Landis is home to many great collections including oak and beech, ferns and native plants. One of our more unique collections is the Dwarf Conifers Collection, located beside the Library/Greenhouse complex.
At the front of the garden is a prominently placed memorial stone with a metal engraving for Harriett Rosa Peck, “First Friend of The Arboretum” and former librarian at Renssalaer Polytechnic Institute. The stone is framed by the cascading branches of a nearly 40-year-old Picea pungens glauca ‘Pendula’ (weeping blue spruce). Arboretum newsletters reveal that several decades ago, the Arboretum Plant Sale was widely known for its dwarf conifers. A former SUNY Cobleskill professor and Landis trustee, Richard Southwick, was instrumental in donating many of the specimens in the collection. Mr. Southwick was an avid propagator, and it’s likely that the spruce is one of his own varietals.
Conifers that grow less than 2” per year are considered dwarf. More than 2” but less than 4” is considered slow growing. The smallest of the dwarfs grow only ¼” per year! Dwarf conifers are often referred to as “pre-pruned plants” because they can keep their shape for many years due to their slow growth rate. This can be very desirable to the gardener who desires less maintenance and pruning. It can also be a design mistake for the “impatient” gardener who plants too many of each plant or everything too close. A 1986 Landis Arboretum Newsletter article on dwarf conifers by Betty Bloom did mention that the plants were very easy to move even after several years. The author’s strategy was to double up on plants since when they outgrew the space, one could be transplanted.
Though it takes quite a few years for dwarf conifers to get larger than desired, slow-growing conifers can accelerate their growth rate after 10 years. Our collection was planted in the 1980s, and today some of the specimens are diseased or have outgrown their intended space. The collection’s 25-year-old Chamaecyparis pisifera ‘Boulevard’ is dead and slated for removal. A Pinus strobus ‘Verkade’s Witches Broom’ can still be found in the collection, and Mr. Southwick noted that this was “Fred Lape’s prized plant”.
Fred Breglia recalls planting a Picea glauca ‘Fastigiata’ and Picea abies ‘Pendula’ in the collection with the late Peter Rumora. Peter was also a collector of dwarf conifers. He offered a tour of his collection to our garden club many years ago. The white spruce, a striking upright conical plant, has grown well over 15’. This specimen and the weeping spruce still look great to this day.
Many of the blue spruce cultivars have been infected with spruce needle cast, an incurable disease, and will need to be removed. Eliminating them and some other moribund specimens will allow us to plant young dwarf conifers in the collection and give it a new lease on life!
In addition, Landis has been awarded a ZBGA (Zoos, Botanic Gardens, and Aquaria) Capital Grant, which will allow for a paved loop trail in the field nearby. The loop will be our first fully handicap accessible trail, allowing visitors with limited mobility to view plants up close. The trail will pass by the collection, highlighting it.
Who knows? Maybe we will plant another Chamaecyparis pisifera ‘Boulevard’ that will delight visitors for another 25 years!