Spruce up your landscape with evergreens

By Bev Johnson | The Daily Journal

Published Saturday, March 1, 2008

Nancy Rose, Horticulturist with the University of Minnesota Extension, wants us to be aware of how evergreens can spark up your winter landscape. Here are her suggestions.

• Pines — There are quite a few to pick from in this family. Red, Norway, Scots, Korean, Swiss stone and Ponderosa.

They all start out cone-shaped. The white pine will develop horizontal layered branches.

The Scots pine has interesting cinnamon-orange bark. They all have long needles.

• Firs are short needled. They, too, are cone-shaped. They are less stiff than the spruce, more graceful but fussy. They want a cool, moist place to grow.

• Spruce make great windbreaks because of their dense conical shape.

They have very short needles with very sharp tips. These last two trees are what we think of when we think of Christmas trees. White and Black Hills Spruce are very hardy and will live in most any soil type. Norway Spruce is droopier and has large pendant cones. Colorado Spruce are no longer recommended for here as they are quite disease-prone. Too bad, as the blue variety is quite beautiful.

• Another needled evergreen is the Canadian Hemlock. This is a graceful pyramidal tree, but quite tall, 30 to 50 feet. It is a bit fussy, too. It needs a moist soil and protection from winter winds — a problem with its height.

• Arborvitae, (rhymes with nighty), has scales rather than needles. They come in many shapes — globe, pyramidal and hairy telephone poles, otherwise known as spire. They can be sheared to shape and are often used as hedges. Junipers are another evergreen that doesn’t have needles.

They come in many shapes and colors. The eastern red cedar is a tall tree. Blue rug juniper lays flat and is a great ground cover.

There are many cultivars in other shapes between these two extremes.

Their flat, fan-shaped foliage can be green, gray-green, silvery blue and several shades in-between. They tolerate average soil conditions, grow best in full sun and do well as hedges or in groups.

Before you plant any tree or shrub, be aware of how big it will get. Much too often, a spire shaped arborvitae is planted beside the front door. Fifteen years later, it is pushing the shingles off the roof, preventing you from opening the front door and darkening the front room by covering the window.

If the book says it has a 20-foot spread, give it 30 feet. You may have exceptional soil or a super green thumb.

Plant more evergreens for winter relief from all that snow.

Bev Johnson is a master gardener for West Otter Tail County.