Click below to listen to my 2 min. Garden Bite radio show: Mighty tiny evergreens
Yesterday I talked planting practices this time of year, today let’s talk mighty tiny evergreens!
My new Northern Gardener magazine came with an article by Susannah Shmurak, who happens to live in the same town I do! She also blogs at healthygreensavvy.com. Her article is titled “Small but Mighty evergreens” and includes some darling little beauties for smaller landscapes.
While there’s been much talk, and with good reason, about the winter damage of many older evergreens, proper planting practices and better cultivars can help alleviate that issue.
Since their color is so important to our winter landscapes, I hate to give them up!
While they can be planted at this time of year, conifers are best planted in the Spring. Leif Knecht, of Knecht’s Nursery and a friend of mine, says be brutal when root pruning.
I’ve showed you this before on my videos. No guilt when pruning. You’re helping the plant, not hurting it.
That said, let’s get to so gorgeous specimens! ‘Tiny Tower’ is a dwarf Alberta Spruce. A compact pyramidal shrub growing 4 to 6 feet tall and 2 feet wide. The densely growing foliage is bright green, turning gray-green at maturity. It prefers partial to full sun and is hardy to zone 3. (photo above)
For a little yellow globe delight, try ‘Golden Globe’ arborvitae. It grows only 2 to 4 feet high and wide. Get this, it handles clay soil, black walnut and air pollution. Hardiness seems to vary. Shmurak says to zone 2 but some nurseries are saying zone 4.
There’s ‘Tiny Tim’, similar to golden globe but growing only 1 foot by 1 foot with green foliage!
One more! ‘Celtic Pride’ is a Siberian cypress prized for it’s reddish winter color and toughness. It grows to 3 feet tall and spread to 5 feet preferring part shade.
