Pinus sylvestris is not recommended in Iowa due to Pine Wilt Nematode killing them off. Having the one may not be so harsh upon its demise. Keep all Abies away from the Juglans nigra root zone as they have little tolerance of the juglone. Tsuga canadensis & mertensiana, Picea abies & omorika along with Chamaecyparis obtusa have no trouble with juglone in my yard. Abies procera would be a stretch, I'd go with lasiocarpa 'Glauca'.

Nice diversity.

tj

Here is a link that might be useful: Iowa State P. Sylvestris sheet

hey .. welcome.. brilliant of you to come over here.. wish i would have thought of it myself ..... lol

i wish your pic was a bit bigger... its hard to read some of the names.... but we will work around that ...

first ... is your space a blank palette right now... you talk about shade.. but if you are adding new trees ... its going to be a long time before you have shade...

if there are existing trees .... then you do have shade... its a big difference...

if they are already there.. perhaps a pic of the area????

second.. you have enough stock there for about an acre and a half ... i was stunned.. when i got to the 100 x 150 ...

are you installing yourself... do you know when the next PROPER PLANTING SEASON IS???? .. for IA i am guessing mid october.. as you are much like my z5 MI...??? .. or jsut after ground thaw in early april ....

BTW.. last time we did this for whats her name.. it took us about 6 weeks to get thru it all.. you arent planning on running out the door soon.. are you...

i cant read the name of the back sight block line ...

my hoopsi.. from a 12 inch one gallon.. 12 years later.. is 15 feet tall and about 8 wide.. are you sure you want hoopsi, edit and thomsen that close together in a group ... and why 3 pungens??? .. are you aware of the blue concolors such as candicans???? .. and if you insist on 3 pungens.. there are dwarf versions.. with half the growth rate of hoopsi .. i will add that pic below also ...

are you doing this all in one fell swoop ???? ... i would suggest something like a 3 year plan of installing ... starting with the deciduous ... and working from there ... if you are buying any of them for the color.. find a tree farm.. and buy it when it is in color .... which is the proper planting time anyway ....

at the link. is a good tutorial on

PROPER PLANTING
PROPER MULCHING; AND,
PROPER AFTERCARE ...

NOTE THE KEY WORD THERE ... and it isnt 'and'

copy/paste this link, for an intro to conifers, learning in particular about SIZES .. aka annual growth rate.. :

http://www.conifersociety.org/cs2/index.php?module=htmlpages&func=display&pid=3

the most important thing there is to understand.. most size estimates are at 10 years.. and as they are trees.. and never really stop growing .. in your lifetime ... they will be twice as big at 20.. 3 times at 30 ...

soooo.. as to the 3 pungens.. in 30 years... they will easily take up a 30 by 30 footprint.. if not more ..

thats enough from me for now.. whaas just went thru this a year or two back.. perhaps he can link you to his most recent post about how it all looks now.. 20 months later ...

there is a wealth of info in the 60 stored pages of this forum ... which is why this would have made a good winter project ... if any of my pix have disappeared.. i can put them back up .. if your life depends on it ....

at least 50 % of my stock came mail order ... in the historical posts.. you will find lists of our favored providers .. e.g. conifer kingdom .. etc ...

large transplants take transplant very hard .. i personally would suggest nothing over 4 feet or so.... and enjoying them grow.. over the decades....

as motivation.. and a lesson in patience.. see the pic below.. 10 years ago.. it was a horse pasture ... and you could see a neighbor back there ... by which i mean.. it was flat and empty ... i added everything but the few old tall trees ...

i will look at your tree selections tomorrow.. or so.. busy w/end for me...

ken

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Here is a link that might be useful: link

Which way is north?
Is the ground flat or slopes, and if so, which way?
Privacy issues?
Retain view?
Lawn?
What do you want this area to do?
Any chance at a picture or two looking out from the back of the.house?
Answers to these questions would go a long way in getting valid replies from the experts here.
Mike

all i have time for.. this morning .... is.....

when that black walnut starts dropping hand grenades in a decade or two .. that will give you a giant goozzle.. [man there's a word from way back] ... and stain any and all surfaces it breaks upon ...

i wonder if that is the best tree to have NEXT TO THE HOUSE ...

ken

PS: i think mom was making up words back in the 60's .. i cant google a definition for goozle .. lol ..

The Juglans nigra aka eastern black walnut will be the villain that will trash up your garden setting. I don't think I need to list the the many downsides of having this tree in your yard.

There are so many other offerings to fill up that space and you don't need to go to the bottom of the barrel to find one.

Dave

dear all

thanks so much for the suggestions.
I guess I should have clarified a couple of things.

1. North is up
2. Juglans, silver maple, scotch pine were planted long before I got the house. They are quite massive specimens and I won't get rid of them. The juglans is a pain in the neck but is a gorgeous tree, in summer and winter (less so in spring and fall).
3. Distances. I don't share a passion for savannah-like landscapes. I understand where you come from, but my perspective is a 10-20 year perspective of somebody who likes woods and meadows much more than savannahs. The punges are 5 meters apart. Plenty of space in my view.
4. The property is an acreage, no neighbours but I have a noisy road to the west which is going tpo be screened by windbreak and a beech grove (the street is 60 meters west of the diagram I attached). On the other hand, the only view I'd like to keep open is the one to the east. In the other directions I'll want to be walled in.
5. There is so significant slope. It is Iowa, after all :-)
6. I don't care about the lawn - this specific area will have lawn, but most of the rest of the property will be reverted to prairie or whatever it is that it becomes when the beech grove has formed a canopy.
7. Beside Juglans, acer and scotch pine, all other trees will be planted in the next 1-3 years. So, you can expect that they will be starting from the same size. (I am aware of the risks of doing everything from the beginning but I have made my decision on that)
8. I have a quite extensive dripline system that will take care of all plantings. I have plenty of dying poplars on the north and south side which will provide mulch (I already have more mulch than I can use)
9. This area should be a beautiful area with some landscape interest (this is why you see the variety of colors and the opening between the KCT and the fagus creating a minimeadow framed by cornus controversa and acer esk sunset). This is the area where we will spend most of the time in the summer.
10. Right now I am at an airport, I have no access to the pictures of my property. I will send them on Monday. I will also send a higher resolution picture of the whole property (Ken - that will be a lot for you to have fun with)
11. I plan to plant all plants as seedlings or from seed, due to cost issues. I already have planted a variety of caryas (pignut, mockernut, laciniosa, ovata) from seed on the north edge of the property (outside the view of the diagram). They haven't come up yet (planted last fall).

My main challenges are
1. visualization of how it is going to look especially since many of these plants I have never seen in person. I have made extensive research on each of them over the past 18 months but still nothing substitutes the impression that a live tree can make.
2. Account for shading. I have very little intuition about what amount of shade certain trees will look full under. For example, I am not a fan of sparse conifers (with the exception of picea orientalis and hemlocks), especially the kind of look that firs get when they are shaded.
3. Account for hardiness, storm resistance, ice resistance. I read a lot about that but I still don't know how much damage to expect from serious storms. So far we have gotten up to 80mph and the damage was minimal, with the exception of the willows and poplars I inherited.

I am overwhelmed with the response to this post. I just love trees. My hope is that my garden could have some of the characteristics of that of botann, which is in fact my favourite, I love its density, texture, lushness, natural feel. But then again, I have seen such amazing gardens on this forum that I am still trying to cope. Only two months ago, I almost had no conifers in my plan (I actually hated conifers with a passion, with the exception of cedars) and then I saw the pictures of Dave's Dan's Ken's gardens and the amazing garden in Toledo... and that changed my mind!

That is all for now. Have to hop to portland. Thanks so much. You all are such an inspiration!

Icadem have you thought of joining the American Conifer Society? The Midwest region is the largest (most populous!) region and you will then be able to connect with lots of conifer lovers such as those you mention. The ACS holds national and regional meetings every year as well as smaller get-togethers. The website is undergoing a major remodel and the new one won't be launched until August, but you can get an application there - it's only $38/year. I've met all kinds of folks nearby here who have taught me a lot about conifers and how to use them in the landscape.

Sara

Here is a link that might be useful: ACS membership application

i am glad you have found us.. and read up on the posts...

you say you want to do this from seedlings ... many of your selections are named varieties that are only available thru grafted plants ... such as the pungens ... seedling and graft are terms of art.. so you are confusing me.. if you are using them interchangeably ...

some of the plants can be propagated by rootings.. such as the arbs and chams ... the ones i cant read the names of on your plan ... some of these type plants are available in bulk.. letting someone else do the rooting.... but selling them very young ... and cheap ...

think long and hard about removal of things... its usually much cheaper.. before you do the rest ... i know its hard to do such.. all i ask is you think about it ...

i consider IA one of the few states with fantastic garden collections... you have to be able to find arborteums in IA ... of for crying out loud... see link ... i knew it .. lol ..

that is where you start.. what they grow.. you can grow ... take pic of label.. take pic of plant.. put on list ... lol ...

i gotta go tonight..

ken

Here is a link that might be useful: crikey man.. this place is in IA ... get ye butt there.. take pics.. and make you list .. i dont care how many hours you have to drive .... call in advance.. and ask if there are any local conifer enthusiasts.. that might meet you there ... to enable you ....

Sara

thanks for the invitation! I should really consider that!
I have just come back from a short trip to Oregon and being able to finally see some large specimens of Nootkas, incensecedars, and so forth has really been phenomenal.

Ken, thanks! I know about the Bickelhaupt. I have two newborns. The time for big trips is gone for a while. Regarding removal of things, my wife, is resisting the idea of removing the few large trees we have and I had to agree. This past fall we already removed a bunch of poplars and a large silver maple. It did cost us quite a bit.

See attached a higher resolution version of the plan and a couple of pictures of the area that I took this winter (I also add one from last summer but you can only see a small part of the view from the deck)

I am always grateful for any suggestions!

Here is a link that might be useful: picture for Gardenweb