Our local nursery has a bunch of Monterey Cypress trees in pots, the smallest about 1 to 2-feet tall, the largest, about 3 feet. At this stage of their development they look like perfect garden railroad trees, conical and perfectly scaled. But my wife who read the label said that they get really big, too big for train trees. Or not? Your thoughts, opinions, sage advice?
How that tree looks–finally!
You can always keep it trimmed back. Planting it while it’s still in a pot will keep it from Getting too big too.
Personally I’d go for something else for the garden RR. A tree that gets 50-60 foot high and and supposedly grows 36 inches a year would look better out in the yard.
There’s plenty of dwarf and miniature stuff out there that looks good on the layout.
They get pretty big, too, Steve. I have a couple of them.
Yeah, probably not the best suggestion I’ve ever made, but keep them in a pot, and root trim them each year… Oh you’re looking for plug and play? 
There’s an outfit out of Oregon, near Portland, called Miniforest. http://miniforest.com. They are even garden railroaders. I highly recommend them.
Steve Featherkile said:
There’s an outfit out of Oregon, near Portland, called Miniforest. http://miniforest.com. They are even garden railroaders. I highly recommend them.
Good stuff. I’ve bought a bunch of plants from them.
About other plants… I bury the pots so I don’t have to worry about watering them very often. I trim the roots every year or two. I trim the new growth in Spring for sure, thru the Summer as needed. I have A Chinese Elm 20 years old or more that is less than 6" high.
John, maybe this could work. I really shouldn’t do this, as I have no layout. But that tree is calling to me, just like a tree I bought several years ago which just languished until my wife made me throw it out. The Cypress would need to be trimmed–around the base so it had a visible trunk, and near the top. If the price is reasonable (“right” is not an operative word in this case, as this is a boutique nursery, not Home Depot). I’ll try to post a pix. Or maybe not.
Need a little help!
To me, that’s more of a specimen type tree, one that you would plant in a prominent position out in the yard, or as an anchor in a flower bed. It would need plenty of room, too.
Unless they mark it down after the holidays, I ain’t buyin’ at $17.50 for a 1-footer. Looks cute, though.