man thats a blank pallet to have fun with ...

i like the idea .. but i would put them 3 to 4 feet out from the porch ... for things such as painting/siding washing.. xmas lights.. porch cleaning.. etc ...

never forget.. foundation plantings are to hide the foundation.. not literally ON the foundation ...

those are very big plants.. in very small pots.. i hope you wait until PROPER PLANTING TIME.. and do a little root work on them ...

IMHO .... august is NEVER a good planting time ... HEY!!!... pittsford.. you live 15 miles from me.. and never visited.. whats that all about.. i read it MA not MI.. crimminey ...

where did you get these????

and what are those giant trees??? .. i hope they arent maples ... its doable.. but water management under such big trees can be tricky ....

email me thru my members page.. if you want to get in contact ...

ken

Got them from Rosewind Gardens, in osseo. Wonderful nursery with fantastic owners. They had some Siberlockes, abies 'Cobra', as well as some other really nice stuff.

Owner said she was getting ready to repot them, but would leave it to me.

They're about 4' from the porch, it's just hard to tell in the pic.

The big trees are elms. They're my main concern with the placement.

Would love to visit. You're welcome to come out here, too - I'll take you over to rosewind. Not many conifers out here, yet, but I do have a pond with over 100 waterlily cultivators and 30 acres to play with for the next 50 years.

Nice pick ups. I wouldn't recommend the field goal look. Trust me it will look ridiculous once they put on some growth.

Put one to the left of the house and one to the right of the pillar at the porch.

frankly.. with 30 acres.. i dont why you would put them in less than full sun ... and not on any of the other 29 acres ...

crimminey.. why are you jammin them on the house???

check out their potential.. at the link ...

ken

Here is a link that might be useful: link

Picea glauca 'Pendula'...very formal presentation conifers. They need full sun 360 around.

Planting them up against the porch would not be appropriate. The side facing the house would be sun deficient.

The trees. Those are also a concern. How much sun does the planting area receive?

Take the two back and buy the 10'. It won't be there when you want it and you will never see one like it again.

Trust me.

Dave

They need full sun 360 around.

I'd have to respectfully disagree. Picea glauca is fairly shade tolerant and tolerant of crowding. But perhaps you meant this cultivar needs to be shown off 360 around.

No...They grow and color the best...full sun 360.

You can grow them in partial shade or crowd them but they will be sun deficient and look that way.

Dave

I guess we're splitting hairs here with partial shade definitions. It will look just as good in partial shade, 4-6 hours as it will in full sun 6-8 hours. Or at least there will be little difference seen between them.

My point was it doesn't "need" 360 degrees full sun to grow into a nice specimen.

It would be a moot point between you and me whaas. You grow them your way I'll grow them my way and that's the end of it.

Since we have a 3rd party involved here this is what I know and I will say it as plain as I can with respect to all.

A major consideration for conifers is the amount of sun your garden receives in the summer. Most conifers want to live in full sun. If you must plant conifers in the shade, the conifers, which will tolerate it the best, are arborvitae [Thuja], hemlocks [Tsuga], and yews [Taxus]. If your site receives some shade but at least 4-5 hours of sun each day in summer, then I would recommend species that can tolerate partial shade such as Douglas fir [Pseudotsuga menzeisii], Eastern white pine [Pinus strobus], Swiss stone pine [Pinus cembra]. Picea abies, pungens and glauca I prefer 6-8 hours of sun for growth, balance and color. Personally I prefer 8 hours.

unfrofessional...if you are sold on two upright forms by the front steps two that I would recommend are Thuja occidentalis 'Degroots Spire' or Thuja occidentalis 'Smaragd'.

Just my 2 cents worth and I am moving on.

Dave

Sorry man, I just wanted to make a point that Picea glauca is shade tolerant and therefore grows well in partial shade. Its genetics not necessarily how you or I grow them.

You'll want to select this species over Doug Fir and any pine for partial shade.

I appreciate the discussion.

We already decided we didn't care for them there. One is going in a rock garden, the other will probably be pretty close to the house, but in a full sun spot.

confuscious see a weeping japanese maple in the filtered sunlight of that porches future....

Update on placement. There's a little curve in the leader on this one - will it right itself? I had to stake the second one as it was a lot more significant curvature near the top. The juniper is Skyrocket.

Tree is 7' for scale.

And the reflexa we picked up.