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Top evergreens for your winter landscape

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GoldenPinelandscape269x178In a climate where the winter months span almost half the calendar, it’s surprising that we design our gardens for summer and pay little attention to how they look during the longest season of the year.

In the summer, it’s easy to fill a bare spot with a new plant from the nursery. That’s not so easy when the ground is frozen and the garden centres are closed. So, during the planting season we have to rely on our imaginations to remind us of how the garden looks in winter. And if your memory is anything like mine, that’s a major feat.

So, when you finish reading this column, grab your camera and take some shots of your yard. Then, take a good look at the evergreens that stand out in the photos (if there are any) and ask yourself if they add beauty to the landscape. For instance, do they have good colour or an elegant shape? If the answer is no, then here are some evergreens that look stunning in the winter garden – come spring, head for the nurseries and pick out a lovely specimen or two to liven up your winter landscape. One of the best sources in Southern Ontario is Whistling Gardens. You can download the catalogue here.

Colourful conifers

It’s easy to fall in love with blue evergreen trees, and the one most of us bring home from the nurseries is the Colorado blue spruce. Apart from quickly growing as tall as a house, the blue spruce has a dense, symmetrical form that makes it look downright uncomfortable in a small city yard. Instead of growing this uptight tree, try a white fir (Abies concolor). Although it can grow as tall – and nearly as wide – as a blue spruce, it has a lot more going for it. Its open, airy appearance makes it fit into its surroundings much more naturally than the spruce, it’s drought tolerant and stands up to city conditions, and oh, wait till you see those lovely burgundy-coloured cones. Another blue beauty is the Atlas cedar (Cedrus atlantica ‘Glauca’), which comes in a weeping form (‘Glauca Pendula’) and can be trained into a spiral or espaliered flat against a wall. In a protected spot (it’s barely hardy to Zone 6) it’ll do well in a city garden

At the opposite end of the colour spectrum is yellow. Golden evergreens really stand out in both the winter and summer landscapes. Look for ‘Fernspray’ gold cypress (Chamaecyparis obtusa ‘Fernspray Gold’), which reaches a scant two metres with bright yellow, ferny foliage, or the slightly taller golden threadleaf false cypress (Chamaecyparis pisifera ‘Filifera Aurea’). The ‘Golden Globe’ cedar (Thuja occidentalis ‘Golden Globe’) also features bright yellow foliage and grows only a metre tall – just enough to peak over the snowdrifts! Hard to resist are three others: ‘Sudsworthii’ white cedar (Thuja occidentalis ‘Sudsworthii’); golden mugo pine ((Pinus mugo ‘Aurea Fastigiata’) and a golden Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris Aurea Group).

There aren’t many variegated evergreens, so the dragon’s eye pine (Pinus ‘Oculus-draconis’) is so unusual, it’s bound to attract comment. The long green needles are striped with white, making it a standout in the snow.

Shapely evergreens

Evergreens grow in all shapes and sizes, and some are shapelier than others. The dancing form of the Nootka false cypress (Chamaecyparis nootkatensis ‘Pendula’) can’t help but put a smile on your face. Its evergreen foliage hangs gracefully from outstretched branches, making it the Fred Astair of evergreens! There’s also a weeping white pine (Pinus strobus ‘Pendula’) that undulates through the landscape. Another evergreen with a hard-to-resist form is Sargent’s weeping Canadian hemlock (Tsuga canadensis var. ‘Sargentii’), which grows to about two metres. Upright evergreens that fit into tight spaces are always welcome in small city gardens, and one of my favourites is Degroot’s Spire (Thuja occidentalis ‘Degroot’s Spire’). Only 50 centimetres wide and about three metres tall, this columnar cedar makes its mark on the winter landscape.

 

 

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