Can I plant this in the ground?

[frostedviolets]

Or will it grow absolutely monstrous?

I have two, DH wants them in pots either side of the step.

Trouble is, that’s a really narrow area either side of the step and I’m struggling to find nice matching ceramic pots to put them in that would fit there (they would need to be 25cm diameter and about the same tall)

I’d like to just plant them in the ground, but it’s a small area and near to the house wall.

I don’t want to end up with two enormous leylandii like horrors right against the house...

The tree/s in question

Were they labelled as "dwarf" when you bought them? If so, they won't get more than 6ft-sh and will do that slowly. If not, they'll grow a lot more slowly than leylandii, and you can always decide that you'll remove them when they get a certain size.

If they're in the ground, you won't have to worry about making wure they're always watered. It's easy to kill conifers by forgetting to water.

They weren’t labelled with the variety, just a generic ‘mini Christmas tree’ tag 😖

But would I be able to remove them easily?
Are they likely to be shallow rooted do you think or one of these plants with massive thick deep roots that spread out far and wide?

Would the roots maybe damage the foundations of the house?
That is one of my biggest worries with planting them.

Perhaps I could keep them small by pruning?

They are small slow-growing hybrid conifers, ultimate maximum height about 2 metres. They'd probably take about 30 years to get that size.

The full latin name is Picea glauca var. albertiana 'Conica'.

Yes, you can plant them in the ground.

I planted a tesco dwarf xmas tree into a container. Its doubled in size since January.

That could be a chamaecyparis Happy or another variety of picea/spruce.

Oh I dont know what it was but I am surprised it us growing at all. Saves me getting another one this year.

ultimate maximum height about 2 metres
😱
But I could maybe keep them small by pruning maybe?
Plus they would be in a narrow space surrounded by other plants, pinks and lavenders probably.

They'd probably take about 30 years to get that size
We will probably still be here in 30 years time I imagine

You can prune them, but only up to a point, as they don't regrow from bare branches so you can't take off much. The other thing is, as the name suggests, their growth habit is conical so although they don't get tall, they can get wide at the base. If the bottoms are shaded, the lower branches will die back and you'll have a long thin trunk with branches at the top, like a loo brush

Hmm, and the roots won’t damage the foundations of the house?

No. They're not like leylandii and large forest trees, which get massive and drink so much they can cause subsidence, or other species such as cherries and willows, which find their way into water pipes and can block drains.

They are more like shrubs really. As long as the damp course is well above ground and there isn't a drain right beside where you want to plant them, then they should be fine. If you're really not sure, then plant them in large containers instead. You will need to water them well in dry weather though, while they get established.