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Evergreen: beautiful year-round trees for the garden
A rundown of some major types and what to expect from your new additions
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Autumn, particularly September and October, is a great time to plant new trees and shrubs. The cool weather means less work for you as the gardener in helping them become established. Yes, they will grow new roots until a hard freeze meaning that you've gotten a jump on next year's growth.
Recently I lost three large trees to various maladies and decided that at least one needed to be replaced. The arborist who had given me the bad news mentioned that an evergreen would look really nice in my front yard. I've had my eye on a beautiful cedar tree for several years but never had the room in a sunny area to plant it. Now, suddenly, I had more room that I knew what to do with.
The tree I selected for the front is a golden deodar cedar (Cedrus deodara 'Aurea') with a graceful pyramidal shape. The branches weep, that is, grow downward at the tips and are tinged with a yellow-green color, especially in spring. I fell in love the moment I saw it.
Everything I've read about them notes that they do well in zones 7 to 9. Now, I've mentioned before that Long Island is zone 7 and being extremely cautious, I don't like to put in plants that are rated for zones 7 and up. I prefer plants that do well in zones 6 and above, just in case we have an unusually cold winter.
However, three things convinced me to go ahead with the cedar. One was the fact that I saw a grouping of three of these cedars out on the North Fork, hale and hardy. They are enormous trees, meaning that they have survived many Long Island winters. The second factor was the general warming trend we have seen on Long Island in recent years. The third factor in my decision was that the extremely reputable nursery I dealt with guaranteed my tree for three years (besides they had one growing on their property for many years, too.)
Why choose evergreens
In selecting one or more trees for your garden the question comes up: Why choose an evergreen?
One reason is for the year-round beauty they provide. While evergreens do lose their needles eventually, they do so after the new ones come out, so you are not really aware of a bare tree. You have a beautiful, green specimen 12 months a year.
A second reason for selecting evergreens is for the privacy that they provide. Whether it's because you prefer that your neighbors not see you in your swimming pool, or you just want to read a book while relaxing on a lounge chair without interruption, evergreens provide that privacy.
Related to the above is the fact that evergreens can provide a visual screen against an ugly wall or fence, something that you can't control or change. There are several homes on the North Fork that have their entire front yards surrounded by evergreens, blocking out the sight, and to some extent the noise, or the traffic going past.
Evergreens also provide a windscreen. If you live in an area that has lots of wind, or perhaps your house doesn't have all the insulation you'd like, a row of evergreens can block the wind and as a result, cut down on your heating bill in the winter.
Now that you've decided that you want to use evergreens you need to consider whether you want more than one to create a screen or just one or two as specimen trees. I have both in my garden: some evergreens to provide a wall of privacy and my new golden deodar cedar as a specimen tree on my front lawn.
Next week, some other evergreen trees to consider and what each will do for your garden.
Ellen Barcel is a freelance writer and master gardener. To reach Cornell Cooperative Extension and its Master Gardener Program, call 727-7850.
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