I have a single 10ft tall conifer that I DON'T want to cut down, but would like to make more interesting.
Any suggestions ?
what about,
trimming up the bottom branches,
and building a seat around the trunk,
We did this, and it was a great place to have a cold beer on a hot summers day.
Decorate it with chinese lanterns like a Christmas tree? ;D
a colleague at work visited a garden where they'd pruned lots of tall conifers into 'clouds' of foliage at the top, with bare branches below... will ask her which garden and see if I can find a pic.
you could combine that with scotch-mist's idea and have a seat below the clouds ;D
Yes, topiary might be worth a go, depending on the species (some dont respond well to topiary style pruning).
Lifting the crown also sounds a good idea, if its got a single main trunk that is. Make sure you cut the branches off flush with the trunk and dont leave any nasty snags.
You could try to grow something through it... eg Scottish Flame flower or a climbing rose but they can be a b***er to get anything established by them
:-\
in one of the places we lived, hubby cut all the branches off two conifers which were too close the patio and grew climbing stuff up them - very attractive they were - added a lot of dimension to the garden.
(http://everythingandnothing.typepad.com/photos/uncategorized/topiary.jpg)
We had a conifer cut down last week, it was more than 30 years old, and was 10 ft once. At least now we have light.
Wait until the 5th November...................then burn the bugger, I hate them.
:D
I cut mine down years ago, neighbours couldn't believe the light that they had, it was free beers all week being passed over from both fences, if the thought of free beer doesn't get you to cut it down then your a very hard person. ;D ;D ;D