Garden Design

An elegant, slow-growing small tree, Picea pungens ‘Hillside’ is a dwarf form, reaching 3 to 6 feet tall in 10 years, creating a flattened pyramid. Stiff bottlebrushes of needles are blue-gray-green. Zones 3 to 7.

Discovered as a witch’s broom on Cryptomeria japonica ‘Gracilis’, C. japonica ‘Little Champion’ is a dwarf form with a tidy globular shape, about 1 to 2 feet tall and 2 to 3 feet wide in 10 years. The finely textured needles, pale-green color and compact size make this a perfect container or rock-garden plant. Zones 6 to 8.

Another deciduous conifer, Larix gmelinii ‘Romberg Park’ is a dwarf form of Dahurian larch, comprising parts of the northernmost forest strands in the world and found in the vast taiga forests of Siberia and northeastern Asia. Creates an irregular mound, 2 to 3 feet tall and 4 to 5 feet wide, and is covered with short tufts of bright-green needles. Foliage turns yellow in autumn before making its exit. Zones 2 to Pacific Northwest 9.

Native to the Canary Islands and Madeira — Juniperus cedrus has been listed as endangered since 2000 by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature, but it is starting to regain ground. Both tall and broad, ultimately reaching more than 50 feet in height, this juniper is cloaked with graceful, dramatic swags of pendulous blue-green foliage. Zones 7 to 9.