June: Two Evergreen Conifers for Impact

Two trees which can give extra interest to summer borders are Pinus mugo, Swiss Mountain Pine, and Cupressus sempervirens, Italian cypress. Both are conifers but with a completely different look and feel.

Pinus mugo is a dwarf conifer with an open rounded habit, it can be pruned to keep it smaller. There are also a number of compact cultivars, one of the most easily available is P. ‘Mops’ with a height and spread, after 10 years, of 30 x 30” and also several with gold foliage later in the year including P. ‘Ophir’ and P. ‘Winter Gold’. All Pinus prefer well drained soil in an open sunny site.

Pinus mugo looks good in hot sunny borders or even gravel gardens where they provide winter presence and permanent low level punctuation points. Christopher Lloyd has combined them with bright red tulips for spring interest. Summer flowers such as orange californian poppies look good along with taller flowers such as verbascums and gladiolus byzantinus. They do well in containers and add foliage interest to a group of summer pots.

Cupressus semperiverns is at the other end of the scale, a tall vertical tree with a narrow columnar habit much loved in Mediterranean gardens. The form fastigiata has the most narrow upright shape and would grow to around 15’ by 2’ in 10 years, eventually 50’. This is not always fully hardy in the UK although round here in a warm position sheltered from cold winds, particularly when young, it should be ok. A smaller and hardier alternative with a similar look would be one of the Juniperus communis cultivars such as J. ‘Hibernica’ or J. ‘Sentinel’ both at around 6’ by 1’and eventually 12-15’. Both of these may need some light pruning to keep their distinct upright shape and this should be done in the spring just before new growth starts. Taxus baccata ‘Fastigiata Robusta’ or the Irish Yew is another similar tree, but with more distinct foliage, that only gets to around 6’ by 1’ after 10 years but is larger in the long term at 30’ but more easily pruned as yew re-grows from old wood.

All these trees are wonderful for introducing a sense of structure and height to borders. They are often seen at the corners of formal borders, sometimes within box hedging, often with roses. They can also make striking focal points in mixed borders and lift what might otherwise be somewhat soft planting.

CAF