Evergreen Care: "Evergreen 101 With a Touch of Winter"

Evergreens, natures "Soldiers of Winter". They stand tall and proud against all that winter can throw at them. Limbs strong yet designed to bend under the weight of the snow to rest on the branch below. Generally when people think of evergreens they see a stand of one color trees lined up like soldiers. The world of evergreens are comprised of many colors from emerald green to electric blue to gold. The trouble is people are introduced to a small amount of specimens. People generally rely on what is easily available to them at  Home Depot or Lowes. I will show you many of the different less common species that are available to you, but, you may have to visit a local nursery or surf the web for them. In the picture you will see a tree called, Golden Hinoki. It's needles are very short and are bright yellow golden in color. It produces clusters of small round cones. This species will grow quite well in most parts of the U.S. I will show you how to add color to your Winter Garden that you never thought was possible.
When thinking about a garden that will provide winter interest you have to see what palette of colors is available to you. Generally the colors of winter are muted. Bright colors exist but not in quantities that stand out. Winter gardens rely on texture as much as color to make up the palette. Many trees have interesting bark textures and colors. The textures vary from skin smooth to peeling and rough. Again their colors are muted but provide a fairly wide spectrum. In future posts I will introduce you to various species. If you have any questions feel free to leave them in comments. I will answer.