6 basic tricks for growing evergreens

In winter, when most trees are bare, evergreens serve as much-needed columns of green. In summer, they provide shelter and a green backdrop for flowers. Read on for the tricks to growing and maintaining healthy evergreens.

Birds need evergreen trees for shelter, and people need them for the same reason.

• Planted on the north side of your house, an evergreen tree can shelter it from biting winter winds, and its shade pattern won't block the warming rays of the southern sun.

From large American hollies to cypress, pines, magnolias, or yews, every landscape should have a space for a carefully selected evergreen tree.

In most climates, set out new evergreen trees either before growth starts in early spring or after the tree has finished growing in early fall.

• If planting in the fall, make sure the roots will have time to establish themselves before the ground freezes.
• In mild-winter areas where the ground doesn't freeze, fall is preferred for planting evergreen trees.
• Fall-planted trees can take advantage of winter rains and should be well-rooted by the time stressful summer weather arrives.

Most evergreen trees need full sun for at least three-quarters of the day. Those planted in the shade—including shade-tolerant hemlocks, arborvitaes, and yews—sprout fewer branches and have less attractive shapes.

Brighten evergreen foliage in summer by training colourful climbing vines, such as clematis, nasturtium, morning glory, and cup-and-saucer vine to twine prettily on the tree's south-facing side.

Yews are among the world's most popular needle-leaf evergreens.

• Hundreds of species and cultivars are available, and they range in size from 12 metre  columnar trees to sturdy, dense shrubs good for hedges and 60 centimetre spreading shrubs, which are wider than they are tall.

Reduce a conifer's spread by pinching back or pruning the new green shoots that appear each spring.

• Be careful not to prune past the point where leaves are growing, since only a few conifers can produce new growth from branches without live foliage present.

Branches pruned from evergreen trees—especially conifers—make ideal winter mulch for perennials, small border shrubs, and strawberries.

• Either shred the branches with a wood chipper or lay pieces of whole boughs atop the soil.