Cottage Gardening – Conifers

It cannot be said that conifers played a vital role in the cottage gardens of the past, except for perhaps yew and pine. However, that is not to say that they cannot be in­cluded now if chosen with care. We must not exclude plants merely because they were not widely cultivated when the cottage gar­den was in vogue. The sensible gardener will wish to use everything that is suitable and at his disposal, and there is a tremen­dous diversity of form and colour available to those who contemplate planting conifers in their garden. This wide range of material not only embraces those species and culti­vars which are sufficiently modest to be able to reach maturity in the garden, but also trees which we might more readily associate with the forester.

I am always surprised by the scant atten­tion that we pay our taller growing timber trees. Obviously they are much too vigorous to be incorporated in any long term garden design, but many are attractive in their juvenile state and can be a real asset to the garden in its formative life. The Colorado white fir, Abies concolor, is an excellent example. A bold upright tree with a broad sweeping skirt of grey-green foliage. Under garden conditions the life of such a tree is very restricted (say, 10—15 years), but the years of pleasure that it provides more than compensate for the moment of agony when it has to be felled. Of course purists will disagree with such a practice and doggedly advocate the use of conifers which will not outgrow their positions. Those who follow this belief and want a fir in their garden will have to be content with Abies koreana.

The majority of gardeners associate con­ifers with the Lawson’s cypress Chamaecy-paris lawsoniana, the usual but variable upright growing conifer with green foliage which appears in most modern gardens. Not always in its original form, but often as different named cultivars of almost every shape, size and hue imaginable. There is the slow growing, columnar grey-green ‘Ell-woodii’ and its nearly indistinguishable cou­sin ‘Fletcheri’ as well as the vigorous green ‘Erecta Viridis’, ‘Kilmacurragh’ and ‘Pot-tenii’. There are the rich golden-yellow cul­tivars ‘Stewartii’ and ‘Golden King’ as well as the incomparable steely-blue ‘Allumii’. All are excellent garden plants and each has at least one lesser known counterpart of equal merit which deserves much wider plantings; cultivars like ‘Green Hedger’ and ‘Winston Churchill’ for example.

With the former it is probably the unfor­tunate name that has led to this lack of popularity, for although first class for screening it is also a very good specimen conifer. Of dense habit, it is liberally clothed with splendid rich green foliage. ‘Winston Churchill’ on the other hand cannot blame its lack of popularity upon its name. Nor can any fault be found with its broad columnar habit or bright golden foliage. The reason that this cultivar has not replaced either ‘Stewartii’ or ‘Golden King’ in modern gar­dens is quite baffling, for it is without doubt the best golden chamaecyparis of all.

Not all the best cultivars are medium or tall growing, for C. lawsoniana has sired a number of very fine dwarf conifers as well -splendid little fellows like ‘Minima Glauca’ and ‘Forsteckensis’. Both of these are slow growing and ultimately form dense globular bushes. The foliage of ‘Forsteckensis’ being congested and much divided, while that of ‘Minima Glauca’ is produced in neat upright-sprays arranged in much the same manner as the pages of a book. These are a rich green with just a tinge of blue, whereas the foliage of ‘Forsteckensis’ is dull green and devoid of any lustre.

Dwarf and slow growing forms are abun­dant amongst the thujas, the majority being derived from the American arbor vitae; Thuja occidentalis ‘Rheingold’ is undoub­tedly the best of these. A rich golden mound of foliage with a coppery flush during the winter. It can be rather variable, some plants exhibiting a rather coarse and open habit while others display fine feathery foli­age which grows into a neat tight ball. The Chinese arbor-vitae, T. orientalis has also given rise to several slow growing cultivars, notable amongst these being ‘Rose-dalis’. This is a strange little conifer which makes a rounded bush of blue-green foliage flushed with the golden-green of young growth in spring, but turning pinkish-purple during the winter. ‘Cuprea’ which is derived from T. plicata, also has variable coloration, the entire bush sparkling with golden-yellow juvenile foliage.

Thuja plicata has also given us the de­lightful little ‘Rogersii’. This is a very slow growing pyramidal form with crowded foli­age of bronze and gold. A first class dwarf, it does appreciate protection from searing winds or scorching sun as its new growth is rather tender and vulnerable to burning. Of course the parent of this little beauty, T. plicata, is itself very resilient, only suffering in the very occasional harsh winters that we have to endure. A native of western North America, it is popularly known as western red cedar and will ultimately attain quite a size. It has a handsome pyramidal outline when grown as a specimen and possesses the most agreeable fruity aroma which is enhanced if you run your fingers through the foliage on a warm summer’s day.