In landscape design, it was previously believed that coniferous crops are difficult to combine when decorating a space. Now such ideas have disappeared. Now lonely growing thuja or spruce have become a rarity. More and more unusual and interesting solutions appear. But not all plants can normally coexist with conifers. Therefore, before creating a decorative corner on the site, you should figure out what can be planted next to evergreens.
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Conifers
One of the best solutions is a combination of several varieties of conifers. The overall picture looks noble and natural when mixing related textures.
It is worth choosing plants that are much lower than the main one and differ greatly in shade. Thanks to this, the structure of the composition will be traced.
An excellent choice would be medium yew, Canadian hemlock Jeddeloh, various varieties of juniper, etc.
Combination with cereals
For those who are trying to grow a small island of forest on their site, a good option would be to use the usual conifers and grasses characteristic of the area. Of the trees, you should pay attention to those that stand out for their beautiful crown shape and attractive a shade of needles, since in the natural environment perfectly round thuja or blue are rarely found junipers.
To create a composition, you can choose an ordinary, coastal or Cossack juniper, spruce with green needles, pine, western thuja, Korean fir.
Coniferous plants will be the basis of the future piece of the forest. After planting them, you should proceed to the choice of cultivated or semi-wild cereals. To complement the picture, spreading pine forest, feather grass, fescue, and spike are well suited. The first step is to pay attention not to the color of the plants, but to their height. The fact is that some of them grow up to two meters in height, which is why they will begin to overlap the basis of the composition.
It should also be remembered that not all ornamental cereals are capable of withstanding severe winters. If you do not want to take shelter every autumn, then it is better to choose winter-hardy plants.
Supplement with perennial flowers
Very often, conifers are combined with lush and bright perennial flowers. Usually clematis, phlox, roses, hydrangeas, rhododendrons, daylilies are planted nearby. If you want the coniferous corner on the site to wake up one of the first after winter, then you can plant early flowering crops: bulbous and forest primroses. Hyacinths, redwoods, crocuses, muscari, pushkinia and other small but vibrant plants bring early spring to the garden.
For spring flowers, conifers will be an excellent backdrop, but such a neighborhood has a certain nuance. All large trees greatly increase the acidity of the soil around them, so most flowers (roses are especially sensitive in this regard) will find it difficult to survive in such conditions. Juniper and thuja acidify the soil less than others, and fir, spruce and pine are the most acidic.
There are two ways to cope with this problem: every 1-2 years, carry out acidity control and, if it will be necessary to regulate it or plant perennial flowers next to small and non-aggressive evergreens cultures. But there are also unpretentious flowers that, with such a neighborhood, practically do not suffer and remain decorative.
Planting with annuals
By planting annual herbs and flowers, you can change the appearance of the composition every year. When choosing an environment, you can focus on texture, color palette or season trends. If you combine annual plants with bulbous crops, you can achieve a constant change in appearance.
The easiest way will be to plant similar plants in the same color range next to the conifers or create multi-colored flower beds of different configurations, enclose them with a living border. For this, marigolds, daisies, annual flax, salvia, nigella, nasturtium and many other flowers are perfect.
Most often, conifers are planted in places where careful maintenance of the garden is not carried out, but at the same time there is a desire to preserve a beautiful overall picture. This can be achieved by planting unpretentious annual plants directly into the ground.
Combination with deciduous shrubs
For a long time, many believed that planting conifers with deciduous ones was wrong. Experts argued that these plants require different soil and this planting option does not look very harmonious. But this point of view is only suitable for certain plants. For example, it is undesirable to plant bird cherry or birch next to evergreens, since they will take most of the nutrients from the soil.
The best neighbors for conifers will be, for example, Japanese spirea or barberry. They contrast perfectly with their bright orange, burgundy, golden leaves against the background of green or blue needles. This planting option will make the composition rich, bright and attractive.
Do you plant conifers on the site?
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