which centrepiece tree for conifer garden and how to restrict height of large trees bought small

Hi everyone. As shown in the uploaded photos, I have a terraced garden separated by paths and walls into four small gardens plus borders. Each garden has a young Coral bark maple at the centre and is surrounded by 5 Cupressus Goldcrest 3-4 feet tall. The conifers lining the steps each side are Thuja smaragd, about 6 feet tall.
I'll be adding dwarf conifers, mounded or pyramidal or ground hugging to each garden. The maples are not really suitable as centrepieces, because they don't stand out enough. I'd like to replace them but I don't know with what, except that it can be either evergreen or deciduous and must be eye catching.
I've looked at purple Norwegian maple, copper beech, Cryptomeria japonica elegans, blue Picea( perhaps too slow growing), columnar Yew, red or purple Japanese maple bought large size. I just wondered if anyone had any suggestions.
Also, some of the trees just mentioned grow enormously big if allowed to, so I have a question about whether such trees planted as saplings can be kept under control with regard to height and girth. Copper beech, for instance, or Norway maple, perhaps Acer platanoides 'crimson sentry'.
I'd aim for a height of about ten feet, I suppose, so that they would dominate the Thuja. The soil, by the way, is neutral soil barrowed in and placed on top of heavy clay.
Thanks in advance, Laurence .

 

Crikey @laurence peddle , what a fantastic job you have done there - outstanding, well done.
Whatever else you decide to plant, it needs to have red/purple foliage. Have you looked at the purple leaf plum? If you need to keep a check on height, maybe you could find a berberis to fit the bill. I have a fair few large trees on my patch, and have them pollarded from time to time - they always grow back well.

Berberis Hellmund pillar, Orange rocket, Atropurpurea pink queen.
Persicaria Red dragon.
Imperata Red Baron. ......would all be musts for me !

 

Taxus Standishii for me.......beautiful unique columns.
Laurence consider juniperus Sulphur Spray......no other conifers have such silver/blue/grey foliage. Taxus Coppershine is an amazing gold conifer....green and white leaves in winter, copper orange in May and butter yellow through to early winter.
How about eucalyptus Gunnii? Blue foliage esp if pruned back every year. "Eye catching"? Plant with a purple berberis, cotinus Royal Purple or berberis Helmond Pillar or physocarpus diablo for superb contrast. Or with Sambucas Sutherland Gold or philadelphus Aureus

 

Oh yes ! I forgot the Physocarpus diablo and Cotinus

 

Hi Tetters, Thanks for the list; and for the compliment. I should point out that the woodland backdrop is not part of the garden. It's taken 3 years to get this far, but it's been worth it.
The plants on your list all look promising as purple plants for the garden. I looked at Prunus royal burgundy as a centerpiece tree to replace the Acer, but it grows to several metres high and wide. The four individual gardens are only about 5 metres square. My concern is with whether I could restrict their growth to about 3 metres high and a metre or two wide. From what I've read, pruning would not work, apart from root pruning, which I've never attempted. That leaves root restriction, perhaps by planting the Prunus in a pot in the ground.
Better, perhaps, to find something easier to control, perhaps a fastigiate or columnar tree. Thanks again.

 

I'd go for Arbutus unedo rubra. Evergreen, pink flowers and / or red fruits, sometimes all together. Attractive bark as well. It looks good all year round and can be pruned to keep it within bounds. You don't mention whereabouts in the UK you are but it's only requirement seems to be shelter from howling winds It grew well on Northants clay!
Arbutus unedo f. rubra | pink strawberry tree/RHS Gardening

 

Hi Verdun. Thanks for that. I've Googled your recommended plants. Not sure whether you are suggesting them as centrepiece plants to replace the Acer. Perhaps not, because, for instance, Taxus standishii grows to only 1.5 metres, whereas the centrepiece should be about 3 metres, I think.
On the other hand, I did consider both the Cotinus and the Eucalyptus as possible centrepieces. My problem, really, is that I know hardly anything about how to restrict the growth of trees that are suitable as centrepieces apart from their maximum size. There must be trees that are suitable and need only minimal pruning. One that I looked at is Acewr platanoides 'crimson sentry'. But even here I'd have to prune it to keep it within bounds.
Let me ask a simple question and see if it can be answered: Prunus 'Royal Burgundy' is a lovely tree that would be ideal as a centrepiece apart from its size. Is there any way I can keep it to within about 3 meters high and 1.5 metres wide? If not, are there purple/red foliage trees, perhaps columnar or fastigiate, that would need minimal pruning, because they are naturally small or easily kept in check? Thanks again, Laurence

 

For those really small areas where a tree form is desired but space is very limited, often, it is not a tree you are after but a shrub that has been grafted on top of another plant. We call these top grafted trees and they come in many varieties. Some of the more popular varieties are Dwarf Korean and Miss Kim lilac, Weeping Caragana and Walker Weeping Caragana, Double Flowering Plum and Purple Leaf Sand Cherry. Ask your local garden center professional about mature sizes as these are two plants growing together. Another way of achieving the same look is by buying shrubs that have been turned into a tree by training only one stem and removing the rest. Varieties such as Coppertina and Diabolo Ninebark, Limelight Hydrangea, Nanking Cherry, Northern Gold Forsythia, Ivory Halo Dogwood and a number of lilacs such as Charles Joly, Madame Lemoine, Sensation, Royalty, Donald Wyman and James McFarlane.



I came across this, and wondered if it would be any help...

 

My Standishii are about 12' Laurence. Not too slow growing either.
Royal Burgundy is vigorous and not sure it would respond well to pruning. Of course both cotinus and eucalyptus respond well to cutting back. A small cherry that I grow for its purple foliage and delightful pink/white flowers is Prunus Cistena Crimson Dwarf.
Very informative Tetters.....impressive info.

 

Hi Noisett47, Thanks for that. Yes, I like the look of the Arbutus. I wish I has a bigger garden, and then I could buy all these wonderful trees and shrubs. I say shrubs because reading the other posts in this thread, I realise that centrepiece shrubs are also a possibility. Thanks again

 

Hi tetters. Thanks for all the info and for introducing me to the world of one plant on top of another. I'm looking into the plants you listed. The photo you uploaded: Google's best guess is that it's purple spire crab apple. Well worth chasing up.Whatever I buy, I think it's best if I keep it, or the four of them, in containers, and the coral bark maple in the ground, to see what happens by next year. Perhaps the maple will have grown to look more imposing by then. Thanks again for all your help.

 

It was thinking back about the collection of Fuchsias I took care of in the distant past that made me think about making ''standards'' and I actually managed to produce a fair few strong growing ''big boys'' to tower over the ones at a lower level. Afraid I never managed to get one of those to 3 metres though.

 

Hi Verdun. Thanks for the further info. The RHS site gives the standishii as 1 to 1.5 metres tall. But then, one thing I've noted over and over again when consulting different nurseries about the same plant is that their descriptions conflict. Not only with regard to maximum height or spread but in other ways. It's amusing at first, and then it's frustrating, because of all the confusion. I like the look of Prunus cistena crimson dwarf.
But still, trying to choose a centrepiece tree or shrub is, I find, quite stressful; in fact, there are other ways, too, in which I get stressed about the garden, or have done with this garden over the last three years. Not that it hasn't been worth it.
But I need a break, so I'll be going down the Gower today and coming back Monday. I just hope I don't see any gardens down there, or, ideally, any plants at all. There's a cave down there called Paviland Cave, where the remains of a young man, known as the Red Lady of Paviland, were discovered in the nineteenth century. The bones turned out the be 34000 years old, which is the age that my own bones are feeling at the moment. I've told my partner that I intend to spend the night there, in order to achieve a sense of proportion about centrepieces by communing with the dead. She's pointed out, however, that even here in the bungalow I suffer from night terrors, let alone in a creepy cave with the sea at the door. So she doesn't take me seriously, and she's probably right. Just to make sure, she told me yesterday that caves have spiders in them. So that's the end of that.
Thanks again for all your help.

 

I will try and post a photo laurence of one of my Standishii.....I have 3; one original and 2 from cuttings but all 12' or so

 

Hi Verdun, Ok, that'll be good. Thanks again. Too many plants in the Gower, so we came back today.