Evergreen Trees in the Landscape

Evergreen trees are not only stately and beautiful, but also can be used for specific purposes in landscape design.

As their name implies, they are evergreen, meaning they will keep there leaves throughout the winter. This provides your landscape with winter interest. Although here are some smaller ones, most get quite large.

They work well if you want to screen your property. Sometimes they can also be used at house corners, if they are pulled out far enough from the house to allow for the mature size. When used this way, they frame the home and also provide weight and strength. On thing to remember about evergreens is that they look pretty much the same all year long!

Here are some of my very favorite evergreen trees:

Norway Spruce

• The Norway Spruce is very beautiful with dark green needles and has pendulous branches as it ages.
• This is a deer resistant evergreen tree, so this is a good choice if you have a deer problem.

Blue Spruce

• I occasionally like to use this tree together with Norway Spruce.
• The Blue Spruce is a very pretty blue-green color.
• It is slightly stiffer than the Norway Spruce.

If you were creating privacy with landscape trees at the border of your property, you might consider using some Norway Spruce and one Blue Spruce. When doing this, start with a few Norway Spruce. Then add a Blue Spruce and continue with some more Norway Spruce.



Douglas Fir

• This tree is similar to Norway Spruce, except that the needles are softer.
• It is a great plant to use if you do not have a deer problem.

• Cryptomeria, or Japanese Cedar, tends to be a little bit more ornamental in nature.
• The branching of this beautiful tree is slightly weeping in form.
• This tree should be used alone as a focal point or at the corner of a house.
• Cryptomeria is much narrower than Norway Spruce or Douglas Fir and thus easier to use near the house in many residential landscapes.

• The leaves are different than the others since their leaves are broad leaved and serrated.
• The females produce colorful red berries in abundance for winter interest.

When I was at Rutgers University getting my degree in Landscape Architecture, I often visited Rutgers Gardens which had a magnificent display of American Hollies, planted by Dr.Orten many years prior. Although American Hollies are known to do well with some shade, those at Rutgers Gardens were planted in full sun and were breathtaking.

You can learn more about Rutgers Gardens and see the hollies here.



Nellie Stevens Holly

• This is a much smaller type of the American Holly.
• Foster Holly is another smaller one.
• Both of these can be more easily incorporated into the residential landscape because less space is required.

If you use any type of holly in the landscape whether it be a tree or a shrub, include one male. This is needed for the production of berries on the female plants.

I also like Eastern or Carolina Hemlock and they grow well in shady areas. However, I hesitate to recommend them due to two problems.

1. The first problem is that they are susceptible to Woolly Adelgid, which are aphid-like insects. There are treatment methods available though.
2. The second disadvantage is that they are favored by deer.

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