Peter Dowdall: Evergreens we love to grow in our gardens
Spruce To Winter Blue The Brings Sparkle Gardens Picture File
I’d be a rich man if I had a euro for every time I visited a private garden and the owner pointed out to me, a conifer standing four metres high or more and they told me that “I bought this 30 years ago and they told me that it was a dwarf conifer!”
There was a time that seemingly, nearly every single garden in Ireland was planted with “dwarf conifers”, the ubiquitous heather bed, a rockery and some hydrangeas scattered about the place.
I am harking back here, to 1970s and 1980s gardens and my, how things have changed since then. Back then, hiring a landscaper was unheard of and the demesne only of those “with notions”. Nowadays, thankfully, we give as much thought to our outdoor space as we do to the indoors.
Dwarf conifers which ended up growing taller than the house, heathers, never pruned, and developing into an overgrown mess and rockeries, wrongly planted would later be removed from gardens all over the country and as a result, many of these became nearly bad words.
That’s a big pity as I do love a good rockery, heathers have so much to offer from an aesthetic as well as an ecological perspective and true dwarf conifers bring evergreen sparkle to the dullest of winter gardens and I’m glad to see that they have been having a bit of a moment in 2024.
The dwarf blue spruce, Picea pungens 'Globosa' is a compact, slow-growing evergreen conifer which produces really striking, silver-blue foliage. It develops into a rounded, globe-like shape, and is an excellent choice for smaller gardens, rockeries, or as a feature plant in containers particularly during the winter months when it comes into its own.
Unlike its much larger relatives, the dwarf blue spruce grows to only about 1m-1.5 metres tall with a similar width over a period of 10 years or more
It likes a position in full sun and with well-drained soil. Pruning is only necessary to maintain its shape, if needed, or to remove damaged branches.
The dwarf mugo pine, Pinus mugo 'Mops', is another true dwarf. Pinus mugo is native to mountainous regions of Europe and to me what makes this variety so attractive is its slightly informal growth habit and its texture, I always want to touch it when I see it. It develops also in a rounded, globe shape but not a perfect sphere. It has a really dense and bushy growth habit and won’t reach more than a metre in height and spread.
The mugo pine's needle-like foliage, in a vibrant green colour, is another for great winter interest.
It will do well in poor soils, drought, harsh winds and even on the coast but does like a sunny position. It’s a great plant for a winter pot or container if you want to try something a bit different.
The dwarf Japanese cedar, Cryptomeria japonica 'Globosa Nana', is another compact, evergreen conifer but will get slightly larger reaching 1.2m-1.5 metres in height and allowing the same space around it for it likes to grow out. Whilst it will get bigger, it is equally as slow growing, taking about 20 years to reach this size. Don’t plant too close to it, for you want to admire the overall shape of the plant.
It develops soft, feathery foliage and has a rounded, dome-shaped growth habit.
The foliage of Globosa Nana is a bright green during the spring and summer, but unusually for conifers and evergreens, it turns a rich bronze, purplish and copper colour in colder, winter weather.
Again, it wants full sun though will tolerate partial shade and prefers humus-rich, well-drained soils.
There are many things from 1970s and 1980s Ireland that we have lost and grown out of and we are a better country for many of these, but true dwarf conifers shouldn’t be consigned to the dustbin of horticultural history because we planted the wrong ones in the wrong places so many years ago. Like most things in the garden, if we choose the correct varieties for the correct positions, they will add to our gardens for many years to come, offering, evergreen colour and texture, which will bring interest, particularly during winter, but also, they offer evergreen cover and refuge for wildlife and insects in our gardens.
Use them correctly and they can create true, long-lasting focal points in the garden either planted in isolation or with plants of contrasting texture and colours such as ornamental grasses. Alternatively, you can use them as feature plants in winter pots or containers either on their own or mixed with winter flowering bedding or heathers.