Any pictures? Where in Zone 7?

I'm in Tennessee. I have several areas, and each is different. The main one is a field bordering the woods that is seen from the house, but I have tons of room for this stuff!(see link to web album below)

Thanks! :)

K4

Places for Conifers

Pinus strobus and Picea abies cultivars do well and there are tonsÂ
Picea orientalis seems to do better than Picea omorika for me
Picea meyeri looks similar to Picea pungens but supposed handles humidity better.
And Cedrus atlantica does better than Cedrus deodara for me. Maybe because they know I love deodara so they keel over. :)
Most junipers are a no brainer, I like Juniperus communis 'Gold Cone' and Juniperus squamata' Holger'
Lots of Tsuga Canadensis cultivars and as long as you are not near the Hemlock Woolly Adelgid they are great plants.
DonÂt forget Chamaecyparis obtusa, and thyoides cultivars
Thuja plicata and Thuja in general has some nice cultivars. I like Thuja plicata ÂZebrina and Thuja orientalis 'Morgan'
Cephalotaxus should do better than Taxus but there are exceptions
Cryptomeria japonica cultivars. ÂGlobosa Nana usually looks bad for me then dies but ÂBlack DragonÂ, Elegans Aurea and ÂSekkan-Sugi are very nice.
Abies is tough for us but Abies nordmanniana is doing great for me. Also Abies firma should do well. Cultivars should do ok if grafted to firma but they are hard to find.
Metasequoia glyptostroboides grows fast and is beautiful.
I like Taxodium ascendens better than T. distichum but Taxodium distichum ÂPeve Minaret is very cool.

K4 you have a great piece of property. I live in the Atlanta area and our plant list is almost identical....LOL

Hey check out Cooper-Payne Tree farms website. They are located in North Carolina and grow conifers that are suited for the South.

Hope this helps. Keep us updated with new pics of your project(s)!!!

Here is a link that might be useful: Cooper-Payne Tree Farms

midtn

WOW! Thanks for the incredible info! Just what I was hoping for. Any cultural suggestions, since you live in the area? Things to do or not to do? How much sun do you give these guys?, etc. What the heck is the Wooly Adelgid and how do I avoid it? Also, have you tried a Sequoiadendron giganteum yet? I was wondering if it would survive here. How about Sciadopitys verticillata? dredawg

Thanks for the compliments and the tips!

I think I'm a gonner, as I made the mistake of purchasing 'Gardening With Conifers' by Adrian Bloom. I want ALL of them, and I want them NOW!! :-D

Regards,

K4

I think many conifers can take a little more shade than people think. Many of the gardening books are from the UK (for example Bloom's awesome book that I also have). A lot of conifer suppliers are from Michigan or Oregon. Their full sun is not like our full sun. As you know our summers are long, hot, and humid and we tend to have droughts. I am still learning, but if you read that any conifer will take part shade I would give it to them. Our clay soil is not the greatest and I still donÂt know quite how to deal with that.

From wikipedia - The two eastern North American species, T. canadensis and T. caroliniana are under serious threat by the sap-sucking insect Adelges tsugae (Hemlock Woolly Adelgid). This adelgid, related to the aphids, was introduced accidentally from eastern Asia, where it is only a minor pest. Extensive mortality has occurred, particularly east of the Appalachian Mountains. If you are west of Cookeville you are probably fine. The closest native hemlocks that I know of are about 60 miles east on the Cumberland plateau. Unfortunately the last time I was at Burgess Falls I saw white powdery stuff on some of the large old hemlocks. They are probably goners.

Have not tried Sequoiadendron giganteum. I would think survival would be doubtful since the one I saw at the national arboretum looked pretty bad. They have a similar climate and soil conditions. Try one anyway, that is part of the funÂ

I would like to try Sciadopitys verticillata. I have seen a few for sale around town so they would likely do OK.

We lost many old hemlocks to the adelgid. Im in Pennsylvania.

cynandjon

Total bummer! Is there anything they can do about them? Are there resistant species?

Between Chestnut blight, Dutch Elm disease, Gypsy Moths, Adelgids, Japanese Beetles, and Heaven only know what else; American forests are being reduced to scrub trees!!!

:(

K4

"Nanjing Beauty" a Taxodium cross, a Chinese hybrid cross of Bald Cypress and Mexican Montezuma Cypress. The Botany Shop offers them. They also have Princeton Elms if you want to try them.

P. virginiana 'Wates Golden'... (I haven't tried yet but the pictures are cool)

Chamaecyparis Thyoids "Top Point", it's an Atlantic White Cedar that turns purple in winter... "Bonzaibob" on ebay carries them... I just ordered one.

He also has:
"Gold Rush" Metasequia Glyptostroboides (Dawn Redwood)
Deodar Cedar 'Snow Sprite'.....("Silver Mist" is similiar but larger... I bought the "Snow Sprite"... so far doing good)
Juniperus Squamata, "Chinese Silver" ... mine needs staking, seems to be a weeper.

A variegated Ginkgo might be added.
Perhaps a China Fir?
Japanese Cedar "Black Dragon" is also doing good here in zone 9
Perhaps some cupressus arizonica?, "Carolina Sapphire" or "Blue Ice" ... They are a bit different from each other.

And I just bought from Bonzaibob a Juniperus Communus "Kalebab" on ebay. His description: "a new form of this species. It has a very unique color for a juniper. The summer color is lovely green dusted with silver and the new growth in spring is an odd pink orange color. During the winter it picks up orange and yellow tints. The form is very appealing as well as it becomes a dense cone about 8' tall and 6' wide in ten years. Although upright the branches still have a relaxed pendulous effect that is very nice."

That one was kinda expensive.

Good luck, Terry, MS coast

K4,

There are people working to save the hemlocks. It is a tough issue. There is a predatory beatle Pseudoscymnus tsugae Sasaji that has been introduced. I also hope that some will survive due to natural resistance or isolation. I am an optimist! Hopefully that can re-colonize their turf! If not they can be re-introduced.

As far as JB is concerned Last year in Tennessee we had a very late and harsh freeze. This freeze damaged and in some cases killed outright Japanese Maples, some of them very large. It was very discouraging. The upside was that this year I have not seen many (any) Japanese Beetles. I am hoping the freeze that damaged the maples took a toll on the beetles as well.

I'll weigh in here since I've killed my fair share of conifers in the Nashville area...
Midtn gave a great list there for us. I would echo everything he said but would underscore that any hope of long term success with Abies has to be grafted on firma - otherwise the August cooker will get them if the July one doesn't. I also agree that some common sense about sun and water are critical here. I have a number of full sun cultivars in part shade and they are full, dense plants because of the strength of our light. I have learned a lot by keeping plants in pots for the first year and trialing in different light conditions. Water and drainage are critical here too with the clay problem that most of us have - amending with ground pine bark and gypsum has worked very well for me in the heaviest clay but you don't have to do that for everything. Taxodium, thuja, some picea, most pinus, and many cham. obtusa and pisifera cultivars can take that clay - these are the backbone of my garden and I lean heavily on the chamaecyparis. Don't waste your time with the cham. lawsonianas though, unless you have a fully raised bed and want to baby them. I grow 4 cultivars of lawsons under near-perfect conditions and 1/2 day sun- they do pretty well..I've killed twice that many when I got a degree or two away from perfect. Pinus is always great here and the variety is broad for our landscapes. The strobus cultivars are great - just trying flexilis brooms here this year. I have a couple of the golden mugos and P. V. Wate's Golden is a good bet for a larger tree with spectacular winter color- I've had one for 2 years and I'm starting to see them more every year. I'm trying a couple of scotch pines and the parvifloras do well for me in amended soil - I think they are a little trickier about drainange than many of the others, uncinata being the most demanding from what I hear (I have five doing very well in raised beds).
I think it's very important to watch the plants you buy, inspect the grafts and the roots, water well and deep, and count on some losses. I'm watching a 6 foot cham. nootkatensis Van Den Akker die before my eyes this past week about 8 inches from the root ball and I have no idea why - healthy new growth below the death - go figure!
Try stuff that it makes sense might do well with a little TLC - any areas that border woodlands that would offer some shade from the afternoon sun are perfect for conifers of all kinds in our area.
Let us know what works well for you - you have a great looking piece of property there that will be a real showplace with a few years and a bunch of $$$$ ;->

There are some other folks lurking around from TN and GA - give it up!

Where are you in TN?

Zack

Thanks for the great info Zack! Greatly appreciated. I can see that a lot of this gets down to experimentation and just trying things out. I'll keep everyone posted as I dive into this, and I'm sure I'll be back with LOTS of questions!

I'm in Dickson, TN, which is about 45 miles west of Nashville. We're on the rim here, which is quite different soil and species-wise from Nashville and the basin (better, I think). Hopefully that will be an advantage.

Regards,

K4

K4-

Dickson will be a little different from those of us in the basin - better soil conditions overall and better drainage. I'm in Bellevue off of I-40 at McCrory Lane. Shoot me an email if you want to take a look at my collection - mostly dwarfs and miniatures on a small lot but a good variety...
Good luck with your project!
Zack

Hey K4 How has your garden turned out? I have taken notes from this thread. Thanks to all contributors. I'm in central Louisiana, and just started buying conifers! Love the rock walls!

Rena'