Shrubs up nicely
EVERGREEN shrubs are sometimes the unsung heroes of the garden.
They hum along quietly in the background providing a backdrop to the all dancing bulbs, flowering shrubs and trees and herbaceous plants.
When everything else goes dormant in winter they become more noticeable and are appreciated for the steadfast work they do, providing structure and definition throughout the year.
Whenever I am planting up a garden, I make sure to include a good amount of reliable but also beautiful evergreen shrubs.
Their function can be varied from creating hedging and parterres to disguising or distracting from eyesores.
They can be chosen for beautifully scented flowers, colourful foliage or to introduce texture through leaf shapes. Here are some that I recommend...
Choisya ternata is the Mexican orange blossom with beautifully fragrant flowers which appear in late spring and again in autumn.
The glossy foliage looks good throughout the year and it is easy to grow on most soils in sun or shade. It rarely causes problems and responds well to pruning if required.
‘Sundance’ is the golden-leaved variety – a useful plant for lighting up dark areas or even as a focal point.
For smaller plots, or if you are gardening with pots, try the dwarf variety ‘White Dazzler’ which remains neat and compact without pruning.
Sarcococca or Sweet Box is one of my go-to plants for shady spots.
The leaves are dark and it can be a little gloomy on its own so I’d use it in mixed schemes along with limey green ferns and heucheras.
Its real joy lies in the long-lasting winter scent provided by the small white flowers – a blast of this perfume on a cold day is sure to lift your spirits!
Skimmia japonica is another excellent choice for shady areas. It has a pleasing dome-shaped dense habit with leathery leaves.
Male and female flowers are borne on separate plants so you need both sexes to get the lovely red fruits.
‘Fragrans’ is a male plant with lime green buds which open to panicles of scented white flowers in spring. The perfume’s a bit like lily of the valley.
Or you could choose the hermaphrodite reevesiana which has male and female flowers on the same plant so you don’t need a pollinating partner to get the red berries – a good choice if you’re growing
PLANT EVERGREEN SHRUBS FOR COLOUR AND TEXTURE TO LIFT YOUR WINTER GARDEN
pots and no room for several shrubs.
Viburnum davidii is so widely planted that its beauty can be overlooked.
It has deeply veined evergreen leaves and where several shrubs are gathered, they will produce vivid blue berries in winter.
I like its neat habit which forms a low wide-spreading mound and can be used as a groundcover. In smaller gardens, sometimes evergreens can seem too dense and it can feel as if they’re gobbling up all the light and space. A great solution to this is to raise their skirts – strip stems of their leaves, just leaving the upper growth.
I’ve just spent an enjoyable day doing just this to several griselinias on my boundary.
Planted 15 years ago, they are now the size of small trees but by cleaning the main stems, I have freed up quite a big space – and created room for some more plants!