Embrace the Evergreen Elegance
As a landscape designer, I’ve always been enamored with the year-round beauty and versatility of evergreen plants. They’re the unsung heroes that provide a solid foundation for any garden, anchoring the space with their steadfast presence through the changing seasons.
Let me take you on a journey through my own gardening experiences to showcase how these evergreen wonders can transform your outdoor oasis. Growing up, I was captivated by those gangly snowball bushes – Viburnum opulus ‘Roseum’ – that seemed to bloom overnight, bursting forth with clouds of round white flowers that just begged to be touched. While those nostalgic viburnum hold a special place in my heart, I now favor their more compact, snowball-less cousin, V. opulus ‘Nana.’
This 3-foot dwarf variety boasts the same maple-shaped leaves and striking fall color, but with a tidier, more controlled habit. In fact, I’ve incorporated more than a dozen different viburnums into my garden, each one lending a unique framework of color and texture throughout the year. It’s amazing how you can have a viburnum in flower for nearly every month, from the sweetly perfumed blooms of V. x bodnantense in late autumn to the metallic blue berries of the evergreen V. davidii in summer.
Evergreen Anchors for Year-Round Interest
But viburnums are just the tip of the evergreen iceberg. These stalwart plants come in a wide array of shapes, sizes, and foliage types, making them the ultimate anchors for any well-designed garden. Take the evergreen Korean spice viburnum (V. carlesii), for instance – its sweet, clove-tinged perfume is enough to stop you in your tracks when it erupts in May. Or consider the elegant, layered form of V. tomentosum ‘Summer Snowflake,’ whose gleaming white blossoms appear in abundance from late spring through summer.
Evergreens aren’t just about the flowers, though. Their foliage can be just as captivating, providing a rich tapestry of textures and hues to complement the more fleeting blooms of deciduous plants. The deep green, veined leaves of V. davidii, for example, emerge from pink buds and hold their own even when surrounded by a haze of herbaceous growth in the summer.
And let’s not forget the conifers – those sturdy, needle-bearing evergreens that bring a sense of timelessness to any garden. I’m particularly fond of dwarf varieties like Dwarf Alberta Spruce, Deodar Cedar, and Blue Point Juniper, which pack a punch of color and architectural interest without overwhelming the space. Their compact, sculptural forms make them ideal for framing entryways, anchoring container gardens, or adding vertical accents throughout the landscape.
As the experts at Monrovia note, “Trees are the ultimate ‘anchor plant’ because they provide larger structure and form (not to mention shade, habitat, and clean air).” And while traditional large-scale trees certainly have their place, I’m a big proponent of using smaller, more manageable evergreen specimens to fulfill this crucial role.
Evergreens for Every Season
One of the greatest advantages of evergreens is their ability to provide year-round interest and structure, no matter the time of year. As Valerie Easton eloquently puts it, “A garden should consist of an array of trees, shrubs, grasses, and perennials that maintain the garden’s structure all year long. The plants that fulfill this role are referred to as ‘anchor plants.’”
And what better anchor plants than those that retain their foliage through the harshest winter months? Whether it’s the deep green needles of a coniferous evergreen or the leathery, glossy leaves of a broadleaf variety, these steadfast plants ensure that your garden never looks bare or neglected, even when the deciduous trees and shrubs have shed their coverings.
In fact, I’d argue that a well-placed evergreen is the key to creating a cohesive, visually appealing landscape that delights the senses throughout the entire year. As the experts at Contained Creations note, “Evergreens are good anchor plants since they retain their foliage year-round, provide a strong visual impact, and add to the backbone or structure of the garden.”
And the options are endless – from the stately, blue-hued Colorado Blue Spruce to the delicate, lacy fronds of a False Cypress, there’s an evergreen to suit every garden style and growing condition. Even in the dead of winter, these steadfast plants bring a sense of life and vibrancy to the landscape, offering a vital contrast to the bare branches of their deciduous counterparts.
Evergreen Problem Solvers
But evergreens aren’t just about pretty foliage and year-round interest. They can also be incredibly practical, solving a variety of landscape challenges with their sturdy presence and versatile forms. As the team at the University of Tennessee’s Green Infrastructure Project discovered, evergreens play a crucial role in managing stormwater runoff and improving water quality.
By strategically incorporating evergreen trees, shrubs, and perennials into rain gardens and other green infrastructure projects, the team was able to create aesthetically appealing, multifunctional spaces that not only beautify the landscape, but also filter out pollutants and reduce the volume of water entering local waterways. And the benefits don’t stop there – evergreens also provide valuable wildlife habitat, offer shade and windbreak, and help to sequester carbon dioxide, making them an essential component of any eco-conscious garden.
But you don’t have to undertake a large-scale infrastructure project to reap the rewards of evergreens. These versatile plants can be just as impactful in the smallest of gardens, whether you’re using them to frame a walkway, anchor a container display, or create a living privacy screen. The team at Proven Winners suggests a range of compact, slow-growing evergreen shrubs that are perfectly suited for even the most space-constrained settings, from the dense, rounded Sprinter® Boxwood to the columnar Sky Box® Japanese Holly.
Evergreens for Every Garden
No matter the size or style of your outdoor space, there’s an evergreen out there that can help to transform it into a cohesive, year-round oasis. And the best part? Many of these stalwart plants require minimal maintenance, making them the perfect low-fuss addition to any ABC Home landscape.
So why not embrace the elegance and versatility of evergreens in your own garden? Whether you opt for a stately conifer, a lush broadleaf beauty, or a charming evergreen flowering shrub, I promise you’ll be rewarded with a landscape that maintains its structure and visual interest, no matter the season. Happy planting!
