For shape, structure and height in your garden look no further than introducing conifers. The vast majority of conifers are evergreen and will provide a strong silhouette in your garden throughout the year. With a wide array of colours, shapes and sizes from ground covering and dwarf right up to very large trees it won’t be difficult to find a conifer to suit your particular requirements.
You will find conifers in an amazing range of colours from dark through to light greens to blue and grey, and bronze or purples – so a whole host of colours to enhance your garden. The foliage is also varied on different types of conifer for instance Chamaecyparis have flat almost fern-like foliage, Junipers have spiny needles and of course we all recognise the Pine needles from Christmas trees!
So starting at ground level, the prostrate or low growing conifers are ideal for softening the edges of a path or border, covering an unsightly feature like a tree stump or manhole cover and they also good for suppressing weeds. Some good examples would be Juniper communis ‘Green Carpet’, Juniper squamata ‘Blue Carpet’ or Juniper x media ‘Gold Coast’.
For your containers there are many choices of dwarf conifer which will create a permanent ‘structure’ which can then be planted up with different seasonal plants for added interest throughout the year.
The type of compost to use should contain some loam mixed in with it to give a good supply of nutrients. As with any plants in containers, watering is vitally important, but be careful not to overwater your conifer as it will suffer as much as with too little water.
To give some height in your container with an upright, slender shape try Cryptomeria japonica compressa or for a more classic conifer shape you could use Juniperuschinensis ‘pyramidalis’. Giving a bushier, fronded look try Chamaecyparis obtuse ‘tonia’ which is a beautiful bright green colour. A trip round the garden centre should give you lots of ideas and inspiration for using conifers in your pots, tubs and troughs.
Full size conifers as trees or hedging always make a bold statement, whether it’s an evergreen hedge on the perimeter of your garden, a specimen tree for year round colour or a group of different textured and coloured conifers growing together. With a seemingly endless choice of shapes and sizes, conifers make a striking low maintenance addition to the garden.
Is there a more versatile item for your garden, diverse shapes, numerous sizes, tall or small, diverse colours, soft or hard to the touch, easy on the eye, low maintenance, restrict weed growth, effective as a plant, tree or a hedge and not forgetting that the vast majority are evergreen to enliven your garden all year round.
