Evergreen Trough Garden

Whether gardening on a balcony or an acre lot there is always room for an evergreen. The many new dwarf varieties available make it easy for everyone, even balcony gardeners, to include evergreens in their landscape.

Start small with several trough gardens, though any weather resistant container will work. These planters can be placed in the garden, set on the patio or placed on a deck.

Fill the container with a well-drained potting mix. I've used dwarf spruce as a vertical accent. Add to that a gold mops chamaecyparis for a bit of color and texture and finish off the evergreen grouping with another chamaecyparis. These slow growing small plants wont need transplanting for years.

You can mix up your plantings as well. Add a stone, groundcovers like sedum or in this case I've combined Lime Rickey coral bells with Mouse Ear hosta and a chamaecyparis.

A bit more information: Always do a bit of research before buying any dwarf plant. The term dwarf simply means the plant is smaller than the standard species. Many gardeners have been surprised when their dwarf euonymus outgrew the spot in front of their bay window. Check the tag, your landscape professional and reliable internet sources and catalogues. The American Conifer Society has adopted the following size classification for conifers (cone bearing plants). Miniatures grow less than 1 inch per year and are less than 1 foot tall after 10 years. Dwarf conifers grow 1 to 6 inches in a year and are 1 to 6 feet tall after 10 years. Intermediate conifers grow 6 to 12 inches a year and are 6 to 15 feet tall after 10 years. Large conifers grow more than 12 inches a reach and reach heights greater than 15 feet in 10 years.