spot the species but no ideas on cultivars.

Alex,

I do the same thing, buy my plants small so that I can get more for my money and grow them on myself. Those look like some fantastic little grafted plants there. I need to focus on getting some blue and gold conifers in my gardens.

Thanks for sharing your photos. Good luck in your future project.

Wow Alex, that's a nice amound of new conifers!
It's a good idea to buy them small and watch them grow over the years.

The 'De Ruyter' is a very beautiful specimen'
Please don't use the cultivar name 'de Ruyter' again, the "de" must be written with a capital mark.
Will here is an example how wrong written conifer names will be copied becaus he wrote it in the same wrong way as you did...
Thanks!

Looks like some good ones you have there and the De Ruyter is beautiful.
Cher

Looks great! Can I ask where you purchased these small ones from? I was thinking about doing something like this as well. After this year I'm pretty much out of bed space for the taller conifers. It'll take me another 3 years working my current beds adding companion plants, mulch, etc. After 3 years and all those beds are completed, I have another 1.5 acres I can start on. It would be a good idea to start maybe next year gathering some so when I need them they will be 3-4 years old. Plus it'll be much better money wise. Spending $15 on a plant vs $60.

Sweeeeeeede or Sweeeeeeet!

Nice work Alex. I'll bet you're happy with those. I see Western Evergreen as your source.

Individual shots (sometime) would be great!

Those are choice-looking starters and, you're using rootmaker containers.... smart!

Dax

Thanks whaas, ladylotus, Edwin, Cher, Rick and Dax. I'm glad to hear that some of you are doing the same thing. Seems like a good way to expand the collection especially from a pricing standpoint, as Rick and lotus point out. These plants ran between $5-20, with the average price close to 10. De Ruyter on the other hand was north of 100, so it's about a 10:1 ratio.

whaas, thanks for the tip on the mulch. I'll double check to make sure it's not too close. I think I already pulled it back some, maybe not enough. Any favorites? Not really ,they haven't been around long enough to start competing for my affection. Favorites for me typically include selections of Abies that resist my unintended habit of killing them. Hopefully the gritty potting mix will help with that.

Edwin, thanks for the correction with 'De Ruyter'.

Rick, the small plants came from Western Evergreen, Porterhouse Farms, Greer Gardens, and Stanley and Sons. I think that covers it,

whaas, you mentioned what cultivars. I was originally thinking of using the photo to issue an ID challenge, but then I decided this would be unfair since it's really not a good picture of all of them. So here they are, best I can do from memory. I'll take this left to right, from top to bottom (same way as you read):

Cedrus deodara 'Feelin Blue'
Picea obovata 'Glauca'
Then come two of Cedrus Atlantica 'Aurea Robusta'
Cedrus deodara Divinely Blue'
Picea omorika 'Tijn'
Abies koreana 'Horstmann Silberlocke'
Abes procera 'Glauca'
Picea orientalis 'Mount Vernon'
Picea abies 'Elwangeriana'
Cedrus atlantica 'Sapir Nymph'
Abies koreana 'Oberon'
Picea glauca 'Laurin' or 'Zuckerhut'
Pinus parviflora 'Billie (M-par 4)'
Abies pinsapo 'Glauca'
Abies procera 'Hupp's Christmas Tree'
Abies procera 'Hupp's Blue'
Abies nordmanniana 'Muensterland'
Abies koreana 'Blauer Pfiff'
Picea pungens 'Moll'
Abies lasiocarpa var. arizonica 'Glauca Compacta'
Picea abies 'Perry's Gold'
Pinus banksiana 'Al Johnson'
Pinus contorta 'Willow Creek'
Pinus strobus 'Mini Twists'
Picea omorika 'Pimoko'
Larix kaempferi 'Wolterdingen'
Larix larcina 'Newport Beauty' (may have the order wrong on these two)
Abies koreana 'Silberkugel'
Picea glauca 'Laurin' or 'Zuckerhut'
Abies alba 'Badenweiller'

Wow, that took longer than I thought!

BTW Dax you're right both on about my source (WE) and the rootmaker pots, which I hope will be good for root aeration as well as development of first-class root systems for my new babies. The square pots are nice since they fit together so well, makes watering a bit easier.

After they push I'll look I'll select some for individual photo shots.

Awesome Alex, both a good idea for a starting collector and wonderful care for conifers in general at a young age. My collection started as 95% plants of 1 gallon and smaller. I feel the plants get a better chance of establishing this way and of course, besides the value-fun ratio being high, it also presents a chance to watch what you plant grow. The only thing differently is that I wish I had bought LESS plants at 5+gal size now.

Looking forward to seeing your plantings.

-Will