conifers...
Conifers are a wonderful way of adding colour and shape to your garden - and because the vast majorities are evergreen, the effect will last the whole year! But what many don't realise is that there is an amazing choice of different shades, shapes and sizes ranging from tiny dwarfs to magnificent trees. There are varieties at Plantation to suit almost every garden situation.
As long as you have chosen the right site, most conifers are easy to look after, requiring only a little pruning and watering. They are generally pretty disease resistant and just need a little loving care during really cold spells.
Columnar - tall and narrow, cylindrical
These are great used in a shrub border to give extra height, at the end of a vista or as a feature set in the lawn.
Examples include:
- Juniperus scopulorum ' Skyrocket'
- Taxus baccata 'Fastigiata Aureomarginata'
Pyramidal - pyramid shape, narrow at the top, wide at the bottom
These can make a stunning feature in the middle of a large lawn, or they can be used to hide unsightly features.
Examples include:
- Picea albertiana 'Conica'
- Thuja occidentalis 'Yellow Ribbon'
- Chamaecyparis lawsoniana 'Yvonne'
Globose - spherical, bun shaped
These conifers look amazing as punctuation points at the apex of a border, on either side of entrances, or giving strong shape in a border of daintier perennials.
Examples include:
- Chamaecyparis lawsoniana ' Minima Glauca'
- Thuja occidentalis 'Danica'
- Chamaecyparis pisifera 'Sungold'
Prostrates - low and sprawling
These are perfect for softening the edges of borders or paths, cascading over low walls or at the edge of steps. Also use them to cover manholes, old tree stumps or even the edge of your pond liner. Good weed-suppressers.
Examples include:
- Juniperus squamata 'Blue Carpet'
- Juniperus x media 'Carbery Gold'
- Juniperus communis 'Green Carpet'
- Juniperus conferta
Dwarfs - tiny conifers which reach a height of three feet at most
These are brilliant in containers and rockeries and provide year-round interest.
Examples include:
- Chamaecyparis lawsoniana 'Minima Aurea'
- Chamaecyparis lawsoniana 'Gnome'
- Juniperus communis 'Compressa'
- Picea abies 'Little Gem'
Container Growing
They may not seem the obvious choice but dwarf conifers live happily alongside other plants in containers, or by themselves as specimens. They are a particularly good idea for year round colour on patios and useful with winter and early spring flowerers, which can then be swapped for summer annuals. Try experimenting with shapes for example a prostrate conifer with some taller bulbs or a small pyramidal conifer with something more 'relaxed'.
Examples include:
- Picea glauca 'Alberta Globe'
- Chamaecyparis lawsoniana 'Ellwood's Gold'
- Juniperus communis 'Compressa'
- Chamaecyparis lawsoniana 'Springtime'
- Chamaecyparis lawsoniana 'Snow White'
- Chamaecyparis lawsoniana 'Ellwood's Pillar'
Interesting colour
Apart from the whole palette of different blues, greens, gold's, greys and bronzes which conifers include, there are some which change colour as the year goes on.
Examples include:
- Picea pungens 'Hoopsii'
- Thuja occidentalis 'Rheingold'
- Cryptomeria japonica 'Elegans'
- Juniperus squamata 'Holger'
- Pinus mugo 'Ophir'
Rockery and water features
Conifers are excellent planted by water features as the strong shapes of their foliage make wonderful reflections in the water and they don't lose their leaves into it! Use prostrate varieties to cover up the edges of your pond liner. In the rockery dwarf and prostrate conifers both have a place, particularly as they provide good weed cover and have so many varieties of shape and colour.
Examples for ponds include:
Thuja orientalis 'Aurea Nana'
Juniperus x media pfitzeriana 'Aurea'
Examples for rockeries include:
- Juniperus x media 'Gold Coast'
- Thuja orientalis 'Aurea Nana'
- Juniperus horizontalis 'Golden Carpet'
- Juniperus squamata 'Blue Star'
- Chamaecyparis lawsoniana 'Pygmaea Argentea'
Screening and hedging
Conifers are a popular choice for hiding an ugly feature such as an oil tank or a garage, not least because they will do the job the whole year round. They also make good hedges and some types can even be clipped into topiary shapes given time.
Examples include:
- Thuja plicata
- X Cupressocyparis 'Leylandii'
- X Cupressocyparis 'Castlewellan'
- Taxus baccata
- Chamaecyparis 'Lawson Cypress'
- Cupressus 'Cypress'
