Only a little over a week ago most of these conifers were completely burried in snow. The attached pictures show ones that have just gone through their first winter in my garden. I'm looking forward to seeing how well they recover - or not. The Platycladus orientalis 'Aurea nana' seems to have come through quite well, as has the Taxus baccata 'Fastigiata aurea.' Others, such as my Pinus sylvestris 'Moseri,' look to be a little stressed, while the Chamaecyparis thyoides 'Red Star' looks positively moribund. Still others, that don't show the slightest amount of change, I haven't bothered to photograph. These include my two Brewer's Spruce trees, and a bunch of Pinus and Abies, and of course all the Junipers. A few of my tiny exotic plants are still under the snow, so a few mysteries still to be revealed....
Might be a good idea to give them some shade while the soil is still frozen, so the plants do not get desiccated and burnt by the sun.
Hello jaro, I was wondering if your Pinus t. 'Thunderhead' ever over came the issues it was having? If I remember right we were both having thew same issues with tip die back. Mine survived and it is looking good after 2 years of issues. It has been a struggle but I am now looking forward to growing this beautiful conifer as it seems to have acclimated. Dave
Hi Dave, Thanks for the reminder. Neither of my two PTT's is 100% toast yet, but its definitely a struggle. One of them I had to cut way down to the lower tier of branches, because the top was rotting away. Those bottom branches look nice & green, but its going to be a while before the plant grows back to its former size. The second one wasn't quite as bad, so I left most of the top on, and just pruned several of the rotten branches. Last fall it looked like it was recovering, but this spring it still looks like hell. So I'll simply do the same as last year -- if there are any rotted branches, I'll chop those off and hope that the rest of the plant recovers. One thing I know now, that I didn't know before, is the importance of removing loose needles a.s.a.p., because leaving them on only worsens the rotting problem. Any comments on the photos ? (Thnx)
Hello jaro, Your Pinus t. 'Thunderhead' looks identical to mine a year ago last spring. Going into the 3rd season now. Here is a couple photo's. Dave IMG_0609.JPG (4.54 MB) IMG_0611.JPG (3.27 MB)
