Garden

[Foxxee]

#1

Abies fraseri

Fraser Fir – Native to the Appalachian Mountains in the southeastern United States, evergreen tree with horizontal branches dense when young, more open with age with a fine to medium texture. This is a symmetrical pyramidal evergreen tree. Offering shining dark green color. Truly a beautiful Christmas or ornamental tree. Dislikes high pH and performs poorly in excessively hot and dry situations. Slow growth rate growing to 20 feet tall, over 20 years. Reaching 30' high and 25' wide. Prefers full sun. Hardy to Zone 4 A.

#2

Abies koreana

'Aurea'

Golden Korean Fir – In the conifer nursery trade the Golden Korean Fir is best known for its golden yellow foliage and purple cones. The new growth is a soft golden yellow, maturing to a deep gold. The underside of the needles offers a pleasing green color. Cones are produced near the top whorl of branches. The stunning cones open pink before maturing to purple. This slow-growing ornamental conifer grows to 6’ after 10 years and eventually up to 20’ tall and only be 5’ in width. In areas west of the Cascades this species will do best in full sun. In hot conditions, it will benefit from partial shade. Hardy to zones 5-8.

#3

Weeping Alaska Cedar – A native evergreen forms an outstanding sculptural specimen. Rich green foliage hangs like curtains from its branches creating a stately and graceful accent in the landscape. Grows best in full sun with well-drained soil and is drought tolerant once established. Slow growing evergreen reaching 10-15 feet tall and 8 feet wide in 10 years maturing around 20-35 feet tall and 10 feet wide. Hardy to zones 4-8.

#4

Juniperus scopulorum

'Moonglow'

Moonglow Mountain Juniper – Bears branches which ascend in a vertical fashion giving the tree an overall columnar to pyramidal shape at maturity. It can tolerate a wide range of site and soil types, other than wet sites and can withstand long periods of drought. Typically grows 20 feet tall but often no wider than 5-8 feet. Requires full sun. Hardy in zones 3-9.

At the link are photos and descriptions of various sizes that might be of interest.

Conifers for Sale in Snohomish, WA (mcauliffesvalleynursery.com)

[Mom2Dogs]

@Foxxee  Thank you.  I like the Korean Fir.  I do not get full sun in the front yard, that is an issue with some trees.

[Lilysmom1]

@Mom2Dogs , here are a couple of suggestions for you.  Please look them up.  I wiped my iPad clean so I don't have access to the photos I normally have of my garden.

I have Korean Fir.  It was recommended to me by a local nurseryman.  Mine has been in the ground ten years and is only about 6' tall.  New growth has a lovely silver sheen and the cones are beautiful blue.  It is a slow grower which I love.  

Sale!MAXIMIZE

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Korean Fir

Abies koreana

Even very young trees produce the beautiful big blue cones! Korean Fir is very popular for landscaping use because of its evergreen foliage, beautiful pyramidal shape, and abundance of unique blue colored cones. It is more heat tolerant than most firs and grows 20-30' tall by 15-20' wide.

Next is Hinoki Cypress.  Another beauty.  Slow growing.  Mine is about 8' tall after 12 years.  This tree has a beautiful drape to its branches.  You can buy dwarf version as well.

Nootka False Cypress

Chamaecyparis nootkatensis 'Pendula' · CharacteristicsNative from Alaska to Oregon, it is a common tree in the cool, moist environments of the Pacific Northwest and the East Coast, but also tolerates hot, dry conditions,  ...

 This tree gets large and needs room to grow.  

Canadian Hemlock

Although I can't recommend this, it is one of my favourites.  Looks gorgeous in snow.  Lovely, full beautifully draping limbs.  It is a victim of the hemlock wooly Adelaide which is an insect like aphids that infest and kill the tree.  I am in Canada amd it is not as prevalent here but it is coming.

I have all of these in my garden.  I live in zone 5, have real winters, high wind, summers with highs of 90 degrees.  We are a coastal city so we get a fair amount of rain.

I am not a fan of blue spruce.  I have several (as in more than a half dozen) on my property and my experience is that after 12-15 years they are not that attractive.  Their limbs become sparse as they age.  I have removed several.  I love Globe blue spruces (the shrub) which stay  full and blue green year round.

As you can see, we love our trees and are lucky enough to live on a property large enough to enjoy a wide variety.

i haven't read all the replies yet so hopefully not repeating recommendations.

Like you, I am not a fan of the weeping spruce.  S

PS...I see @Foxxee @mentions Korean Fir also...a beautiful choice.

@Kachina624 , you did well to remember my name!

[Lilysmom1]

@Mom2Dogs , my Korean Fir gets morning sun, afternoon shade.  No problem.  S

[Mom2Dogs]

@Lilysmom1   Thanks for the reply and the visuals...much appreciated!

[Mom2Dogs]

Attached is the tree that was recommended the width is perfect, just not my favorite.  IF I knew it would grow this nicely, I could live with it.

[gardenman]

Silly question, but is there a reason you have to have a tree there? You seem to be dealing with a lot of limitations that severely limit your tree options. Have you considered a garden statue, a shrub, maybe something like a flagpole or a fountain instead? There are a lot of landscape options that could take the place of a tree. Something like a garden obelisk with a flowering vine (clematis) twining its way through it could be an option. A lot of shrubs can even be trained into a tree form and held to a very reasonable height. 

When it's this hard to find a tree, maybe it's nature's way of telling you to look for something that's not a tree. There are other landscaping options out there besides trees. Given the shape and type of tree you're looking at you're clearly not looking at it for shade. You're not looking for a fruiting tree or a flowering tree, so maybe this site isn't made for a tree for you. You may be trying to fit a square peg into a round hole.  

[Mom2Dogs]

@gardenman   The area needs height...the roof line it tall but the foot print is smaller.  A statue or birdbath is to small for the area.  At one time we had a flowering tree that was back further toward the house but had to take it out.

 The new tree will be toward the front edge of the landscape instead of further back like the original tree was.

I will take your advice and think outside the box.  

[Lilysmom1]

@Mom2Dogs @gardenman , forgive me, I did not have time to read the entire post this morning but have just done so.  Gardenman's idea is certainly one worth considering.  I bought an obelisk that I will place outside in about a month.  I got it on Amazon and it comes from a Canadian supplier on the Canadian website but I am sure there will be similar items on US site.

Please forgive the messy storage area with outdoor cushions stacked behind the obelisk.  

I also use many pieces of garden art bought locally.  These may give you an alternate idea.  They also don't require watering, weeding, cutting etc.

This obelisk is 6' tall.

This metal art piece is about 12' high.  It is anchored by a piece of rebar pounded in the ground and stands through very high winds.

Whatever you choose make it something you love.  That is my first rule in the garden!  S

PS, be careful what weeping tree you choose if you go that way.  They can spread to a very large area and then you will be in a constant battle having to trim them back.  My neighbour has a weeping NorwY spruce and it is now huge.  Fortunately, she has the room for it.

[Mom2Dogs]

@Lilysmom1 If  I used something other than plant material I would need to really fortify it in the ground, there is no wind protection.