John and Ted's Excellent Conifer Adventure

John Auditore and Ted Williams purchased their north Arlington home in 1989. It is sited on a small, sharply sloped lot in a hilly area of suburban Arlington, Virginia.  When they bought the property,  the home's surrounding landscape was nothing more than trim grass, hydrangea, azaleas and irises.

John Auditore and Ted Williams

As a child growing up in coastal Massachusetts, John had an strong interest in plants and gardening. He helped his mother tend her garden.  His grandfather was a golf course groundskeeper.  Ted grew up in Ohio. From his paternal side, Ted descended from farmer stock. His maternal grandfather was a tree surgeon and his mother’s family always grew their own food. Throughout his childhood, Ted did all the gardening around the house. While in college, he landed a summer job on the landscaping crew at Ohio State University. John and Ted’s garden has always been a joint effort based on combined experiences.

Before: Their well-planned 'cottage style' garden

You can see the steep sloping as it rises

Their original 'cottage style' garden featured vegetables, annuals, perennials, roses, peonies, iris, lilies, spring bulbs, alliums, and ornamental grasses.  Early on, John developed an interest in collections and propagating plants. While he had no hesitation propagating plants from inexpensive ones from big box stores, his bulbs were always from New England.  His special collections, over many years, have included lilies, peonies, hostas and an array of spring bulbs.

Ivory Zinnia 'Dreamland'

Over time, though, John developed a keen interest in conifers. Conifers are a division of vascular land plants containing a single extant class, Pinopsida. They are gymnosperms, cone-bearing seed plants. All extant conifers are perennial woody plants with secondary growth. The great majority are trees, though a few are shrubs. Examples include cedars, Douglas firs, cypresses, firs, junipers, kauri, larches, pines, hemlocks, redwoods, spruces, and yews.[1] As of 1998, the division Pinophyta was estimated to contain eight families, 68 genera, and 629 living species. (see Wikipedia link here for more information).  For their garden, conifers added definition to the architecture of the landscape. The plants have many varied shapes, textures and colors. Some conifers even change color with the seasons.

3 year grafted Abies koreana 'Child's #1'

What John didn't recognize at first was that he was navigating toward a serious conifer garden. He and Ted began searching online for conifer specimens and discovered Conifer Kingdom                       ( Coniferkingdom.com ) in Oregon. They also travel regionally to Susanna Farm Nursery in Boyds, Maryland ( susannafarmnursery.com ) and Conestoga Nursery in East Earl, Pennsylvania. John prefers miniature and dwarf varieties in their garden beds, and with larger specimens bordering their property lines.

Chamaecyparis Nootkatensis Pendula "Weeping Alaskan Cedar'

Cedrus deodara (Himalayan cedar) 'Robusta Glauca'

To set off many of the garden beds, Ted built stone walls including one for a rock garden. Later in the rock garden he added an eye catching dry creek bed. This added depth and redirected water. The rock garden beds are mounded about three feet above the original lawn. As the garden evolved, Ted removed some of the stone and gravel paths he built that meandered through the garden and replaced them with grass. This was for safety reasons.

Miniature Thuja occidentalis Primo* ('IslPrim'); Hosta 'Lovely Rita" 

top left: Chamaecyparis obtusa 'Butter Ball'  center right: Chamecyparis pisifera 'Tsukumo'
bottom left: Chamaecyparis lawsoniana 'Nymph' Dwarf Blue

Ted estimates that over the years through using mulch and composted materials,  they added sixteen or more inches of rich, black soil to their garden beds. As John has gotten older, he finds the Conifer garden easier to maintain than their cottage-style one. The Conifer garden”s neatness appeals to his sensibilities.

 Upper rear: Pinus strobus 'Diggy'; bottom front: Abies pinsapo 'Horstmann'

left: Metasequoia glyptostroboides 'Ogon' Dawn Redwood in container,
surrounded by a collection of Caudiciform plants (which winter indoors)

bottom front: Daphne xburkwoodii "Carol Mackie'; 

Taxodium distchum 'Peve Minaret' dwarf bald cyprus 

In blue pot (accented with thyme): top right: Abies nordmanniana 'Dobrichovice' ;
upper left: Taxus cuspidata 'Nana Aurescens'; bottom left: Cedrus Deodara 'Golden Horizon' 

Their joint efforts have resulted in an eclectic, urban conifer garden that is serene yet full of surprises.  The array of conifers is amazing and probably includes about 150 specimens.

An array of John and Ted's collection. left: Raywood's Weeping Arizona Cypress;
front bottom: Taxus baccata 'Fastgiata Micro'

This garden shows well in all seasons. John especially loves it in winter when the negative spaces highlights the garden's structure, from the stone work to the shape of the conifers.

They have incorporated garden accents that create a unique mix of Asian and New England. Their garden attracts birds and beneficial insects. Morning coffee includes birdwatching and looking at the continual rippling changes in colors.

Acer palmatum 'Sango-Kaku' Coral Bark Maple  

Many of their flowering plants and bulbs have migrated to friends and fellow garden club members. Still, there are plenty of flowering bulbs, annuals and perennials around. Tucked into their coniferous landscape, they also have sixteen Japanese maples and gorgeous camellias. They also have space allocated for native pollinator plants that attract bees and humming birds. John also has an amazing succulent collection. He and Ted use container plants, many of which hold his some of impressive succulents. The containers  serve as accents throughout the garden.

Pinus parviflora "Tani Mano Uki' Japanese White Pine

Before John joined the Club, John and Ted won the Rock Spring Garden Club's Garden of the Year award in 2013. John is a resource and respected member,  earning several horticulture blue ribbons in a recent flower show for his specimens.  John and Ted are also members of the American Conifer Society. They enjoy attending the Society’s conferences and contributing articles to its newsletter. 

Any conifer questions? Leave a comment and we will respond.

Thea McGinnis is blogmistress for National Capital Area's website blog. She is a member of NCAGC District III's Rock Spring Garden Club.  

Photography by Thea McGinnis, John Auditore