Suggestion for potted patio tree?

Discussion in 'Small Space Gardening' started by janetdoyle, Sep 2, 2007.

  1. janetdoyle

    janetdoyle Active Member 10 Years

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    I have vacated a pot, I would guess about 5-7 litres content in size, a standard large size but not largest of the large... for a "Fairy" rose I have given away [did not thrive there and anyway was a very prickly and not satisfactory rose]. I am thinking of a small tree or shrub I would keep small [i.e. no more than 3 feet at most above root level] with trimming. For winter interest, perhaps a miniature evergreen for here in Victoria would be better. The locale is dry [because I do not always water regularly, but would micro-irrigate if necessary or during absences] and sunny in the summer 11 am - 5 pm [some shade at early and late portions of the day]. I find all my pots dry out incredibly in the Victoria summer air... Or a Nandina of some type. I already have a Nandina domestica planted in a very shady dry corner [near the foundation slab] in the ground which bloomed this summer and stays smaller and manageable. It is irrigated slightly with a micro irrigation system. Is there a suggestion for something for the pot with an interesting winter foliage or trunk/branch shape and colour? If necessary it could be micro-irrigated in the summer, but something which would withstand the occasional dry shock of a day or two would be better. Suggestions of soil type to use would be helpful. I have Japanese Maple planted in-ground in this patio and hesitate to subject a Japanese Maple to a pot...
     
  2. growest

    growest Active Member 10 Years

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    Hi janet--are you sure this is 5-7 litres, not gallons? This is quite a small container for an established tree.

    I do have a contorted filbert in such a container, very slow growing and tough so it has stayed nice...only interesting in winter to my mind but worth it in my opinion.

    Another cutie is the columnar juniperus communis...this is very slow but stays nice all year.

    There are actually so many little junipers and chaemacyperus (sp!) available, most are slow and manageable in smaller containers...just get into that area of the garden centre and see what suits your taste...the hinoki cypress group alone has lots of neat varieties.

    Hardiness in a container is an issue, so usually the plant has to be a zone or two hardier than normal for your area, otherwise root damage is likely in the winter...I also watch the southwest side of any containers that might overheat in midsummer hot spells, sometimes move things around to protect that side of a pot from root damage from overheating.
     
  3. janetdoyle

    janetdoyle Active Member 10 Years

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    Thank you! Yes, I am aware of all the little junipers around, and I will check out the hinoki cypresses -- sound interesting. I have a little dwarf cedar [lost the label, so maybe it is one of those cypresses] growing in the patio ground-space amidst some tiny ground-covers -- I am trying to make a miniature landscape there -- looks like a miniature landscape tree; I also have a very low spreading blue-green carpet juniper in the ground there too which would have made an interesting container... plus a dwarf balsam fir in-ground [very pretty little thing]... Have also planted a miniature holly in a 14" high or so narrow pot about 8" across... perhaps all these pots are too small, time will tell, but the previous owner left so many huge pots here which were so ungainly [I gave them to the strata landscaper for using around the grounds] and the plants left in them were not doing all that well in the overly dry soil, that I opted to try for smaller ones.

    The container measures 10 inches off the ground [looks a lot bigger than that, I would have guessed at least a foot, and perhaps I am measuring incorrectly!] and is about 15" or so wide [diameter], it is not much smaller than several other substantial-sized pots I have. But, it is not huge. Well, I found an evergreen shrub to plant instead, now sized about 1 foot high, label says in 10 years is supposed to grow 2-4 meters all-round, but apparently one is supposed to prune it by 1/3 every year [if I am still here I can transfer it to the front shrub garden!]. It is a new Australian import called a Grevillea Canberra "Gem" which promises to be frost-hardy and interesting if it does well. It may have to be brought inside on cold winter nights... It likes no fertilizer or only low-phosphorus fertilizer, apparently, and tolerates dryness. It looks like a soft-needled pine, very nice shade of bright green, with branches reaching out all over and apparently will bloom along the branches with exotic "bright, waxy, rose pink flowers in clusters, all along the arching branches in Spring and early Summer" per label [Canadian time?]... websites say blooms in "winter" [Australian time?]... It may look great. Websites told me that it is becoming an invasive plant in Australia... was or is cultivated in public spaces...

    However I am going to look for the contorted filbert... is it evergreen? It surely must be deciduous? Thanks again!
     
  4. tweetie

    tweetie Active Member

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    i would go for a bay tree , you can use the leaves for cooking look up topiary
     
  5. growest

    growest Active Member 10 Years

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    I actually have several Canberra Gem--quite a nice evergreen. Not a spectacular bloomer but folks are quite intrigued at the curious exotic blossoms. Fussy as mentioned about soil, very well drained and almost no fertilizer...I would only add alfalfa meal personally, staying away from phosphorus. It is quite tender, tho, needs protection esp. the roots during cold spells.

    The contorted filbert is deciduous, actually this is a good thing coz the attractive season is winter when you can see the skeletal branch structure...try hanging a few little christmas lights on it, too! Slow growing, it will not outgrow a container for a while. I put mine out of the way during the summer, as it's not terribly exciting now.

    The little hollies are also a good idea, I've kept a few "hedgehog holly" plants in pots, they are so cute! They will hate you if they dry out in summer, but have been reliably cold hardy here.
     
  6. growing4it

    growing4it Active Member 10 Years

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    Janet, you could also try rosemary or lavendar or perhaps a Nishiki willow with the lovely varigated leaves like dappled light. Regular watering would probably help you plants.
     
  7. janetdoyle

    janetdoyle Active Member 10 Years

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    Thank you, wonderful suggestions... I saw bay trees in Wales and was charmed by the scent wafting around the front garden where they grew... and the attractive appearance... hope I can find them here in Van. Island, presume I can. The contorted filbert too would be good in winter -- I tracked it down via the WWW and realized it is the "Harry Lauder's Walking Stick" I have seen in gardening magazines... would be well worth having for winter interest. Also wondering about Witch Hazel (Hamamelis ...whatever cultivar] -- don't remember ever seeing it -- for winter interest as well.
     
  8. KarinL

    KarinL Well-Known Member 10 Years

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    Janet, you can grow anything in a pot! Your taste and the pot's shape are the two things that should play the biggest determining role. Something tall and narrow, like Cupressus sempervirens 'Swane's Golden' (photo on this page half way down, along with many similar selections: http://www.coenosium.com/Cupressus/cupressus.htm) will make one impression, while something like Juniperus Mother Lode will make quite another (http://www.richsfoxwillowpines.com/...lides/Juniperus horizontalis Mother Lode.html).

    My experience is actually that deciduous shrubs, having little form even if they have nice blooms, branches, etc, do not make as clear a statement as conifers in pots, and don't make the pot look as nice. But Japanese maples often do well in pots, and as they have such nice shapes, do look good in them.

    Grasses also look fabulous in pots, though perhaps not alone in one with a big surface area like the one you have. I think in a pot like that I would put a spiky plant with a droopy or groundcovering one.
     
    Last edited: Sep 8, 2007
  9. conifers

    conifers Active Member

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    Location:
    Mercer County Illinois Zone 5
    Winter-interest:

    Pinus contorta var. latifolia 'Chief Joseph'
    Pinus mugo 'Zundert'

    Here's P.mugo 'Zundert' in October:

    Dax
     

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  10. conifers

    conifers Active Member

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    Here's 'Chief Joseph' in winter:

    Dax
     

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  11. janetdoyle

    janetdoyle Active Member 10 Years

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    I am going to try and find the Pinus Contorta va. latifolia "Chief Joseph" locally -- thanks for the suggestions and intriguing photos. Do you have one for a more mature Chief Joseph?
     
  12. conifers

    conifers Active Member

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    I've seen one in person that was about a meter tall and it takes on the shape of a conical little tree about 1/3 as wide as tall and (pyramidal)... like a Christmas tree. That's the biggest one I've ever seen.

    It's perfect size for a container though that being it is a dwarf in its growth rate.

    It's worth every dollar you might pay for one though.

    Best Regards,

    Dax
     
  13. KarinL

    KarinL Well-Known Member 10 Years

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    If you find one, I hope you share your source; I'll be behind you in line.
     
  14. janetdoyle

    janetdoyle Active Member 10 Years

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    Hi, KarinL. Here we are: http://www.greergardens.com/ has access to this interesting little tree, Pinus Contorta latifolia "Chief Joseph", but the representative I called says not until spring -- when they have some new and healthier stock. The one or several they have now she says are too expensive and not in the best of shape. This nursery is in Oregon and ships to Canada!!! Has interesting stuff, take a look at the website.
     
  15. KarinL

    KarinL Well-Known Member 10 Years

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    Thank you Janet! I wasn't optimistic you'd find a local source, but an American one that ships to Canada is good news too. I think there may be an import permit required... Jaro put up a thread about that a while back.
     
  16. janetdoyle

    janetdoyle Active Member 10 Years

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    Yes, I searched this out on this forum and the permit was for the very same plant, I believe! Difficulties with holding and picking-up. Oh well, it's worth a try, in the spring when Greer's says it will be ready with this offering perhaps...
     
  17. barvinok

    barvinok Active Member

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    Just small remark - bay tree is hardy in the ground but might frees in a pot (my did)
     
  18. janetdoyle

    janetdoyle Active Member 10 Years

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    So many wonderful suggestions, and what I did was acquire an Australian evergreen Grevillea Canberra "Gem" for the patio pot which promises to be frost-hardy and interesting if it does well, but it is not a typical "tree", more of a shrub and I suspect it won't be as dense or vigourous or hardy as the more nordic-parented conifers suggested -- but it blooms exotically in summer, if it survives. I am still going to look for the Pinus Contorta latifolia "Chief Joseph", above, a spectacular golden colour in a small shape; however, I have since freed-up space in my front townhouse garden patch by taking out several of the too-many lacecap hydrangeas [leaving two], which were over-growing, irritating things, deer food except that my unorthodox anti-deer spray, spray-bottled human urine, is working; and now I have space for several dwarf trees or standard shrubs. The question is: a very narrow tallish Japanese-looking dwarf conifer, or a couple of them in different sizes [there is already there a wonderful large very Japanese-looking conifer, the only way I can describe it is a super-green cedary thing with an exposed stout trunk and interesting irregularly-spaced sideways and slightly upward-pointing branches with poufy-cushiony bunches of foliage especially at the ends which trim up in the Japanese style... it is some sort of cedar or cypress, about 6-7 feet tall and not growing fast, and the narrow conifers I am thinking of might complement it. [wish my camera were working] On the other hand, the space I have freed-up could be given to gold forsythia and spirea (white), two of my favourite Nova Scotia-type shrubs, for Spring and early Summer colour amidst the green... I can't decide. I have ground space for heathers/heaths [some there now] and/or groundcovers also... and have planted some small understory type ground-hugging dwarf spreading conifers already... decisions, decisions...
     

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