Groundhugging shrubs.

[Spiegel]

Siskiyou Nursery, when it was run by Baldassare Mineo, carried several of these Ulmus parvifolias, from the tiny to the one I bought, which was supposed to be 7' after 10 years.  I bought three and planted them, not knowing if they would be hardy.  I'll try and find the pictures.  They turned out to be irresistable to the antlered rats and two of them are bonsais as a result.  They are the two planted farthest from the house.  The one in a raised bed right next to the house is a nice size now and apparently hardy.  It took the deer some years to start in on it and they changed the shape forever.  It's probably 8' or 9' now.  The one drawback to this lovely thing is that the density of the branches makes it very susceptible to damage from late ice storms.

[cohan]

7-10' is a very appealing size for 'trees' to me... do these ever make seed, Anne? Are they mutations of a larger species, or is this a naturally small species?

[Spiegel]

Cohan, I used to save old nursery catalogs and then ran out of room and tossed all but the most current.  I recall that Ulmus parvifolia 'Seiju' was one of the ones offered but I seem to remember that it was a very small one.  I thought that the one I bought was naturally small, but who knows?  Phyllis Gustafson might remember because she may ahve been working at Siskiyou at the time.  The attached pictures show the three trees I planted.  First is a "bonsai" farthest from the house.  Next one is a little closer, and the last is the one the deer left alone for some years.  They trimmed off all the bottom branches and an ice storm late winter 2010 broke off most of the top half of the tree.

[Spiegel]

Sorry, picture #1 didn't make it.  Attached is picture of "deer bonsai" planted farthest from the house.  All three were planted in exactly the same soil and at the same time and size.  Who would believe the results?  (Anyone living in proximity to antlered rats would!)

[cohan]

Wow! I like them all, the shape of the biggest is lovely, but the smaller ones look great  too, and the stature would be great in certain plantings..

As for antlered rats, I don't think we have anything like your issues, but deer and moose keep many things pruned around here--Sorbus/Mountain Ash is a challenge here, and note my comments in my Salix thread!

[Lori S.]

The one I showed, U. parvifolia 'Davidii' is said on the Wrightman's site to get to 40cm.

[Spiegel]

Lori, as you can see from the pictures, Ulmus parvifolia is a good candidate for bonsai.  Plant the one that's supposed to be a small tree and I will give you some of my antlered rats to do the job for you

[Lori S.]

Anne, sounds like you (and most of the rest of developed North America) could use some predators!
 
Well, the way I've grown U. parvifolia 'Davidii' to date - that is, as an annual - it will certainly never outgrow its trough! 

[Spiegel]

Lori, the other night I drove up my driveway and a herd of 22 deer scattered.  They move too fast to count beyond 22.  These kinds of numbers are beyond mere challenges.  We desperately need wolves and mountain lions.

[Lori S.]

Good grief, with a deer population like that, how do you keep your beautiful yard from being eaten down to the nub?!?     Is it fenced?

Here's another shrub that's suitable for the rock garden (mine is ~15cm; it's said to get to 30cm on one site I saw)... again, not exactly groundhugging - Spiraea decumbens:
 

[Hoy]

Spirea decumbens is a new acquaintance for me, Lori! All spireas I know of are big or very big, often untidy shrubs. This certainly is something to plant. When does it flower?

[Spiegel]

Good grief, with a deer population like that, how do you keep your beautiful yard from being eaten down to the nub?!?     Is it fenced

Good grief, with a deer population like that, how do you keep your beautiful yard from being eaten down to the nub?!?     Is it fenced?

Here's another shrub that's suitable for the rock garden (mine is ~15cm; it's said to get to 30cm on one site I saw)... again, not exactly groundhugging - Spiraea decumbens:

 

No, it isn't fenced because we live on rock.  I would need to win the lottery to afford the fencing needed.  The new water garden is fenced with 8' high wire mesh.  It's located at the bottom of the property where there's soil and fencing was a possibility.  One of the prettiest sights for me is to look through the fence and see all that expanse of snow without hoof prints!  The rest of the garden is a war zone between me and the deer.  They have taught me that penstemons and daphnes (and occasionally Lewisia tweedyi) can be eaten to the nub and come back.  The shrubby penstemons literally become bonsaied and bloom like crazy - ditto the daphnes.

[Lori S.]

The shrubby penstemons literally become bonsaied and bloom like crazy - ditto the daphnes.

Well, I guess that's a bit of a silver lining!

Trond, S. decumbens blooms in June-July here, much the same as the bigger spiraeas in our short season.

[McDonough]

Just came across a nice looking low-growing Lonicera (decumbent stems) while combing through the pages of Plantarium Russia (a site for the vascular plants of Russia and neighboring countries). 

Lonicera alberti
Kazakhstan, mountain-steppe zone between Terskey Alatau Mts. Ketmen, ca. 2000 m.
http://www.plantarium.ru/page/image/id/78333.html

[cohan]

That's a cool one for sure!