10 facts about Conifers!
Conifers come in a variety of colours, not just green: they can be red, bronze, yellow or even blue.
The colour of a Conifer can be influenced by the temperature of its habitat, for example, the Thuja 'Rheingold' is a yellowy-red in the summer and turns to bronze in the winter while the Cryptomeria japonica 'Elegans' is a greeny-red in the summer and turns to a bronzy-red in the winter.
Conifers come in all different sizes, from the 30 centimetre Juniperus communis 'Compacta' which is small in comparison to the 125 metre Redwoods which give us the tallest and largest trees in the world and can be found growing in California.
Conifers can be many different shapes for example, flat and hugging the ground (Juniperis horizontalis), arrow-shaped (Taxodium or the Swamp cypress), tiered (Cedar) and globe shaped (Thuja occidentalis 'Globose).
Most Conifers are evergreen, but what many people don't know is that there are 5 genus which are deciduous: they are the Larix, Pseudolarix, Metasequoia, Taxodium, and the Glyptostrobus.
Conifers have 2 different types of leaves, needles and scales, but the Juniperus can have both juvenile and adult foliage depending on its age (it can change from needles to scales over time).
Conifers grow in either temperate or tropical climates: however the Araucaria genus (Monkey Puzzle Tree) can be found in both temperate and tropical climates.
Conifers are usually found in either the Northern or the Southern hemisphere, for example, Pinus sylvestris grows in the Northern hemisphere and the Agathis australis grows in the Southern hemisphere.
Conifers can be found growing at any height from sea level right up to alpine conditions for example the Pinus mugo grow on the mountains of Central Europe.
The Pinus aristata (longeava) is found in the white and Rocky Mountain ranges in the USA and has been carbon ring-dated as the oldest living tree in the world.
Planting your Conifers
Conifers will tolerate most soils, but avoid planting in areas that waterlog regularly, except Taxodium distichum (swamp cypress) and Metasequola (dawn redwood), A very chalky soil will suit Taxus (yew), some junipers and pines. Local climate, such as areas of high or low rainfall, can affect height and spread. To help you choose the right conifer for your garden, take a browse through our range below.
Before planting, remove the tree from the pot and soak the rootball in a bucket of water for about 10 minutes. Clear the planting area of any weeds. Make the planting hole about twice the size of the rootball: the top of the rootball should be just 2.5cm below ground level.
Refill the planting hole with soil mixed with peat coir or very well rotted compost. Do not use nitrogenous fertilisers such as poultry or horse manure or bedding plant compost as this usually contains fast release fertiliser, which can damage conifer roots. One or two feeds with a slow release fertiliser will be quite enough to maintain growth. Give enough water to keep the rootball moist but not waterlogged in the early years after planting.
Shore Juniper. A prostrate conifer with needle-like. Blue leaves. Height 30cm. Evergreen. Hardy.
Juniper. An upright, branching habit, with intense silver-blue foliage. Always attractive even when small. Height 1.5-2.5m. Evergreen. Hardy.
Juniper. A low spreading conifer, which creates a sheet of bright silver-blue foliage. Height 30cm. Spread 1.5-2m. Evergreen. Hardy.
Juniper. A compact, dwarf bushy conifer with bright steel-blue foliage in winter and silvery-blue in summer. Height 40cm. Spread 50cm. Evergreen. Hardy.
Juniper. Cold hardy alternate to blue Italian cypress. Improved variety produces bright blue foliage on tight, narrow, upright form. Ideal for spatially challenged screening. Excellent in symmetrical pairs or as a single specimen. Evergreen conifer. Full sun. Moderate to slow growth: 12 to 15 feet tall, 2 feet wide.
Juniper. A striking, spreading conifer with arching branches of blue-green foliage. Height 90-120cm. Spread 1.6m Hardy.
Stiff Weeper is a deciduous conifer that is native to Japan. Its stems are strongly weeping so this coniferous tree has pendulous and compact habit with pendent branches that bearing needle-like, leaves. Green needles, each with two stomatal bands underneath, appear in brush-like clusters at the ends of spur-like shoots along the branches. This larch reaches an approximate ultimate height of 2.5m and a spread of 1m. Bright green needles turn vivid yellow in autumn, before falling to the ground in winter. Best grown in moist, acidic, well-drained soils in full sun. Intolerant of full shade, dry soils and most city pollutants.
Swamp Redwood. A neat narrow deciduous conical tree with bright green. feathery leaves turning gold in autumn. Produces brown round cones.
Swamp Redwood. A neat narrow deciduous conical tree with bright green, feathery leaves turning gold in autumn. Produces brown round cones. Height 20-40m. Spread 5m. Deciduous. Hardy. Good in wet places.
White Spruce. A neat ball-shaped dwarf conifer, very attractive in later spring when it is covered with bright green shoots. Height in 10 years 1m. Evergreen. Hardy. If kept in a pot this conifer requires regular feeding and watering.
This is one of the most handsome of the spruces, with icy-blue/silver foliage and layered horizontal branches on a conical structure, to make a fine Christmas tree form. The younger needles are more silver, while the older needles tend towards dark green. This brings out the layered shape of the tree and makes it particularly attractive seen in the distance. The tree grows to around 3m in ten to twenty years.
Colorado Spruce. A conical conifer with horizontal, dense branches of silver-blue foliage. Height 3m. Spread 1.5m Evergreen. Hardy. Very slow growing. 1m in 5 years.
Colorado Spruce. A conical conifer with horizontal, dense branches of steel blue young foliage. Height 15-25m. Spread 5m. Evergreen. Hardy. Useful as a Christmas tree as there is no needle drop.
Dense, broad, upright pyramidal shape with closely-spaced, ascending branches and steel blue needle colour. Height 10 to 15 feet. Spread 7 to 10 feet. Full sun.
Lovely low growing and spreading conifer with dramatic eye catching and rather striking blue grey foliage, making it a natural focal point plant. Height and spread in 20 - 50 years, 1.5m x 2m (5ft x 7ft).
Colorado Spruce. A conical conifer with widely spaced branches of silver-grey leaves in winter and silver-blue in summer. Height 2.5m. Spread 1.2m. Evergreen. Hardy.
Colorado Spruce. A conical conifer with horizontal, dense branches of steel blue young foliage. Height 15-25m. Spread 5m. Evergreen. Hardy. Useful as a Christmas tree as there is no needle drop.
Japanese Red Pine. A rounded broadly spreading conifer forming an umbrella-shaped crown. Height 4m. Spread 6m. Evergreen. Hardy.
Dwarf Mountain Pine. A dwarf rounded conifer with short dense light green needle-like leaves. Height 75cm. Spread 75cm. Evergreen. Frost hardy.
Beautiful dwarf conifer which forms a bun shape with an open structure. It provides excellent winter colour, bright rich golden yellow from October to April. A slow growing variety, it has quite a low spreading habit. Ideally suited to exposed planting sites, dislikes shade and prefers free draining soil.
Dwarf Mountain Pine. A rounded conifer with bright green, needle-like leaves. Produces dark brown cones. Height 3.5m. Spread 5m. Evergreen. Frost hardy.
Dwarf Mountain Pine. A rounded, many-branched, dwarf, conifer with bright green, needle-like leaves. Produces dark brown cones. Height 0.5m. Spread 0.5m. Evergreen. Frost hardy.
Dwarf Golden Mountain Pine. A rounded conifer with bright green, needle-like leaves in summer which turn golden in winter making this a small golden mound of colour in winter months. Slow growing, 1 metre in 10 years.
Dwarf Golden Mountain Pine. A rounded conifer with bright green, needle-like leaves in summer which turn golden in winter making this a small golden mound of colour in winter months. Slow growing, 1 metre in 10 years.
Dark-green foliage on this narrow, upright pine is very dense. The large, whitish buds in winter and early spring look very handsome among the needles.
Dark-green foliage on this narrow, upright pine is very dense. The large, whitish buds in winter and early spring look very handsome among the needles.
Dwarf Black Pine. A rounded conifer with rigid dark green needle-like leaves. Produces yellow-brown cones. Height 1m. Spread 1m. Evergreen.
.400xauto_crop_FFFFFF_autoautoautoauto.jpg)
European Black Pine. A rounded conifer with rigid dark green needle-like leaves. Produces yellow-brown cones. Height 30m. Spread 6-8m. Evergreen. Hardy. Planting instructions Back-fil with soil mixed with peat and a suitable fertiliser.
Slow-growing, dwarf variety of black pine, creating a dense, oval-shaped crown with bristly texture. After 10 years the tree reaches 1 m in height. The needles are long, dark green, gathered in two on short shoots. Evergreen. Hardy.
Scots Pine. A tall conical to columnar conifer with blue-green, twisted needle-like leaves. Bushy and vigorous when young, great screening, stately and architectural when old.
Scots Pine. A conical to spreading conifer with blue-green, twisted needle-like, leaves. Produces green cones ripening brown. Height 1.8m. Spread 1.5m. Evergreen. Hardy. Planting instructions Back-fill with soil mixed with peat and a suitable fertiliser.
Japanese Umbrella Pine. A conical to columnar tree with red-brown peeling bark. Narrow glossy dark green leaves. Produces cones. Height 10-20m. Spread 6-8m. Evergreen. Hardy.
Japanese Umbrella Pine. A conical to columnar tree with red-brown peeling bark. Narrow glossy dark green leaves. Produces cones. Height 10-20m. Spread 6-8m. Evergreen. Hardy.
Giant Redwood, Wellingtonia. An evergreen conifer with red-brown bark and grey-green leaves on drooping branches. Produces cones. Height 25-80m. Spread 7-10m. Evergreen. Hardy.
Swamp Cypress. This is a deciduous conifer that sends out strictly weeping limbs which bear bright green spirally arranged needles. In the landscape, gardeners will stake it to desired height and then allow the developing branches to weep out onto the ground. If it has not been staked when it was first planted it will form a groundcover. During the winter months the limbs will still have interest as the bark exfoliates.
Mon - Fri 8:00am - 5:00pm
Sat & Sun 9:00am - 5:00pm
Any questions? Email us or give us a call on 01904 400092.
1.400x267_crop_FFFFFF_autoautoautoauto.jpg)
