Conifers for Gardens

                                                           Mail:
                                                           5865 Steeplechase
                                                           Bartlett, TN 38134
                                                           Phone:
                                                           901-438-1912
                                                           fanplant@aol.com

A mail order nursery specializing in Japanese maples, conifers,
and other new, unusual, and rare -trees, shrubs, and perennials.

Conifers for Gardens

Dwarf conifers, and slow growing conifers are among the most useful plants for low maintenance gardens. Conifers provide a diverse palette of colors, textures, and shapes; and thousand of selections have been made for special qualities, forms, and profiles.

Most, but not all conifers are evergreen and offer year around appeal. In fact, the word ‘evergreen’ is often used by the general public interchangeably with ‘conifer’. The common trait shared by all conifers actually is their seed bearing traits. The word ‘conifer’ is derived from Latin and means “cone bearing.” Unlike a flowering plant which protects its seed in an enveloping fruit, a conifer bears “naked seed” protected by a cone. Woody cones like those found on pine (Pinus), spruce (Picea), fir (Abies), and cedar (Cedrus) are familiar. Other conifers however, have evolved fleshy cones that may seem quite fruitlike as in juniper (Juniperus), or yew (Taxus).

Conifers may range in size from forest giants to groundcovers. Many are large shrubs while others are miniature rock garden plants. The American Conifer Society employs four size categories as a guide to growth and size.

Category                 Growth per year¹               Approx. size at 10 years²
Miniature                                 1”                                         Less than 1’
Dwarf                                       1” to 6”                               1’ to 6’
Intermediate                            6” to 12”                           6’ to 15’
Large                                      12” or more                       15’ or more
1 Size may vary due to cultural, climatic and geographical region
2 Refers to growth in any direction

Pinus_densiflora_Tanyosho_6.jpg (6601 bytes)

Dwarf conifers and intermediate size conifers are most useful for smaller modern gardens. The selections that have been made are innumerable.
Conifers -The Illustrated Encyclopedia (Two Volumes) by D.M. van Gelderen and J.R.P. van Hoey Smith has photographs of 2,347 conifers from around the world.
In 1994 Robert A. Obrizok provided a checklist of cultivars in his book A Garden of Conifers that included 2550 entries.
The American Conifer Society lists 4238 listings in its database as of 2003.