I can't come up w/ enough complimentary words to tell you how stunning your yard is.

I COVET IT like a girl with cankles covets a thin ankle bracelet. can you feel the love? lol

I think I am doing ok with landscaping and then i see this and i want to rip out my whole yard and start over. absolutely incredible!!!!!!!!!!

PS i still want the tree growing out of the "hair" of the JM in pic 1 :D

Ah...mazing!

Genius for putting numbers next to pics!
What is the tall blue fluff in 22 and which Ginkgo in 30?

Are you working with about 1/2 acre?

ademink,
I COVET IT like a girl with cankles covets a thin ankle bracelet. can you feel the love? lol

Too funny!

Truly stunning. An inspiration. I will be looking at these pictures time and again.
Thank you.
Richard

I do believe I found heaven.

Dax

In photo 19 in the front bed, please can you ID the open habit spruce top left (Picea omorika 'De Ruyter'??) and the neat-looking pine centre right.
Thanks.
Richard

Thanks for taking the time to show us your garden. What a place it is!
Gary

35 pics of garden glory! Thanks for sharing the virtual tour of all your efforts and artistry. Your garden WOWS me every time I see it.

Dan

This is absolute beauty. It is inspiration to me now for 2 years to improve my yard. Thanks for all the help you are giving! I am saving this thread in Word in my conifer files to see in the future how it is to be done!
Bernd

superb!!!!!

no problem loading this one ....

very tall.. wispy.. plant.. looks like juniper rigida????

yes or no???

looks like our typical 'dave is 3 weeks ahead of me.. though we are both z5' ...

thx...

ken

Drooling...

WOW! First time to see the whole layout back there like this. WOW! Did I say that? Needed repeated. It's stunning Dave. You are a gardening artist!!!
Cher

Looking wonderful Dave!
You're way ahead of me and I'm in Zone 8. My Spruce are barely breaking bud.
Mike

Seriously Dave, I love your garden. It looks awesome. I am using it as inspiration as I plan my own.

I covet your garden in the same way that I covet the girl wearing that thin ankle bracelet! (Well, maybe not in the same *exact* way... that would be creepy and strange).

Ah, another feast for the eyes. We never seem to get full, always hungry for more.

Pics 2 & 3, that blue dinosaur cedrus on the right. Looks like it was on its own but was later included into a larger bed as the garden evolved?

Pic 21, that's the money shot, is this the surprise people get walking through the sideyard, into the backyard?

I love all the weepers ('Cobra', 'Pendula Bruns', 'Pendula', 'The Blues', 'Frohburg', etc..). I'm using about 6 or so in my garden now and wouldn't be without any of them.

Good stuff for sure.

Dave

Simply amazing! I must ask... how long have you been working on this project for? It looks great and must have taken countless hours to create something like that! Definetly worth every bit of the work

I tried... I really did... To find where the 'lacking of caracter' occurs... Didn't find anything, so I turned back and tried to close my mouth with my hand.... That's it.

Still 3 weeks ahead of me and maybe more, while last time I cecked I'am zone 8 as well...

Fotis

Great sense of place you've created there, Dave. I never tire of those pix. Thanks for taking the time.

tj

Wonderful pics of a wonderfull garden Dave!
What Stephen does have in the U.K., do you have in the U.S. ...
I also like the beautiful weeping forms, amazing speciments!

Lovely garden and great pics Dave ..well done mate!

I agree with Stephen and Edwin, it's the US version of Foxhollow... a little bit smaller but just as neat!(And those who know, this is a BIIIG deal!)...

Some superlatives missing here that I wanted to add:

WOOOW...
OMG!!...
Holy sh(t batman!

lol... seriously, hard-core perfection.

As a similar style gardener, people often say my gardens are very intricate, very meticulous, but they have no idea about gardens as exacting as yours. This is an unmbelievable amount of effort!!

Look at the rock. No debris present. A few tiny slices of cut grass which I am sure Dave quickly broomed/blew out of there.

Look for leaves on the ground. Can't find 'em!!
Look at the hostas. Are those fake??? Perfect.

The grass. There are 11,812,498 blades present according to my photo scans. 11,812,490 are 1.500 inches long exactly. 7 blades are 1.94 inches(probably escaped the mower) and there's a blade in photo 23 near the gold hosta that is 2.23 inches.

Other then these glaring descrepancies, this is a decent overall garden...

-Will

Even the grass is to die for! When you have created the epitome of a beautiful garden how can you live with the pressure of knowing that the only way to go from where your are now is DOWN? LOL. Thanks for the tour.

Thanks to all of you who paid this thread a visit and were positive in your remarks about my garden. My wife and I spend many hours in it especially in the growing season. It's natures tranquilizer for me in calming the spirit. A place where I can get away and be creative.

Question time:

Ademink... "the tree growing out of the "hair" of the JM in pic 1." Tadoxium disticium 'Peve Minaret'. Not a hard find...Google it.

Whass... "What is the tall blue fluff in 22 and which Ginkgo in 30?". Cupressus glabra 'Blue Pyramid'. Ginkgo biloba 'Jade Butterfly'.

Sprucebud... Yes, Picea omorika 'De Ruyter'. The pine...Pinus longaeva 'Sherwood Compact'. I should add this guy has a very nice conifer garden also. A true collector for sure and one who knows how to put it together.

Ken... I am surprised you don't know this one. Has been posted many times. Juniperus scopulorum 'Tolleson's Weeping Blue'.

botann... You are in zone 8 and I in zone 5. Then I am about 3 weeks ahead of you also...with regard to what you are telling me. Ken the other. Hard to figure that one. Temperature fluctuation is extreme in KC in May. On the 13th 91 F. Then on the 17th 41 F.

ricksample... I am thinking in the summer of 1998. I can't put a number on the hours/days of time invested in this garden. For sure a lot but all pleasurable.

firefightergardener... Will...you are a trip. I always appreciate your positive comments and input on this forum. He could post 2 plants a day for 2 years and still have many more left. He will have all the conifers bought up in the next few years and then will be the only guy to go to for new purchases. Did you ever think about buying the 2 houses next to you for later expansion? Something to think about.

baxz5oh... "how can you live with the pressure of knowing that the only way to go from where your are now is DOWN?"
Never even gave that a thought. Of course nothing is forever and some day I will have to walk away from it. Not a problem.

Want some photos of the front and east/west side of house?. A more mature area that has been established for 10/12 years.

Dave

Once again Dave, your garden is gorgeous. It's hard to believe you're just a couple of hours north of me and have such success. You've got a great micro-climate there.

Always love seeing your specimens.....and people say it's not as much fun to get the big stock for instant gratification, but to instead grow it from youth.

Well I'm liking your big stock a lot !!

mark

Dave I would love to see more photos.
Cher

gimme more

Dave, yours is another garden that is so very inspirational. I think it is a wonderful model of what the new conifer enthusiasts can aspire for in their own gardens.

Great work - Keep posting your pics!

Last year I sent the link to this thread to a few friends in an email titled "Grab a big cup of coffee and prepare to weep with envy."
Since then they and I have spent many an hour doing just that- you have done an astounding job in every respect- design, siting, variety, combinations, maintenance- everything is truly beautiful.

Most times I am cynical old bat who thinks this planet would be far better off without us, but viewing photos like these reminds me that there are some things about the human race that truly fill me with joy, and for that I offer my heartfelt thanks.

Dave,
Looking at your pictures of your back yard haven for the first time took my breath away. Going back and looking at them for second time, I started absorbing how much thought went into each and every plant and planting. I know that I am not alone in wanting to create even a little bit of the "flavor" of what you have achieved, in my own little piece of this earth. Thanks so much for posting the link for myself and others that needed InSpiRaTION!!!~
Now for a few questions. My eye always catches the weeping trees first. What is the tall thin one in #10?
Also, what is the layered conifer in the middle of #17? One of the things I so admire about your gardens is your mix of so many different plants and not just conifers.
I've been a very serious garden and collector for over 20 years but have only recently been bitten by the conifer bug. I hope to include conifers into my gardens rather than the other way around. For me, planting trees is working towards less upkeep (vs perennial beds) and a practical goal as I get older (gasp!)
Do you worry that as your trees mature that some will crowd out others? So much to think about!

WINDHAVEN, what's the story behind that handle?

The photo in #10 is Cornus florida 'Cherokee Sunset'. Photo #9 is Chamaecyparis nootkatensi 'Van Den Akker'. There are many cultivars of Cham. n. all similar but they have their differences. Some are available at your larger nursery's. This one is 12 ft. tall.

Photo #17...Picea omorika 'Pendula Bruns'.

"Do you worry that as your trees mature that some will crowd out others"? Never...I am always one step ahead of what I want to do next. This is a garden that continues to involve within itself over the years. Come back next year and it will be different. I think in positive terms as to how it can look better. Changes and good byes are the norms around here.

Thanks for you kind comments. You too cearbhaill.

Dave

"Wow" is pretty much the word here, Dave! Your plants are all this far along, already this spring? Our Japanese maples are just beginning to break bud and a few of the conifers are showing some bud swelling. I don't think I've seen anything actually PUSH new growth yet!

My camera is reminding me to throw a hint your way... you know... it would like to visit one day. :^)

Hey rc,

This is an old thread from last year May 19 2011 somebody revived.

I am ahead of last year at this time but still 3 weeks away I figure.

I am thinking about doing a Spring Montage #2 in a few weeks...we will see.

The hint has been acknowledged. You and your camera are welcome anytime.

Dave

Dave, can we get another one of these this spring?

Rc,

You lucked out! The upper midwest and northeast may be suffering a bit with below freezing temps through late March and much of April so far.

{{gwi:475439}}

truly a beautiful display of man and nature working together, dave ;)

Dave, well, I'm just a little slow... about 11 months! hahaha

I do hope one day we can make it out your way!

Whaas, I'm not quite sure what to think of that map. It shows Oregon's March as being near normal. I guess so, except for all the cold, snowy days we had that month - more than any in my memory - which admittedly needs an upgrade.

I know this is an old thread but Dave your gardens are so impressive and I hope you will provide another beautiful montage of your gardens again this year. Very awe inspiring. Thank you so much for taking the time to share these photos.

Well Dave, once upon a time, I had a small garden business and it was Windhaven Gardens. Although I gave the business up 10 years ago, I still live and garden at Windhaven. I'm not sure where the name came from other than it appealed to me one day and so it will ever be.

I've seen a link to this exact page to several of my garden friends that were unaware of this forum. If your gardens don't hook them, nothing will.

Keep us inspired with the pictures of your glorious gardens please!

Amazing! Your garden should be in a magazine, I love conifers but fail to know the names of many of them. Looking at your gardens, entice me to learn a lot more about conifers and also planing some in my gardens.

Thank you for sharing these lovely photos with us.

Linda

In picture 24 you have black or dark brown ornament. What would the name of that be and where can a person get something like that?
Also, where do you live?

ingeborgdot,

I live in Shawnee KS. a suburb in the greater Kansas City area.

I bought that from a Korean importer 5 years ago that is no longer in business.

This ornament is a Japanese Pagoda. It is made from lava stone comprised of 13 pieces that set upon each other. There are literally 1000's of them out there for sale in many different configurations. Just Google Lava stone Japanese Pagoda or find a Korean importer in your local area. I have no idea where you can find this particular one.

Dave

Reviving this again because it deserves it.

I know you have heard it a thousand times, but your vision is amazing.

Shannon

Yes, and I appreciate everybody's positive comments.

This is not about me. I had help from the Creator who made the plants and gave the the knowledge to put it together.

I only do this to show what is possible if you are smitten by the conifer bug. The neat thing is no two gardens are alike. The one you create for yourself is unique and has your own personal foot print attached to it. So much can be done with conifers. Nothing else comes close.

Dave

I appreciate your appreciation for His creation and the desire and knowledge He gives.

I am reading a great book right now called "Heaven is a Place on Earth" that you might value highly. It has been a vision expander, to be sure.