canadensis 'Hussi') grows only two 

 inches a year — that these figures 

 seem more useful for landscapers 

 than final mature sizes. 



Weeping conifers include cuitivars 

 of Norway spruce, white pine, Scotch 

 pine, American arborvitae, hem- 

 lock... 



Some deciduous stock is grown as 

 well: the native Canoe Birch {Betula 

 papyrifera), the bark of which doesn't 

 turn white until the tree is about six 

 years old — "most nurserymen grow 

 ■White Spire,' which gets its white 

 trunk at an earlier age, but isn't as 

 hardy;" Katsura [Cercidipkyllum ja- 

 ponicum). with its foliage scent after 

 frost reminiscent of cotton candy... 



Weeping deciduous varieties in- 

 clude a Weeping Birch (B. pendula 

 'Youngii') Camperdown Elm (U/mus 

 glabra 'Camperdowni')--which is 

 Scotch Elm grafted onto American 

 Elm stock, and two varieties of 

 Weeping Siberian Pea [Caragana 

 arborescens 'Pendula'l, one ("Pendula 

 Walker'l a threadleaf. 



EQUIPMENT is a major investment 

 ("good equipment saves money") 

 and includes a Knuckleboom loader 

 (with two hydraulic extensions); a 

 Skidsteer Loader, a crawler excava- 

 tor, a tree spade ("anyone digging 

 large trees by hand is not doing it 

 efficiently"), a Kinkelder cultivator: 

 made in Denmark, it has "vibratine 

 teeth" (basically, each tooth is actu- 

 ally the end of a coiled spring fas- 

 tened to the frame; the frame can 

 be adjusted with a hand crank to 

 any width from five to eight feet. 

 His tractor is a four-wheel drive 

 25-hp Pasquali — articulated-with a 

 pivot point at its center — for greater 

 maneuverability. 



Some of the best equipment is of 

 his own invention: a scout leep has 

 metal frames welded both over the 

 hood and behind the seat; a 7x5' 

 piece of plywood fits into each. The 

 scout — moveable, with these two 

 large flat surfaces — is used for as- 

 sembling orders and hauling (the 

 frames have lips so plants don't 

 slide). It works well. 



Koelb also landscapes ("most 

 landscapers use a surprisingly lim- 

 ited pallet; I try to give more choice") 



— mostly for summer people in the 

 Waterville Valley and Lakes areas 

 He works up designs from polaroids 

 taken at preliminary visits. Cur- 

 rently, one of his more unusual de- 

 signs (for a local Mexican restaurant) 

 includes two Snake Spruce IPicea 

 abies vergata) and cold-hardy opuntia 

 cacti. His trademark is his familiar- 

 ity with and use of these more un- 

 usual conifers ("Bristlecone Pine — 

 Pinus aristata not a bad foundation 

 plant because it's so slow-grow- 

 ing"); but he works within the natu- 

 ral landscape ("usually a lot of 

 rock"), trying "to compliment the 

 area with something that isn't going 

 to throttle the customer with main- 

 tenance." Customers come to the 

 nursery and choose the material — 

 often the specific tree — they want 

 in their personal landscapes. 



Advertising is word of mouth. He 

 guarantees "plants I install if pay- 

 ments are adhered to" 



In winter he runs a ski area on 

 Campton Mountain for a private 

 community in Waterville Valley. 

 The area is small (about 800 feet 

 vertical drop), but its serious: a 

 double chair lift, a rope tow, 

 six downhill trails ("one challeng- 

 ing"), cross-country skiing — but 

 there's no snow-making, so snow 

 is important. 



HIS HOME is on a rise overlooking 

 16 acres of pasture where his beef 

 cattle graze; beyond that is the road, 

 then the nursery, the river, the ridge 

 line. . beside his house, on a rocky 

 hillside, he's built a garden that's 

 both pleasure and a place to learn 

 about the plants he offers. He's 

 found that A&ies concolor 'Candicans' 



(Candicans Concolor 

 Fir) grows well on this high spot, 

 far better than in the nursery below. 

 ("Late frosts in the valley seem to 

 kill the early growth--the trees hang 

 on, but never prosper") The three 

 Mugo Pine in the garden are two 

 feet across; some in the nursery are 

 three times the size. He's sur- 

 prised — all were started from seed 

 ("the best are from seed") at the 

 same time — and sees the difference 

 in size as "the surprising amount of 

 genetic variation." 



Other surprises? Yes — two fine 

 Weeping Coast Cedars IChamaecyparis 

 noolkatensis Pendula) — zone 6 or 7 

 trees — are thriving — and should not 

 be; and a threadleaf Japanese Maple 

 survives — at least the portion that's 

 covered by snow. 



The garden includes ground cov- 

 ers and opuntia. but it's mostly 

 trees — an exceptional Larix eurolepis 

 'Varied Directions' — 18 feet wide — is 

 genuinely spectacular. 



RIGHT NOW, dwarf conifers and 

 weeping species are in fashion — gar- 

 den centers around the state have 

 seen increased interest in both. But 

 after the fads have receded, the 

 once-fashionable material can be 

 seen for its genuine merit. And there 

 would seem to be no better place to 

 do this than here in this northern 

 valley insulated by distance and 

 snow (B.P.) 



Palmer Koelb and the Baker Valley 

 Nursery is at PC Box 158, Route 25, 

 in VJentwortk. New Hampshire 03282. 

 The phone number is 603-764-9993. 



OCTOBER /NOVEMBER 1994 



