Dwarf Conifers - Dwarf Evergreen Shrubs for the Garden
Honey, I shrunk the Chamaecyparis!
Dwarf conifers fit into any landscape and serve many purposes in the garden. They can be used as dwarf hedges, barrier plants, container plants, and specimen plants. Since most are evergreen, dwarf conifers provide color and structure to the garden year round. Although Plant Delights Nursery is not specifically a dwarf conifer nursery, this is a plant group that has long been special to us, so we always propagate a few of our favorites to list in our on-line plant catalog.
Read More About Dwarf Conifers
Dwarf conifers are easy to grow. Some prefer sun while others prefer part shade, but all are tough and beautiful. While dwarf conifers are tough, keep in mind that their root systems are equally as dwarf as the tops and consequently they are not as drought tolerant as their full-sized counterparts. The liliputian stature of dwarf conifers means you should never have to prune them either…how nice!
When you are ready to buy evergreen shrubs like dwarf conifers for your garden, let Plant Delights become your favorite dwarf conifer nursery. You can feel confident when you buy plants online from us.
Since 1988, Plant Delights Nursery has been the choice of serious gardeners and plant collectors looking for the best and rarest perennial plants. We are pleased to have received the Perennial Plant Association Retail Award in 2011, the American Horticulture Society Commercial Award in 2002, and to have been selected as one of the Best Mail Order Plant Nurseries - Garden Design Magazine 2010. Welcome to our family of plant lovers!
(aka: Chamaecyparis 'Ceramic Christmas Tree') We enjoy our plant of Chamaecyparis 'Lynn's Golden'...a cute dwarf, upright, golden hinoki cypress (4' tall x 30" wide in 12 years) as a specimen in our rock garden. The layered golden foliage on this easy-to-grow selection remains equally attractive in winter and summer. We would probably enjoy Lynn also if she were here. Pot Size: 3.5" (24 fl. oz/709.77 ml)
This new and hard-to-find introduction from NC's conifer expert, Paul Jones, is a seedling from Chamaecyparis obtusa 'Crippsii'. The foliage best resembles a dwarf golden Chamaecyparis obtusa 'Graciosa' with very dainty lace-like foliage. In our rock garden, this is one of the few dwarf golden chamaecyparis that doesn't foliage-burn. Our 15-year-old specimen of Chamaecyparis 'Spirited' has reached 8' tall x 3' wide. Pot Size: 3.5" (24 fl. oz/709.77 ml)
This dwarf Japanese cedar with congested, dense, dark green growth gives a soft appearance with a pleasing, free-spirited form... looks like a juniper on LSD... the life of a garden party! The mature shape of Cryptomeria japonica 'Elegans Nana' resembles that of a 7' tall x 7' wide (in 15 years) bean bag chair. Just like folks with good digestion, it never needs pruning. Pot Size: 3.5" (24 fl. oz/709.77 ml)
Cryptomeria japonica 'Goikumo' makes an elegant compact 8' tall x 5' wide evergreen dwarf conifer specimen in 15 years of soft green rope-like foliage...never needs pruning! Pot Size: 3.5" (24 fl. oz/709.77 ml)
This is one of the best of the mounding cryptomerias with rich green squiggly (a redneck technical term) branches, making a striking clumper...resembling a basketball that was plugged into an electrical socket! You could plant a yard of Cryptomeria japonica 'Globosa Nana' and throw away the hedge clippers! A 10-year-old plant should reach 36" tall x 36" wide. Pot Size: 3.5" (24 fl. oz/709.77 ml)
This dwarf Japanese selection of the giant Cryptomeria japonica makes a tight, compact mound to 15" tall x 2' wide in 10 years. Cryptomeria 'Koshyi' is perfect for a specimen spot in the rock garden. If you needed more confusion, Cryptomeria japonica 'Koshyi' is similar, but smaller than Cryptomeria 'Koshiji'. Pot Size: 3.5" (24 fl. oz/709.77 ml)
Cryptomeria japonica 'Little Diamond' is a very cute 1990 introduction from Konijn Nursery in the Netherlands. Our seven year old plant is 18" tall x 30" wide...very cute! Pot Size: 3.5" (24 fl. oz/709.77 ml)
Cryptomeria japonica 'Nana Albospica' is one of the most amazing of the dwarf conifers and one of only a few with nice variegated foliage. Cryptomeria japonica 'Nana Albospica' makes an 8' tall x 5' wide pyramid with new growth that is bright white. For us, the color holds well all season. Pot Size: 3.5" (24 fl. oz/709.77 ml)
This compact Japanese cedar selection seems similar to the cultivar Cryptomeria japonica 'Yellow Twig'. The compact, but airy growth forms an 72" tall x 7' wide clump in 9 years, but will eventually develop more of a central leader. We expect Cryptomeria 'Pom Pom' to mature in the 12'-15' tall range. Pot Size: 3.5" (24 fl. oz/709.77 ml)
Cryptomeria japonica 'Ryoku Gyoku Ryu' (translated "Green Jewel Dragon") is another wonderful Japanese dwarf selection of Cryptomeria japonica. For us, Cryptomeria 'Ryoku Gyoku Ryu' has made a tight evergreen clump to 18" tall x 3' wide in 12 years. Pot Size: 3.5" (24 fl. oz/709.77 ml)
This 1982 introduction from Oregon's Iseli Nursery is a tiny, dark green-leaved, irregular shaped, slow growing dwarf...you could call this the "Elephant Man" of the cryptomeria world. It could best be described as resembling a windswept miniature grand piano...fits well in the rock garden or under miniature chandeliers. Our 12-year-old specimens of Cryptomeria 'Tansu' are now an irregular 3' tall x 5' wide. Pot Size: 3.5" (24 fl. oz/709.77 ml)
Cryptomeria japonica 'Tenzan Yatsabusa', although virtually unpronounceable, is one of the finest dwarf Japanese cedars for the rock garden. In 10 years, the tiny mound of congested dark green foliage, which resembles cryptomeria branches that have been run through a meat grinder, forms a 30" tall x 3' wide (in 10 years) windswept form. Cryptomeria 'Tenzan Yatsabusa' is similar in spread, but much more flattened than Cryptomeria japonica 'Compressa' or Cryptomeria 'Vilmoriniana'. Pot Size: 3.5" (24 fl. oz/709.77 ml)
Juniperus chinensis 'Echiniformis' is one of the finest junipers ever introduced for the rock garden due to its insanely slow growth...14" tall x 20" wide in 14 years. In appearance, hedgehog juniper resembles...a prickly blue-green hedgehog. There's good reason no sane nursery would ever offer such a slow-growing plant! Pot Size: 3.5" (24 fl. oz/709.77 ml)
I was blown away with Juniperus 'All Gold' when I first saw this in Pat McCracken's North Carolina nursery in 2009. I collect conifers, but I'd never seen anything quite like this brilliant selection of the common shore juniper, Juniperus conferta. As it turned out, Juniperus 'All Gold' is a sport from Juniperus 'Blue Pacific' discovered by Pat's friend, Leo Koelewyn, a conifer nurseryman in Monbulk, Australia. The mat of soft golden foliage will eventually reach 8'+ wide...our 3-year-old plants are now 5' wide. The new spring growth is brightest, although the color holds well for us through the summer in full baking sun. Pot Size: 3.5" (24 fl. oz/709.77 ml)
This amazing Brookside Gardens release is still quite rare in the trade...except in variegated plant circles. This groundcover shore juniper has the typical green shore juniper foliage, except that it is heavily splotched bright gold. We have not found the gold pattern to fade, burn out, or revert, as is the case with many streaked plants. A large patch of Juniperus 'Sunsplash' is a very cool feature in the garden...expect a 5' wide patch in 3 years. As with all shore junipers, good drainage is essential to good health. Pot Size: 3.5" (24 fl. oz/709.77 ml)
(PP 5948 expired) We really love this 1985 introduction from Oregon's Iseli nursery that was reportedly discovered in 1980 after lightning hit a patch of Juniperus horizontalis 'Wiltonii'. The result was a beautiful golden-foliage US native (Canada south to Illinois) groundcover juniper that we have enjoyed for over two decades in our rock garden. For us, Juniperus 'Mother Lode' makes a 4' wide, slowly growing patch that looks great in both summer and winter...superb! Pot Size: 3.5" (24 fl. oz/709.77 ml)
