Some gardeners come to evergreen gardening later in their plant-obsession progression. We tend to generalize evergreens, thinking of the natives that grow here, primarily spruce, fir, pine, junipers, and Eastern hemlock, all of which can get quite large and live for many years. We might not have room for a 15-metre spruce, even a blue one, in our yards. Plant breeders have solutions, though. They’ve been developing interesting colours in conifers and broadleaf evergreens and making huge advances in dwarf conifers.

First, a bit of botany. Deciduous trees drop their leaves every fall: they are the maples, birches, poplars, and others that turn our woodlands into a blaze of colour. Evergreens refer to any woody plant, shrub or tree, that keeps its leaves year-round, gradually shedding old leaves. (Yes, needles are leaves).

There are broadleaf evergreens, plus the needly ones we promptly picture, which produce flowers and seeds: rhododendrons, evergreen magnolias, even low-growing heaths and heathers.

Conifers are plants that reproduce via cones. Those may look like traditional cones used in holiday décor, or they may be very different; think of juniper berries, those essential ingredients of good gin, which are botanically cones. Many conifers have needles, modified leaves, but some have very different foliage that is almost scaly in appearance. A good example is the commonly named cedar or arbourvitae (Thuja).

Just for giggles, there are deciduous conifers, which do drop all their needles in autumn. The most common is our native Larix, AKA larch, hatmatack, tamarack. One of the most beloved in the landscape trades, and a personal favourite, is the ancient dawn redwood, Metasequoia glyptostroboides, which scientists thought extinct until the 1940s when they rediscovered it in China.

Don’t worry if these terms confuse you. That’s why we have professionals at nurseries and greenhouses — to help you pick the right plants for your property. There are evergreens for every garden and growing condition, whether your soil is soggy or drains quickly; whether you have heavy shade or lots of sunlight; and whether you can accommodate a 22-metre dawn redwood or only have room for a handful of dwarf species. I’m lucky to have sites for all the above, but you don’t have to take my word for it. I chatted with a few local nursery operators for some suggestions for your gardens.

Alice d’Entremont, owner of Ouest-ville Perennials in West Pubnico (ouestvilleperennials.com), loves dwarf hinoki false cypress Chamaecyparis obtusa ‘Nana Gracilis,’ which fits in anyone’s garden. Boasting an irregular, sculpted shape and brilliant green foliage, this evergreen will eventually reach 1.8 metres after a decade or so. She’s also a big fan of boxwoods (Buxus) a broadleaf shrub popular for hedging, with petite flowers that pollinators love, and foliage that deer don’t usually bother.

 

Lee and John Dickie operate the Briar Patch (briarpatchnursery.com) in Berwick, N.S., and are fans of evergreens of all sorts. Dwarf false cypresses enamour them, plus they recommend the marvellous Sciadopitys verticillata, Japanese Umbrella pine, an ancient genus scientists consider a living fossil and the only one in its family. It holds its long needles upright in whorls around each stem, especially

noticeable in young plants. A slow growing genus, mature specimens grow up to 22 metres in height but more commonly they eventually reach 7.6 metres in cultivation.

 

The dawn redwood mentioned earlier is a favourite of Jill Covill’s at Bunchberry Nurseries in Upper Clements, N.S. (bunchberrynurseries.ca). She likes the botanical name but also the origin story behind it — its discovery after having been thought extinct. It’s one obliging tree: fast growing, tolerant of most growing conditions from wet to dry, and resistant to damage from mowing and trimming machines, in part because of its flared trunk. Her other favourite comes from the dwarf false cypresses, in particular Chamaecyparis obtusa ‘Kosteri’, which she says, “has stood the test of time in my garden and is a standout even amongst my collection of cypresses.”

Asked for a few of his favourite evergreens, nursery operator and tree grower par excellence Rob Baldwin of Falmouth’s Baldwin Nurseries promptly says, “Red spruce, of course … (Picea rubens) it is the official tree of Nova Scotia!”

But, like his friends and colleagues, Rob has many favourites, depending on what he’s looking at in his nursery, including the Korean fir (Abies koreana) with its silvery backed needles and purple blue cones, and the umbrella pine touted above. Another favourite is the distinctive Rocky Mountain bristlecone pine (Pinus aristata), a long-lived tree native to northwestern America. If not destroyed by fire or humans, this slow-growing conifer can live for centuries. It is known for its striking shape, fragrant needles and rarely reaches more than 6.1 metres tall in cultivation.

Susan Levy of Oceanview Home and Garden in Chester, N.S., loves gardening with conifers, so she struggled to come up with only two recommendations. She also touts the Umbrella pine, and as well as Colorado blue spruce (Picea pungens), ‘The Blues’. This is a dwarf that tops out at 1.8 metres tall and wide, but what sets it apart is its weeping, graceful form.

If you want to see excellent displays of conifers, visit such spots as the Halifax Public Gardens, the New Brunswick Botanical Gardens in Edmundston, N.B., Memorial University’s Botanical Gardens in St. John’s, N.L., Annapolis Royal Historic Gardens, and the Rock Garden at the Dalhousie University Agricultural Campus in Truro, N.S.

Darwin Carr worked as a horticulturist at the latter for more than 30 years, and still operates his own tree care company. The rock garden boasts somewhere between 60 and 70 different species and cultivars of evergreens and is open year-round. Take a trip in the winter to see the evergreens and conifers showing pride of place. Darwin is a big fan of dwarf Norway spruces like ‘Little Gem’, and like Alice, loves Chamaecyparis obtusa dwarf varieties. “Both are deer resistant in my experience,” he says, “and look terrific in a rock garden setting or a yard landscape.”

Even more great evergreens

• Dwarf Alberta spruce (Picea glauca ‘Conica’). Tough and compact with a fuzzy appearance due to its tightly packed needles.
• Junipers (Juniperus, many species) Junipers range from creeping forms to tall conical varieties, and include many blue, gold, and variegated varieties. They do best in full sun and are quite happy in rocky soils. My personal favourite is ‘Gold Cone’, an upright form with feathery gold foliage, but I also love the creeping blue forms like ‘Blue Star.’
• Sunkist cedar/arborvitae (Thuja). If you don’t have deer issues, this dwarf golden form of the common arborvitae (often misnamed cedar) is a gardener’s delight, which is especially beloved by songbirds that nest in its and eat its small seedy cones.
• Golden pines. There are several species of pines that have golden varieties, and if you’ve never seen one, you’re missing a treat. Varieties to look for include ‘Chief Joseph’ lodgepole pine, and ‘Wintersonne’ dwarf mugo pine. These glow like a golden sunset in winter.
• Korean fir (Abies koreana). These firs can be compact in growth habit or true dwarfs and are stunningly beautiful. Their needles curve upwards rather than growing flat like our native firs and are silver underneath. Gold forms are available, and their cones are purple before they ripen.
• Weeping Alaska cypress. Although they’ve recently been reclassified out of Chamaecyparis, you’ll find them at most nurseries under that name. There are dwarf forms of these elegantly weeping trees available, as well as larger specimens that will eventually reach 25 feet (8 metres) tall. Look for ‘Pendula’ at local nurseries.
• Russian cypress is an excellent groundcover evergreen, growing only about 30 centimetres tall, but spreading out gradually. It’s extremely hardy, deer resistant, and its winter foliage colour is a bronze purple.