Name this plant/suggest similar ones

October 18, 2009 2:00 PM

What kind of tree/plant is this?

Someone dug out and stole this little tree from in front of my building. I'd like to replace it with the same or something similar.

Any ideas on what it is?

Any ideas on other plants that don't take up too much space (probably about a 2ft radius for the plant), survive year-round in NYC, in partial shade, and are generally safe for dogs (i.e. no poisonous berries)?

Thanks!

posted by melissasaurus to home & garden (7 comments total)

Looks like a Juniper to me. If you get another, make sure it's a dwarf variety. "Blue Star" is nice and very slow growing.
posted by Solomon at 2:07 PM on October 18

It does look like a juniper; another similar plant would be a Chamaecyparis (or false cypress).
posted by acrasis at 2:11 PM on October 18

yep, I would say juniper as well....
posted by HuronBob at 2:31 PM on October 18

Nthing juniper. Probably a dwarf variety, as Solomon recommends. On the flip side, juniper berries aren't great dog food, but you'll need a fairly mature shrub to produce them.
posted by Emperor SnooKloze at 2:54 PM on October 18

Could be arborvitae.
posted by found missing at 3:18 PM on October 18

Looks like a cedar tree to me. They sprout up all over here in the midwest.
posted by stubborn at 3:31 PM on October 18

It's not a dwarf juniper, you can see the amount of elongation in the growing season by the appressed needles on the terminals; it looks like it grew quite a few inches in a season. I agree with the juniper, it looks like eastern redcedar, Juniperus virginiana, but it could be something different; that's a small, blurry photo.
posted by Red Loop at 3:48 PM on October 18