Expert: Jim Hyland - 7/23/2010

Question
We have a flower bed in between our pool and back fence.   The bed is about 20 feet in length.  At it's widest point it is 5.5 feet.  As it moves to the other end of the bed it becomes more narrow, eventually reaching 3 ft wide.  We are in the Central Valley of California.  We plan to put a Fruitless Olive in the wider section.  We are thinking of putting three of one of the following in the more narrow section: Skyrocket Juniper, Tiny Towers Italian Cypress, or Swane's Golden Italian Cypress.  Any thoughts on these or other suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Answer
You should not have any problem with any of these. The Skyrocket will be the narrowest and the Golden Italian will be the widest. BUT these only vary from 1.5 feet-2 for the skyrocket and 2-3 feet for the golden  Italian with the Tiny tower being in the middle 1.5-3 feet. The roots should not be a problem . So it will depend on what you want to look at. I would go to   nursery that has all three and look at the trees and decide what one fits your needs.