EverWinter

These are my favorites out of all the conifers. One key feature of Firs is their needles, They are an Emerald Green on the top side of their needles and a silvery blue on the bottom. This presents in a duel colored tree and the color changes if the wind blows. The needles on a Fir are not positioned in a 360 degree circle around the branches. Rather they are concentrated at 180 degrees to the branch. This gives the branches a fuller almost fuzzy appearance. It's no surprise that the firs are the most popular choice for Christmas trees each year. The most commonly used are the Balsam and Frasier Firs. These two also provide the best aroma inside the house that we all know and love. If you want to do something special one Christmas, consider getting a live tree instead of a cut tree and plant it outside in your yard after the holiday. But, enough about that, I'll do a post that goes into more detail closer to the holiday.  There are quite a few different specimen choices when i...

One of the key things to be aware of when designing your Winter Garden is the range of your palette. It is comprised of four things; size, shape, texture and color. Generally your tree evergreens such as Spruces, Firs and Pines will be the largest and tallest elements in your design. there are many small evergreens that you have to choose from as well. Many of the Cotoneasters and Hollies make fine additions and help to add small accents of color. these plant types will be individually described in detail in later posts along with many others. The next thing to consider is shape. Many of the Spruces, Firs and Pines generally have a conical shape, however through crossbreeding efforts many new shapes have come to be readily available. I have seen many free form Spruces being used to accent a landscape bed. They can also be seen as bush shaped or global. There is a wide variety to choose from. The next thing to consider is texture. Evergreen leaves can vary from the needle form of mo...

 This post will center mainly on the Conifers such as Spruces and Firs. First I would like to give you some explanation for the shape of the aforementioned types. Nature gave them their conical shape for a reason. This shape sheds snow very well and can still hold a large amount of snow on its branches. The tree's branches are distributed in such a manner that each one can help support the one above it. So when it snows there is a cascading effect. The snow weighs down an upper branch that rests and is supported by the one below it and this continues until the bottom branch is reached and it rests on the ground. This information is key and its significance will be more evident in the list of Do's and Don'ts. See the accompanying photos of my own Blue Spruce, pictured above. Conifers unlike deciduous trees do not hibernate in winter. They will slow down their metabolism to react to reduced sunlight but they maintain their Chlorophyll levels year round. That is why it is cr...