What are coniferous trees and bushes, names and photos

The strict outlines of conifers are always relevant in any landscape design. In the summer, they are perfectly combined with the lawn and other flowering crops, shading them favorably, and in winter they save the backyard area with its bright branching from grayness and lifelessness. In addition, the air is infinitely endowed with clean, enriched with healing essential oils. The unjustified superstitions about banning the cultivation of such crops in private farms have sunk into oblivion. Modern gardeners no longer think their garden without evergreen decorations. And to choose the needle beauty is what. Look at which of the conifers is right for you.

Spruce

Tall slender conifers of fir trees in the garden very spectacular in single and composite plantings. Some craftsmen construct unique hedges from them. Today's spruce is no longer just a tall culture that is familiar to us from childhood, with a cone-shaped narrow crown and dry lower branches. Regularly the range of prickly beauties is renewed by decorative varieties. For landings in home plots the following are in demand:

• "Acrocona" (at a mature age it reaches a height of 3 m and a width of 4 m);
• "Inversa" (spruce trees of this variety up to 7 m high and up to 2 m wide);
• "Maxwellii" (is a compact tree with a height and width of up to 2 m.);
• "Nidiformis" (such a spruce is no more than a meter high and about 1.5 m wide);
• "Ohlendorfii" (the trunk of an adult tree is drawn up to 6 m, crown with a diameter up to 3 m);
• "Glauca" (spruce with blue needles, this beautiful garden decoration is often used in compositions with deciduous trees).

Fir

Fir is a magnificent tree from the Pine family (Pinaceae). Among other conifers, it is distinguished by growing up purple cones and flat needles. The needles are shiny and soft, they are dark green above and each one is marked with a white stripe below. Young seedlings grow very long, and from the age of 10, development accelerates and lasts until the roots die off.Despite the prevalence of fir, many find it difficult to answer, it is a coniferous or deciduous tree. Among gardeners, varieties of decorative balsamic fir are in demand:

• "Columnaris" (columnar);
• "Prostrate" (branches grow horizontally, their length is up to 2.5 m);
• "Nana" (tree up to 50 cm high and 1 m wide, crown rounded flat);
• "Argenta" (silver needles, each needle has a white tip);
• "Glauca" (blue needles with a waxy coating);
• "Variegata" (different yellow spot on the needles).

Juniper

In the list of conifers, juniper is in the lead by bactericidal properties. The plant appeared more than 50 million years ago. Today, scientists classify it to the Cypress family and distinguish about 70 species, of which only nine are cultivated in Ukraine.

Among the juniper variety there are 30-meter giants and 15-centimeter stanits. Each of them has its own characteristics, not only in the form of crowns and studs, but also in the requirements for conditions and care. In the garden, such a culture will look and rockeries, and in the rock garden, and as a hedge. Most often in the gardens there are common juniper varieties:

• "Gold Cone" (height reaches 4 m, and the width is 1 m, the branches form a dense narrowly conical shape);
• "Hibernika" (trunk of a mature tree up to 3.5 m high, crown narrow, columnar, 1 m in diameter);
• "Green Carpet" (dwarf variety up to 50 cm tall and 1.5 m in volume, crown groundcover);
• "Suecica" (shrub pulled up to 4 m and expands in breadth to 1 m, kolonovidnaya crown).

Cedar

Do you know which conifers are more common in aristocratic English gardens? Of course, cedars. They peculiarly frame the entire landscape gardening landscape. Such trees have become an integral part of the decoration of the main entrance or the extensive lawn in front of the house. Cedars at the same time create an atmosphere of home comfort and solemnity. In addition, dwarf forms are widely used for bonsai.

In their natural form, these trees majestically rise in the mountains at an altitude of up to 3 thousand meters above sea level and seem to be real giants. Wild breeds grow to a height of 50 m. And although humanity has known about this plant for more than 250 years, scientists still cannot come to a single number of cedar species.

Some argue that all mature trees are identical and suggest the existence of only the Lebanese breed, others additionally highlight the Himalayan, Atlas and short-coniferous species. In the database of the international project "Catalog of Life", which deals with the inventory of all known species of flora and fauna on the planet, information is given on the above listed species, with the exception of the short conifer.

Taking into account the experience of experts - participants in the project, who managed to collect information about 85% of all life on earth, we will adhere to their classification of all coniferous trees.

Cedar has many decorative forms, differing in the length of needles, color of needles, sizes:

• "Glauca" (with blue needles);
• "Vreviramulosa" (with rare long skeletal branches);
• "Stricta" (columnar crown formed by dense short branches, slightly raised upwards);
• "Pendula" (branches easily fall down);
• "Tortuosa" (different winding main branches);
• "Nana" (dwarf variety);
• "Nana Pyramidata" (undersized tree with branches aspiring upwards).

Cypress

These evergreens from the Cypress genus in their native environment grow to a height of 70 meters and very much resemble cypress trees. Through the efforts of breeders, the culture of such conifers is actively replenished with the names of new varieties that will satisfy every taste.

In landscape design, low-growing varieties are often used to create a hedge, medium trees are planted alone or in compositions, dwarfs are planted in rock gardens and mixborders. The plant fits easily into all design ensembles garden design, differs fluffy and soft needles. Hitting the needles, you will feel a pleasant touch, and not a bristly tingling.

A great success with gardeners enjoy dwarf varieties that do not exceed 360 cm in height.Such popularity is due to the versatility and decorativeness of coniferous bushes. Today the most popular varieties are:

• "Ericoides" (tupeiform cypress up to 1.5 m tall, kovopodnoy form);
• "Nana Gracilis" (by the age of 10 it grows up to half a meter, the crown is round or conical);
• "Ellwoodii" (a tree with a kolonovidnoy crown, transformed with age into a pyramidal, by ten years grows to 1.5 m);
• "Minima Aurea" (the plant belongs to the dwarf, its crown resembles a rounded pyramid);
• "Compacta" (different dense branches, neat crown up to 1 m);

Cypress

In their natural environment, these plants are evergreen trees or shrubs with a crown in the shape of a cone or a pyramid, a slender trunk, covered with thick bark, pressed against the branches of leaves and ripening cones in the second year. Scientists know about 25 species of cypress trees, of which about a dozen are used in gardening. And each of them has its own requirements and whims for growing conditions and care. Common cypress varieties:

• "Benthamii" (graceful crown, blue-green needles);
• "Lindleyi" (distinguished by bright green needles and large cones);
• "Tristis" (crown colonic, branches grow down);
• "Aschersoniana" (short form);
• "Сompacta" (cypress develops in the form of a shrub, has a rounded crown and bluish needles);
• "Сonica" (keg-shaped crown and blue needles with a smoky shade, does not tolerate frost);
• "Fastigiata" (chunky form with smoky-blue needles);
• "Glauca" (crown more prone to kolonovidnoy, silver needles, not cold-resistant variety).

Larch

Focusing on the name, many do not consider this tree coniferous and deeply mistaken. In fact, larch belongs to the family of Sosnovykh and is the most common breed of coniferous crops. Outwardly, this tall slender tree looks like a Christmas tree, but every autumn it drops its needles.

The trunk of larch in favorable conditions washes to reach a diameter of 1 m and 50 m in height. The bark is thick, covered with deep furrows of brown color. The branches grow chaotically upward under the slope, forming an auric cone-shaped crown. Needles 4 cm long, soft, flattened, bright green. Botanists distinguish 14 species of larch. The following varieties are popular in gardening:

• "Viminalis" (weeping);
• "Corley" (cushion);
• "Repens" (with creeping branches);
• "Cervicornis" (twisted branches);
• "Kornik" (spherical, used as a graft on a stem);
• "Blue Dwarf" (characterized by short stature and bluish needles);
• "Diana" (slowly stretched up to 2 m, the crown resembles a ball, the branches are slightly spiral, the needles are smoky green);
• "Stiff Weeper" (it is distinguished by long shoots creeping over the soil, needles with a bluish tint, often grafted onto a stem)
• "Wolterdinger" (a dense crown-like dome develops slowly).

Pine

There are about 115 species of pine trees (Pinus) in the world, but seventeen are common in Ukraine, and only eleven of them are cultivated. They differ from other coniferous pines with fragrant needles located on branches in bunches of 2 to 5 pieces each. Depending on their number, they determine the pine species.

For garden collections, breeders have deduced many miniature forms with slow growth. In large-scale forest-park areas, giant natural pine species are more common.In small adjoining areas and in the backyard, low-growing varieties of pine trees will look spectacular. Such evergreen bushes can be defined in a rock garden, on a lawn or in a mixborder. The popular varieties of mountain pine, which is found in the wild on the western European slopes and reaches a height of 1.5 to 12 m:

• "Gnom" (characterized by a height and a crown diameter of 2 m, needles up to 4 cm long);
• "Columnaris" (shrub up to 2.5 m tall and up to 3 m wide, the needles are long and dense);
• "Mops" (trunk height up to 1.5 m, branches form a spherical shape);
• "Mini Mops" (shrub reaches up to 60 cm, grows up to 1 m in diameter, cushion crown);
• "Globosa Viridis" (height and width of a pine bush about 1 m, ovoid shape, needles up to 10 cm long).

Thuja

The ornamental ornamental cultivars are compact in almost every botanical garden and park. RThe asthenia from the family of Cypress trees is cultivated in Ukraine exclusively as an evergreen decoration. Gardeners in a review note the resistance of the culture to rotting, severe frosts and drought.

Thuja has a powerful surface rhizome, branches growing upwards, forming the shape of a column or a pyramid, scaly dark leaves, small cones ripening in the first year.Also weeping, creeping and dwarf varieties. The leading species of the western thuja (occidentalis), which is distinguished by a fast-growing, powerful trunk, reaching a height of 7 m, and branching up to 2 m in diameter are leading. The needles of such a shrub are always green, regardless of the season. A rich orange shade of needles differs grade 'Сloth of Gold', in winter the branches get a copper tide. Such specimens are best cultivated in shady areas with neutral soil.

The dense crown in the form of a narrow 7-meter column is created by the branches of the middle-grade variety 'Columna'.It can be seen from a distance on a dark green needles with a brilliant tint that does not change neither in winter nor in summer. This tree is frost resistant, not demanding to care. For smaller gardens, compact 'Holmstrup' varieties are suitable, which grow to a height of 3 meters and branch out to a volume of up to 1 m, forming a lush conical shape of a saturated green color.

The variety has high frost resistance, tolerates pruning, is used mainly to create hedges. Gardeners consider Smaragd to be one of the best varieties of cone crown. An adult tree reaches 4 m in height and 1.5 m in width. In young specimens, branches form a narrow cone, and as it ages it expands. Needles juicy, green with a glossy sheen. In the care requires a moist soil.

Kupressciparis

It is a very decorative evergreen tree of kolonovidnoy shape, in adulthood reaching 20 meters in height. Shoots grow intensively, annually adding up to 1 m. The branches are covered with scaly leaves, developing in one plane. The fruits are small. For many, such a marvelous name is a discovery; therefore, in Ukraine, it is possible to meet kupressiparis except in the areas of advanced collectors and ardent landscapers.In native Britain, where the hybrid is cultivated, it is used to create a hedge, especially since the culture easily adapts after pruning. In Ukraine, the most common varieties kupressoparisa Leyland:

• "Castlewellan Gold". It is characterized by resistance to winds and frost, not demanding in the care. It has a bright golden crown. Young branches of purple shade.
• "Robinson's Gold". Dense green branches form a pin-like wide crown of a bronze-yellow color.
• "Leithon Green". It is a tree with an open crown of yellowish-green color. The branches are located asymmetrically, the trunk is clearly visible.
• "Green Spire". Hybrid with bright yellowish leaves and slightly cocorate form.
• "Haggerston Gray". Differs in loose gray-green branches.

Cryptomeria

In Japan, this majestic coniferous giant is considered a national tree. It can be found not only in wild forests and on mountain slopes, but also in the design of park alleys.Evergreen cryptomeria grows by 150 years to a height of 60 m, in favorable conditions it does not hug its trunk - in girth it can reach 2 m.

Branches with a light or dark shade of needles create a narrow dense crown. In some trees for the winter, the needles are poured in a reddish or yellowish tone. To the touch they are not prickly, in appearance - short, awl-shaped. Cones are round, small, brown, ripen throughout the year. Botanists classify cryptomeria to the Cypress family and are distinguished into a single species. The Eastern origin of the culture explains its parallel names.

In the people, the tree is often called the "Japanese cedar", which causes resentment among scientists, since there is nothing in common with cryptomeria with cedar. Also used adverbs "Shan" (Chinese) and "sugi" (Japanese). Contemplating a majestic tree in the wild, it is difficult to even imagine that it can be grown in a home farm or in an apartment. But breeders took care of this by creating a variety of ornamental dwarf forms, reaching a height of no more than 2 m. The varieties of these conifers are represented by the varieties: 'Bandai-sugi', 'Elegans compacta', 'Araucarioides', 'Vilmoriniana', 'Dacrydioides' and globular 'Compress', 'Globosa'.

Yew

These are evergreen trees or shrubs belonging to the Tisov family, with a purple-smoky bark of smooth or lamellar structure and soft long needles. Scientists distinguish 8 species of the genus, which are common in Europe, North America, Africa and East Asia. In Ukraine, only berry yew (European) grows in its natural environment.

The species is a large tree up to 20 m tall with reddish-brown bark, lanceolate leaves with a narrowed base on short legs. On top of the needle glossy dark green, and the bottom is light matte. In the care, these representatives of coniferous trees replenish the list of undemanding crops. Yew needles are dangerous for animals, can cause severe poisoning and even death. Garden species of yew amaze with a wide range. Due to the good adaptability of the plant to pruning it is used to create borders and various green shapes. Each type has its own characteristics. The most common varieties:

• "Aurea". Dwarf yew up to 1 m, with dense small needles of yellow color.
• "Pyramidalis". The undersized pyramidal shape, becomes loose with age.The needles are longer at the base of the branches and shorter at the top. Bush height 1 m, width 1.5 m.
• "Capitata". The crown in the form of a pin grows rapidly, has one or more trunks.
• "Columnaris". The crown is wide columnar. With age, the top becomes wider than the base.
• "Densa". Slowly growing, female plant, crown wide, flattened.
• "Expansa". Crown in the form of a vase, tubeless, with an open center.
• "Farmen". Short yew with a wide crown and dark needles.

When choosing evergreen scenery for your garden or house plot, you need to know not only what coniferous trees and shrubs are, the names of their species and varieties, but it is also important to understand the features of growth, final sizes, crown shape, development rates, and care.Otherwise, instead of a luxurious decoration in the garden, you can get a highly branched monster that will create a shadow for all living things around.