Georgia trials Deep South conifers

After 10 years of trials, John Ruter, a research horticulturist at University of Georgia, has narrowed down a list of ornamental conifers that grow well in the South.

Despite naysayers who said he was wasting his time, Ruter began trialing 250 varieties a decade ago. He wanted to prove that conifers with yellow or blue foliage would grow in Georgia. And Southern nursery growers were calling for the research, he said.

Ruter didn’t bother testing conifers more commonly found in the North. Instead he planted species native to Southeast Asia and Mexico.

The conifers received drip irrigation to establish them, “then we basically just let them go to see which ones might be adaptable to the Southeastern United States,” he said.

About 75 percent of the original 250 plants survived, but not all of the survivors are viable for the commercial market.

Some of the better performers are already available in the trade. Ruter plans to introduce others, possibly as early as 2010.

Top performers include Thuja occidentalis ‘Pumila Sudsworth,’ ‘Globe,’ ‘Little Giant’ and ‘Golden Globe’; T. plicata ‘Atrovirens’; Chamaecyparis obtusa ‘Crippsii’; x Cupressocyparis leylandii ‘Naylor’s Blue’; Cupressus arizonica var. glabra ‘Arctic’ and ‘Chaparral’; Juniperus virginiana ‘Silver Spreader’ and ‘Starver’s Blue’; Cryptomeria japonica ‘Gyrokruga’ and ‘Tarheel Blue’; Sequoia sempervirens ‘Soquel’; Cunninghamia lanceolata ‘Samurai’; and Abies firma.

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For more: John Ruter, University of Georgia, (229) 386-3907; ruter@uga.edu.