Thuja plicata perhaps.

tj

Okay, thanks tsugajunkie, hope I can keep it in its present shape, that was one of the main reasons I bought it.

Thuja plicata typically has flat sprays of foliage rather than the ropey ones indicated by the fotos. And it is hardly ever shrubby in form, usually with a clear, defined single trunk. Also will not be a happy camper in Texas -- not sure many, if any, are sold there.

It looks much more juniper-like to me. Perhaps Juniperus ashei, which is a Texas native and quite shrubby in form. Possibly even some sort of Chamaecyparis, as they often have foliage of similar appearance and come in a very wide range of growth habits and shapes.

But I'm leaning heavily towards a juniper :-)

stick your head in there.. and see how it has been pruned previously .... regardless if it is either of the above suggestions ... it is a normally HUGE conifer ... it has been TRAINED to this form.. and if you like the form.. you will have to prune it once a year or so.. to maintain its bizarre form ...

there is a conifer forum .. and it is definitely a conifer .... not all those peeps come over here.. so a post over there might get you a real ID ..

good luck

ken

Thanks gardengal, I love junipers (there's a parsoni planted a few feet away from this one, and a blue point out front).

Ken, it doesn't look like it's been pruned, I was thinking it just grew into this odd shape because it was jammed in among some trees the nursery seemed to have given up on and and was just struggling for sunlight. I'll give it a closer look and see if I can tell if it's ever been pruned. I'll post it on the Conifer forum also to see if anyone there knows what it is. It seems to be liking where it is now, but it hasn't gotten a good dose of the blazing Texas summer sun yet. ;o

it is a normally HUGE conifer ... it has been TRAINED to this form..

This does not necessarily track :-) Not all conifers will become huge and it has not necessarily been trained in this form. Many conifers have very shrubby growth habits with multiple stems/trunks emerging from the growth point and will retain that shrubby growth habit all their lives with minimal intervention from the gardener. There are countless species of juniper that follow this pattern, which is why, in addition to the foliage characteristics, this looks more like a juniper than anything else.