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Introduction: Four-Season Plants
by R. William Thomas
Conifers are the most underrated plants in the landscape world. For many people, a conifer is merely a Christmas tree or a blue spruce in the front yard. Landscape professionals fall in one of two camps in their regard for conifers: the staunch enthusiasts who tend to establish collections or the downright contemptuous who erroneously believe that designing with conifers is inherently difficult. This book is intended to persuade gardeners otherwise.
Conifers offer more than winter interest. They provide the garden with strong form, color and texture in every season. From towering trees to spreading shrubs and rambling ground covers, they come in an array of shapes—not just the ubiquitous pyramid. Colors include not only umpteen shades of green but also yellows, blues and, in winter, maroons. Some conifers retain one color throughout the year, while others change dramatically, with foliage going from brilliant yellow in the spring to green for the remainder of the year. Before their needles drop in autumn, deciduous conifers turn rich yellows and oranges. Conifer textures can be as bold as a ponderosa pine or as soft and fine as a shore juniper.
Conifers provide the garden with strong form, color and texture not just in the winter—but year-round.
Correctly chosen and placed, conifers fit most definitions of "low maintenance." Established plants require little care and, unlike perennials, need no dividing or deadheading. And these versatile, four-season plants form the structure and backbone of our gardens. Conifers can divide space into garden rooms, block unattractive views and focus attention on specimen plants, sculptures or special vistas.
Conifers have interesting histories, too. At 2,000 to 4,000 years old, bristlecone pines and giant sequoias are among the world's oldest living plants. Dwarfed, 1,000-year-old eastern arborvitaes have been found growing on cliffs in Ontario, Canada. Dawn redwoods were thought to be long extinct until living plants were found in China in the 1940s. Fossils indicate that the species was once widespread throughout North America and Asia. Recent headlines announced the sensational discovery of not just a species, but a whole new genus—Wollemi pine (Wollemia nobilis)—only 100 miles from Sydney, Australia.
When designing your garden, think first of the four-season plants. They are the ones that will set the stage for every day of the year. Consult this handbook to help you identify, grow and design with conifers and to learn some of the best species available. Use conifers as major trees, hedges, shrubs and ground covers. Think of them as familiar, useful and attractive garden plants rather than simply as specimens for a collection. Mix them with perennials, use them as backgrounds for flowering trees and shrubs and plant them in containers for year-round interest. Plant them and the world will be a better place!
R. William Thomas is Education Division Manager at Longwood Gardens, where he teaches several classes on woody plants, including conifers. He is past president of the American Conifer Society and editor of Trees and Shrubs (Hearst Books, 1992).