Evergreens for year-round interest
Winter weather may keep gardeners indoors, but it doesn’t stop them from planning the view from their windows.
Evergreens take center stage in the winter garden. They provide form to the landscape with their range of shapes — conical, columnar, spreading, weeping or mounding. They can be used as single specimens to anchor a mixed border, grouped as a hedge or planted in drifts mixed with other shrubs to create a relatively low-maintenance planting. Plant breeders have introduced selections with colors ranging from silvery blue-green to glowing chartreuse to very dark green.
The keys when choosing any plant are to determine if it is hardy to our region, USDA Zone 6, if it thrives in the soil and sun exposure where you intend to plant, and in the case of trees and shrubs, its ultimate size. The last is probably the most important. Evergreens available at nurseries range from the largest trees in the forest to diminutive specimens that can spend their entire lives in a trough or planter.
Here are three excellent and unusual evergreens that will add many years of interest to your garden without overwhelming surrounding plants:
• Japanese plum yew ( Cephalotaxus harringtonia ‘Prostrata’) looks similar to other yews but has slightly broader and thicker deep green needles. Recommended for USDA zones 6-9, this species has survived in SEE WINTER, PAGE G-2