Little Giants - dwarf conifers play big roles in today's smaller gardens

article exerpt
by Kym Pokorny

With names like 'Papoose,' 'Little Leo,' 'Dainty Doll,' 'Hobbit,' 'Pixie,' 'Teeny' and the oh-so-subtle 'Paul's Dwarf,' it's no mystery we're entering the world of dwarf plants - conifers in this case. Not so easy to determine is what - exactly - qualifies as a dwarf.

After all, next to a 100-foot sequoia, a 20-foot tree looks dwarf. But is it? Even people in the nursery industry are reluctant to offer an exact definition of dwarf, but the American Conifer Society is less diffident. Because mature size varies from area to area, the group uses growth rate to establish standards. According to the society, conifers that grow from 1 to 6 inches a year or 1 to 6 feet in 10 to 15 years are considered dwarf. There are also standards for miniature, intermediate and large conifers, but those are stories of a different feather (if you're dying to know, [click here to go to The Conifer Society website]).

Regardless of an inch here or there, the real story is that Oregon is brimming with dwarf conifers. Growers around the state are churning out dwarfs in every conifer genus, which means all those hulking big tree and shrubs we've been coveting for our increasingly small lots can be ours.

Whether it's an ancient-looking pine, a feathery false cypress or a stiff pyramid of spruce, you can have it. Most of all, you need them.

As Jock Demme, sales manager at Iseli Nursery in Boring says, "Conifers ar the bones of the temperate garden."

Heard it before? Well, let's take it to heart. The evergreen spires, globes, buns, pyramids and otherwise-shaped trees and shrubs of the conifer family give the garden almost as much structure as hardscapes. No longer considered background plants, conifers - especially small ones - have taken their rightful place as specimens, rock-garden stars and important pieces in shrub borders.

Standing in the display garden at Iseli, which was founded by the late Jean Iseli in 1975, Demme turns proudly on his heel and sweeps his arm in a 90-degree arc. This garden in the dead of winter will look almost as colorful and appealing as it does when the annuals, perennials and leafing trees are out. You'll see green, blue, silver, purple, red and all shades of golden. We have 12 months of color."

Demme says, and others agree, that demand for dwarf conifers has swelled significantly in the past decade.

"A lot of people out in the world of garden centers equate big with value," he says, "and that was great when we had half-acre or three-quarter-acre lots. But what about the 100-by-100 or 100-80? Once you take away the footprint of the house and the deck and the spa and the outdoor kitchen, there's not much real estate left for plants."

...It seems the possibilities are endless. Too bad our space isn't.

Originally published in the November 2, 2006 Homes & Gardens section of The Oregonian - posted here with permission.