Three Wichita Blue Junipers Planted - Pizza Oven Bed - May 2025

For the past year-or-so, I've been thinking about this inspiration photo that shows a combination of blue-green, upright conifer trees flanked by Stachys Hummelo perennials in a mass planting.   I talked about using it in the front yard, but had not come across Wichita Blue Junipers in the wild, so the idea sort-of just hung on the shelf.  

That was...until I went to the big box nursery recently and saw these blue-needle upright conifers in the parking lot amongst the big masses of arborvitae.  These looked interesting. 

Upon closer inspection...it turns out...these are what I've been thinking about for the past year:  Wichita Blue Juniper trees.  

The Missouri Botanical Garden describes Wichita Blue Junipers thusly:

‘Wichita Blue’ is a compact, conical, male form that grows slowly (6-12” per year) to 10-15’ tall, but may eventually reach 15-30’ tall. As the cultivar name suggests, it is noted for its blue or blue-gray foliage that retains good color all year.

'Compact' is another word for 'dwarf'.  They say it is 'noted' for the color- which is lovely to consider.

With the pizza oven bed being newly created, I figured this might be a good spot to pull-off the inspiration clone.  This area gets more sun than the rest of our backyard, so I'm hopeful these three junipers will thrive here.   Note:  #13 on my 2025 to-do list is to add more trees.  But, I specifically called out this inspiration:  

13. Add some trees. Think about unique/dwarf conifers- Perhaps a Soft Serve Chamaecyparis. Or pull off that three dwarf/upright combo.

I laid them out in a pattern of two-in-the-back, one-in-the-front.   At least...as viewed from the patio.  As you walk towards the back of the garden, the staggered planting sort-of 'changes' in a neat way.   Here they are in their nursery pots laid out for planting:

I pulled back the mulch, removed some of the soil, dug five-dollar-holes and amended the soil with a one-gallon bucket of municipal biosolids for each tree.

Below is a look at the three juniper trees (Wichita Blue upright) in the ground after I reapplied the mulch:

In this case, I'm living up to the good garden advice I've heard before:  Conifers Should Come First.  Now that these are in, I'll look to buy (at least) six Stachys Hummelo tucked in and around these new Junipers - to copy what I liked so much in this inspiration photo.  

I also am going to watch these closely this year as I've had rabbits gnaw at other junipers in the back and I don't want to lose the bottom limbs on these young trees.  

Below is a close-up of the blue-green needles on the Wichita Blue Juniper:

2025 marks my ninth tree-planting season.

Before these three, I had just one tree planted (so far) in 2025. And one tree 'lost' so far this year. Net plus-three.

Overall, I've planted 107 trees on our property. That's a wild number to me.

With this new tree, we have 73 of 107 alive. 68% success rate.

It is early this year, so these numbers (below) are skewed:

107 trees planted/9 growing seasons = 11.88 trees on average planted each season
73 trees alive/9 growing seasons = 8.11 trees on average survive each season.

Here's the full accounting:

2017 (9 planted. 5 Dead. 6 total (including 2 replacements) of the original annual total alive now):
1. Flowering Pear in backyard on north side.
2. Flowering Pear in front yard by garage. (LOST and replaced)
3. Japanese flowering cherry.  Lost in 2023.  Could be the Walnut tree that took it.
4 and 5: 2 Lindens that I espalier'd and placed by the south fence line near our kitchen windows.
6. A Dawn Redwood from Earth Day 2017 (LOST and replaced)
7. Nat's Saucer Magnolia in our front yard
8. A Corkscrew Willow all the way in the back (LOST)
9. A Crimson King Norway Maple near the trampoline

2018 (17 planted. 6 Dead):
10. Another flowering pear from Earth Day 2018
11. Red Maple Sun Valley tree from Earth Day 2018.
12. Weeping Cedar tree - our first evergreen.  (LOST)
13. The weeping flowering cherry tree that the Babe planted for Earth Day 2018.
14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21. These Frans Fontaine Hornbeams. 
22. A replacement Chanticleer Pear tree (3" caliper) out front by our garage
23. Our second evergreen - a short Fraser Fir Christmas Tree out by the trampoline. (LOST)
24. This Canadian Hemlock that is the first of nine that our landscape plan calls for in the backyard. (LOST)
25. Our replanted/replacement Dawn Redwood. Same spot as the first.
26. This teeny-tiny Bald Cypress that I planted in the front yard, in between our driveway and our neighbor to the north.

2019 (9 planted.  5 Dead):

27, 28, 29.  A set of three small Canadian Hemlock Trees in our far backyard. (Two Lost)

30, 31, 32.  This second set of three small Canadian Hemlocks along the north fence line. (One Lost)
33.  My new Weeping White Spruce that will only grow about 4' wide placed near the fence line alongside the espalier'd Lindens.
34.  A NEW Dwarf Alberta Spruce planted near the south fence line.  Our first "dwarf" tree.
35.  This new Hakuro Nishiki Willow (Dappled Willow) tree planted close to the flowering cherry on the southside.  LOST - October 2020.

2020 (17 planted and 6 Dead):

36.  A small Chanticleer flowering pear on Earth Day 2020 outside our screened porch.

37.  A very thin Lombardy Poplar tree - columnar form - in the way back wood chip area.  LOST - July 2020.
38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45.  These apple trees in a Belgian Fence espalier.
46.  A small Northern Red Oak tree - our first Oak tree planted.
47.  A 'decapitated' Lavender Twist Weeping Redbud that I planted on a whim.
48.  A replacement (from the nursery) Lavender Twist Redbud planted close to the brother.
49.  A tall(ish) London Plane tree that suffered some transplant and frost shock, but seemed to recover. 

50.  Our second contorted tree - this one inspired by Disneyland Paris: a Harry Lauder's Walking Stick tree.

51.  Our third contorted tree - but one that checks A LOT of boxes.  Deciduous conifer.  Weeping.  Contorted.  Japanese.  Planted behind the front Maple - the Horstmann's Recursive Weeping Contorted Larch.  LOST - Aug 2020.

52.  Via the Morton Arboretum Plant Sale - a columnar tree from Japan - the Red Fox Katsura Tree that I planted as an understory tree to the dying Chanticleer Pear Tree next to our driveway. 

2021 (16 planted and 13 alive):

53.  A tiny bareroot Shagbark Hickory from the Benet Academy Environmental Club planted in the backyard.   LOST - May 2023

54.  Our first Japanese Maple - a dwarf Tamukeyama Maple planted in the south backyard bed.  LOST - May 2023

55.  A large Weeping Nootka Falsecypress from Wannemaker's planted in the new bed on the northside. 

56.  A long-sought-after Emperor I Japanese Maple - our second Japanese Maple - that is now planted on the border near our new-to-be-created fire pit area in the backyard. 

57.  A Harvest Gold Hargozam Crabapple tree in our Belgian Fence (replacement)

58.  Another Harvest Gold Hargozam Crabpple tree in the middle of our Belgian Fence.

59.  A dwarf Japanese White Pine - Pinus Parviflora Nana (or perhaps something else).  LOST 2022.

60. and 61.  A pair of Malus 'Sutyzam' (Sugar Tyme) Crabapple trees on the southside of our house in pre-espalier form.

62.  A tiny, injured (cracked in half) Ginko tree that arrived via online nursery.  

63.  A short Chinquapin Oak tree from a fundraiser planted in our backyard. 

64.  A second, tiny Ginko tree - this was a replacement for #62 - planted 'ib2dw'.

65.  A small - and ALL Green - Pagoda Dogwood (Cornus alternifolia) planted in front of the back Yews.

66. 67. 68.  A trio of London Planetree 'Bloodgood' trees that are planted along the fence that I'm going to attempt to pleach.

2022 (9 planted and 6 alive):

69. 70. 71. 72. 73. 74. Six Green Giant Thujas trees planted as an upright evergreen layer in the backyard. Thuja standishii plicata. TWO LOST.  May 2023.

75. A small Saratoga Ginko tree planted in our front yard by the front walk.

76.  A London Planetree Exclamation planted in our parkway.  A bandit tree of sorts.  LOST in 2025.

77.  The largest tree - 3.5" caliper - we've ever planted. A Triumph Elm - Ulmus 'Morton Glossy' as a replacement for the large Norway Maple tree in our front yard. 

2023 (21 planted1 and 14 alive):

78. Small, Columnar Scotch Pine from Home Depot in early Spring 2023. Lost in October of 2023.
79 and 80. Dwarf "witches broom" Ginkgo trees - Spring Grove - planted on either side of our back stoop.
81. A (very small) Acer palmatum Emperor 1 Japanese Maple planted in the kitchen window bed by the row of Astilbes.
82. A low-grafted Waterfall Japanese Maple tree - Acer palmatum dissectum 'Waterfall'.
83. A small, but upright red lace-leaf Japanese Maple - Unknown variety planted amongst the hostas on the north side understory bed.  LOST - May 2024. 
84. The first of three trees from Mr. Maple - a one-gallon Acer palmatum 'Firefly' that is planted in the Understory garden in back.
85. The second of three trees from Mr. Maple - another one-gallon Japanese Maple: Acer palmatum 'First Ghost' back by the firepit.
86. The third tree from Mr. Maple - an upright green dissectum Japanese maple that I planted near the failing (in decline) Japanese Cherry Tree.
87. Silver Maple Volunteer Seedling in Kitchen Window Border, behind the Astilbes. REMOVED
88. A high-grafted (5#) Acer palmatum Inaba Shadire planted by the wine barrel water spitter in the backyard.
89. This two-year-old Northern Catalpa volunteer that is on the corner of our patio.
90 and 91: A pair of Kousa Dogwood Trees planted to espalier against garage sidewall.

92. A dwarf conifer tree: Baby Blue Spruce - planted IB2DWs near the sidewalk.
93. A Weeping Norway Spruce 'Pendula' planted IB2DWs - west of the Bald Cypress.
94. A second Weeping Norway Spruce - in my new "Conifer Garden". IB2DWs extended.
95. A narrow, upright conifer tree - Montrose Charm White Spruce in the 'Conifer Garden' IB2DWs.
96. The 2nd Baby Blue Spruce tree planted IB2DWs in the new 'Conifer Garden' closer to the Bald Cypress.
97. A 3rd Baby Blue Spruce tree planted in back by the Lindens - viewable from the Kitchen.
98. I'm calling it a tree (not a shrub) - a Royal Purple Smoke Tree planted IB2Dws.

2024 (5 planted and 5 alive):

99.  A third Emperor 1 Japanese Maple - from the Morton Arboretum Plant Sale.  Planted in the understory garden where a previous JM was pulled.  

100.  My Centennial Tree:  A Northern Glow Korean Maple tree.  Planted in a new island bed in our front yard.  My 11th Japanese Maple overall.  

101.  A dwarf Ginko - Spring Grove Ginkgo.  The third of these small trees, but the first in our front yard.  Planted in the Island Bed near the sidewalk.  

102.  A semi-dwarf, upright conifer: Oregon Green Austrian Pine.  Planted in the front yard - between the porch bed and the Saucer Magnolia - along the south property line.  Full Sun.

103.  A small, container-grown Skylands Oriental Spruce planted in the (expanded) front-yard Island Bed.  

2025 (4 planted and 4 alive):

104.   A small caliper Black Tupelo tree in the parkway.  Replaced lost London Planetree.

105, 106, 107.  Three small two-gallon Wichita Blue Juniper trees.  In the new bed west of the pizza oven.