Conifers

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Choosing & Growing Conifer Trees Whilst Conifers can vary from low ground cover to the tallest trees in the world, all the varieties we offer have been specially selected for being suitable for growing in gardens. Most conifers have slender evergreen foliage that comes in a range of colours, but there are a few exceptions if you want something different, such as Larch that is deciduous and Ginkgo that has fan shaped, deciduous leaves. If you want to create a mixed conifer bed, make use of conifers with different colours, textures, shapes and height to ensure there is plenty of interest. Neatly shaped columnar or pyramidal conifers or those with graceful weeping branches make excellent specimen trees with impact. Columnar conifers, such as Cupressus sempervirens 'Pyramidalis', are popular for avenue planting and some varieties make excellent dense, evergreen hedging. Several dwarf conifers are also suitable for pot growing. As with most newly planted trees, conifers need a good watering regime until they are established. Once established, most do not require much watering and feeding can be done on an annual basis. History of Conifers Fossils of Conifers have been dated back as far as the Carboniferous period, around 300 million years ago. The oldest tree alive today is thought to be 4,600 years old and is a Pinus longaeva, a species of Conifer. Interesting historical ancedotes include the Wright brothers first aircraft being made from the wood of Coniferous Spruce trees and Captain Cook making alcoholic, sugar based Spruce beer for his crew as it is high in Vitamin C and helped to prevent scurvy on long voyages.