Sign up now for your FREE Newsletter. You will receive a Newsletter twice a month providing tips, techniques, and fun projects for your garden. Sign up now
Sign up now.
Do you think of evergreen trees and shrubs as dull green pyramids? I did, until I saw the steely
blue foliage and graceful silhouette of a weeping blue Atlas cedar. Since then, I've discovered that
evergreens, specifically conifers, come in a wide array of colors, shapes, and textures.
Best of all, many newer cultivars are bred to grow slowly, or to mature at heights that stay in
proportion to the average house and surrounding plants. And that means less pruning.
My two dozen conifers are the backbone of my 1-acre garden. No matter how big or small your yard is,
you'll find many beautiful, colorful evergreens to fit.
Color, Texture, Form
Which colors can you choose from? How about golds, blues, oranges, yellows, whites, silvers, grays, and, yes, greensfrom olive to chartreusesome with variegated needles or scales.
In spring, certain spruces and pines cast cones that are tinged pink, red, or purple. Other species change color when temperatures fall. "Many juniper groundcovers and some false cypresses take on a plum color that's triggered by cold," says Susan F. Martin, curator of the Conifer, Dogwood and Maple Collection of the U.S. National Arboretum, in Washington, D.C. And new growth contrasts brightly with mature foliage.
The foliage texture of conifers varies widely, too. You can choose ones that are curly ('Curly Tops' sawara cypress or 'Spiraliter Falcata' Japanese cedar) or lacy ('Linesville' eastern arborvitae); or those with billowy puffs of foliage ('Montgomery' Colorado spruce), bold spikes ('Thunderhead' Japanese black pine), bristly balls ('Witchs Brood' Norway spruce), or lava-like dimples ('Nana Gracilis' hinoki cypress).
And you'll find shapes sure to suit your style. Conifers can be globe-like or rounded ('Heatherbun' white cedar), pendulous or weeping ('Glauca Pendula' blue Atlas cedar), columnar or tapered ('Compressa' common juniper). Some are broadly upright ('Rheingold' eastern arborvitae); some are prostrate ('Cole's Prostrate' Canada hemlock); and some grow and spread horizontally ('Blue Star' singleseed juniper).
