WITH THE FIRST SNOW FORECAST, and juncos and other winter birds showing up in fast-increasing numbers, my thoughts (and theirs) these colder, windy days are turning to the importance of conifers. There are no better woody plants to tuck into if you’re a bird, and no more beautiful ones to look out at when you’re tucked inside if you’re a gardener. Doesn’t that branch of the weeping Alaska cedar (above, last winter) look like a drapey shawl? Another look at some of my favorites, after a quick tip about browning needles:
As I mentioned in October’s garden chores, it’s disconcerting when suddenly all your evergreens looks like they’re turning brown from the inside out (like the golden hinoki cypress, above). As long as what’s dead is on the inner portion of the branches or twigs, it’s simply the normal shedding of the oldest foliage, which lasts several years then fades in fall. If it’s unsightly, I rub the dead bits off with a gentle pass of my hand, or just wait until nature does the job.
Favorite Coniferous Trees
(click any green type to link to the profile of that plant)
Golden hinoki cypress, Chamaecyparis obtusa ‘Crippsii’
Japanese umbrella pine, Sciadopitys verticillata
Concolor fir, Abies concolor
Weeping Alaska cedar, Chamaecyparis nootkatensis ‘Pendula’
Korean fir, Abies koreana
Lacebark pine, Pinus bungeana
Favorite Coniferous Shrubs
Russian arborvitae, Microbiota decussata
Golden spreading yew, Taxus baccata ‘Repandens Aurea’
Conifer Slideshow
If you missed it earlier this year, tour the above favorites and more in my slideshow of favorites conifers.
slideshow: beloved conifers 
beloved conifers: weeping alaska cedar 
Margaret,
I don’t think I could garden without my beloved conifers. The Weeping Alaskan cedar is one of my absolute favorites, and I enjoy mixing the Dwarf golden hinoki false cypress among my perennials. I just love your dwarf white pines – over the summer I found a local nursery that has them, so I will be adding them next year. Cady’s Falls Nursery in Vermont has a pretty extensive conifer collection.
Here’s a lovely poem, author unknown:
“Something told the wild geese, it was time to go.
Though the fields lay golden, something whispered,
‘Snow.”
Leaves were green and stirring, berries luster-glossed,
But beneath warm feathers, something whispered,
‘Frost’
All the sagging orchards steamed with ember spice,
But each wild breast stiffened at remembered ice.
Something told the wild geese it was time to fly,
summer sun was in their wings,
Winter in their cry.”
I realize I need some of these beauties in my garden as it looks so bare in winter, but conifers scare me just a little bit. I have little space, so selection is important – what if I choose the wrong one? (Or two or three, but no more.) Where would they provide the most impact? What am I willing to give up for them? Such a quandry.
Welcome, Linda. That is really beautiful, thank you. And exactly what is going on: winter is in their cry. I hope to see you again here soon.
Finally we are supposed to be getting some cooler weather this weekend. Welcome FALL.
Margaret,
Could you please recommend what you would consider to be one of the best basic books of garden design that covers fundamental concepts? My husband and I love to dig and plant, but we never manage to have the “big picture” in mind before we start. It’s more like we move from place to place planting and tending things, but never successfully designing the spaces. Though we enjoy the process, afterward we often stand back, survey the result and feel vaguely disappointed.
We have questions about how often and how sparingly to plant dramatically colored shrubs (my husband is eyeing those burning bushes just now turning scarlet) and how to create paths and sitting areas and where to put cutting gardens, (among many others).
We live outside of Philadelphia…
Thanks,
Dabney
Welcome, Dabney. A harder question than one would think; I have not ever really used a book so much as read many books and most of all looked at pictures. I always scanned the books by the late Penelope Hobhouse (English) and by Ken Druse (American, contemporary) and I love the work of Glenn Withey and Charles Price of Seattle (contemporary garden designers) but for them you have to look online for articles by/about them, no books yet. I wish I had an easy answer to that one.
Margaret
My suggestion is to call a landscape architect and find out how much a consultation would cost. My daughter in law who is a fabulous architect by trade (Fivecatstudio.com) is a beginner gardner. She hired a landscape architect to come to her home with a giant hillside and give her some ideas. She followed him around with a clip board last spring and her garden is now on the way to being outstanding.
Welcome, Elayne. Yes, I agree, a consult is a good idea; I have various times has friends with vast expertise come help think me out of a mental logjam here; always good to have another set of eye with greater expertise. Thanks, and see you soon again I hope.
The National Garden Clubs offers a Landscape Design Study Program that is open to the public. It consists of 1 Hour lectures delivered by Landscape Architects and other professionals. It is designed to cover various aspects of the topic. Additional information about the program can be obtained by going to their site at National Garden Clubs Inc and checking out Landscape Design Schools.
Welcome, Regina, and thank you for the tip. Hope to see you soon again.
For Linda, and others who, like me, enjoyed the poem she posted – “Something Told the Wild Geese” is by American poet Rachel Field (1894-1942). She was also a novelist and Newberry Award winning children’s writer.
The lines Linda posted are the entire poem. Oh, and it was set to music at one point.
Thought you might be interested.