Mixtures of deciduous trees and shrubs and conifers could also be used in this manner. It is proposed now to consider the various uses of conifers with particular emphasis on the smaller garden (up to J an acre [.205 hectare] in extent), for very few of today's garden owners have space to plant extensive arboreta or pineta. Conifers are predominately informal in appearance and very few lend themselves to a formal setting. Notable exceptions are the column-forming cultivars. The Irish yew, Taxus baccata 'Fastigiata', is a good example of this category, and here also must be included conifers which have been clipped into formal hedge form. Great care should be taken to keep natural plantings of conifers well away from areas of the garden devoted to formal bedding schemes, hybrid roses (wild roses associate extremely well), dahlias and similar plantings. Dwarf and Slow-growing Conifers At a time when nurserymen's catalogues are being drastically reduced in content, the gardener will still find a great wealth of dwarf and slow-growing conifers available. This is a popular and exciting group of conifers which are ideally suited to smaller gardens. The numbers of really dwarf conifers which are available, however -forms attaining a maximum of 2ft(6ocm) or so after many years-are very few. It is intended to include those conifers which can be described as slow-growing (ultimate height 6ft[2m]) to the list, thus providing a really wide choice for use in our gardens. It is important to remember that a species or cultivar may well have taken as much as 50 years to attain 6ft(2m)-a very long time, even in gardening where patience and foresight is all-important. Most dwarf conifers are the results of selection by observant enthusiasts, either as seedling mutations or from sports of species or existing cultivars. Others are true species or variations from mountainous areas which have adapted naturally to an alpine environment. Many dwarf conifer enthusiasts practise a little careful pruning. This is quite admissible, and, in many cases, necessary, provided that skill and great care is taken in carrying it out. The aim is to remove rank growth which appears occasionally-in a few cultivars far too frequently-and maintain the dwarf character for many more years. The operation should consist of stopping and pinching out odd growths and definitely not be an overall shearing. The uses of dwarf and slow-growing conifers are numerous. First and foremost they have, quite rightly, a great appeal to the alpine gardener. Planted in limited numbers as feature shrubs in the rock garden they add interest at all seasons. Here, as with the planting of all conifers, very careful consideration must be given to the ultimate height and spread, for scale is all-important in the rock garden. Ultimate development must be limited to the size of area. Luckily, the numbers of dwarf conifers available with an ultimate height of 6in(i5cm) to 6ft(2m) are legion.