Advice On Choosing Landscape Evergreen Shrubs
Now that spring is just a few weeks away, many of you are thinking about landscape projects that might involve adding new bushes and shrubs. If you are in that boat, keep in mind that you should always use evergreens as the foundation of the landscape design.
Here are just a few of my favorite evergreens for home landscapes and what I like and dislike about each one.
Evergreen Yews
Yews can be found in over 80% of the landscapes in the Midwest and easy. They are also grown as far south as Georgia with good success. Taxus yews have a darker green foliage and stand up well to extreme weather conditions. Their new growth each year has a bright green appearance, giving them some nice variation. They can be trimmed tightly each year and really dont have any problems with insects or fungus. The only thing I dont like about yews is that they are very common and boring.
Arbs
Arbovitae are another very popular everygreen but are more versatile than the Yew. Arbs can be used for foundation plantings in the form of globes or also planted in hedges for screening in their upright forms. They grow fast enough to show visible results, but dont really need a lot of pruning, making them lower maintenance. They do get issues with bag worm insects and winter damage, but those can be prevented easily.
Evergreen Boxwoods
If you want an evergreen with a more standard “leafy” appearance, then boxwood is for you. The boxwood is a formal appearing evergreen with small leaves. They are very versatile and can take a pretty heavy shearing during the year if you want to keep them small. They care susceptible to wind burn if planted out in the open.
Holly
Good old holly evergreens are my favorites. They have a stately, yet wild appearance and can grow in any form and achieve any size. Their prickly leaves give a nice change to the boring evergreen family. They can get a few insect issues, but not many. These are your best choice for originality and classy design.
You can head out to the local book store this weekend and read up on these evergreens and find out which varieties will work in your area of the country. Just remember, evergreens always make the foundation.
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February 23rd, 2009 at 6:15 am
Great ideas about evergreens for home landscapes. What if I chose holly evergreens for my landscape, what are the maintenance required?