Variants of compositions from conifers. Conifers in the landscape design of the summer cottage The combination of roses and conifers in landscape design

Home plot country cottage or garden house it is customary to ennoble, landscaping with various plants. Gardening art has become very relevant in our time, and each property owner seeks to create a unique landscape design. Nowadays, every real estate owner has a desire to plant greenery on his site, but not everyone can do it right, because this is not an easy task that requires certain knowledge and imagination.

Any flower garden or flower bed will look incomplete without a coniferous composition, bright greenery that will please the eye all year round and decorate the personal plot. What to choose coniferous plantings for a personal plot and how to create a composition so that it harmoniously fits in and creates a beautiful landscape design? We will try to answer this question in our article.

Coniferous compositions in garden landscaping

In modern landscape design, conifers have become as widely used as deciduous ones. This popularity is due to the fact that ephedra look great in single or group compositions. All year round they delight us with their juicy greens and pleasant aroma. Gardeners loved them not only for beautiful view, but also for other advantages:

• most coniferous varieties do not need sunlight, grow well in partial shade;
• the root system can withstand a lack of moisture for a long time, they develop well on stony soils;
• they cut well, from them you can create unique compositions thanks to the original haircut;
• they are a source of useful phytoncides, which has a beneficial effect on the physical and psychological state;
• conifers take root in a smoky urban environment;
• cones growing on conifers attract birds, and fills any household plot with life all year round;
• perform a windproof function.

Evergreens can add uniqueness and freshness to any area, they are beautiful in themselves, and also help to create unique compositions with many plants. With conifers you can create beautiful groups if you take them as a basis, they will always stand out and focus on themselves.

If you look closely at the photos of various compositions, you will notice that hedges are easily created from conifers, garden partitions that will divide the site into zones.

In addition to the aesthetic effect, evergreens are of great benefit to the surrounding nature and people. They qualitatively absorb dust and noise, prevent some viruses, bacteria and insects from multiplying intensively, create a unique microclimate in the landscaping area.

How to use ephedra in landscaping?

Landscapers are familiar with the rules for using conifers in creating compositions in large and small areas. Most real estate owners cannot invite a specialist, so they are forced to independently embody their ideas and skills, using various information, landscape design photos. To create a composition correctly, you need adhere to the basic rules:

In the rules for creating a design, you must follow the right combination colors as conifers have a wide range of colors... Among these rules, the following are distinguished:

• you cannot use more than two in color in the composition of their three elements;
• if the composition consists of three units, then there should be no more than three different in color;
• if you plan to create a large composition, then it is better to divide it into groups of 3 elements, observing the rules of two shades.

It is advisable to think over the combination of elements in advance before buying plants and creating compositions in your garden. In addition, it is important to take into account the color of the conifers, when they become adults, the size of their crown. If you neglect such advice, then the integrity of the composition will be violated.

Which conifers to plant in the garden?

The variety of species of conifers and shrubs allows you to create, even in small areas, various compositions, original and unusual in beauty... Most often, the following are used in the design of the site:

Before planting them, you need to know which plants will grow nearby, because some of them do not look close or grow poorly. Here also has its own rules:

• cypress does not like cold climatic conditions, it will grow poorly;
• conifers do not like the neighborhood with larch;
• it is better not to plant it close to spruce trees;
• you should not plant cedar and pine, fir and spruce next to it.

All conifers are divided into three large groups, each of them has its own height, crown size, which is very important to take into account so that a few years after planting the composition does not lose its attractiveness.

• Tall
• Medium height
• Creeping varieties and shrubs

Tall conifers are not often used in landscape design, since they take up a lot of space in adjoining territory. This group of plants includes:

Many gardeners prefer medium-sized coniferous plants:

• evergreen has a very attractive appearance, it grows slowly, which is liked by lovers of landscape design;
• Yew berry, as you can see in the photo, looks wonderful on a green area, a fruiting shrub has beautiful needles;
• Thuja is medium-sized looks like a spherical plant, it has densely spaced vertical branches;
• Golden yew looks in the shape of a bowl, its needles are yellowish, it develops excellently in a shady area next to other conifers.

Creeping conifers occupy a special niche in landscape design, without them the site cannot look full, these include:

• common spruce Lombres, its name does not correspond to reality, it looks very extraordinary in its beauty, its emerald needles spread densely along the ground;
• thuja Timi Tini has a spherical shape and does not require frequent watering;
• the Mountain Hampi pine is very popular in the creation of rock gardens; in the cold season, its buds turn red;
• The miniature pug grows with a soft and fluffy pillow, which always looks nice against the general background.

Ideas for creating coniferous compositions

Coniferous hedges can be called classics in the design of sites, they create dense rows of evergreen plantings. It is necessary to select varieties that are convenient and easy to cut, giving the desired shape crown - pyramidal, spherical or columnar... For this, one variety of conifers is always selected.

The second option is with an emphasis on the element on the lawn, for this a variety with a fancy crown is selected and sits in the central part of the flower bed. They select medium and high varieties of evergreens, but it is desirable that the plant has a pronounced geometric shape - spherical, conical, weeping, they always look spectacular alone.

Another option is to plant group compositions; for this, varieties of the same shape and color are selected. Compositions that are different in color and shape also look very impressive, and this creates a contrast that attracts attention. Such plantings should always be thought out in advance, taking into account the size of the plants when they become adults.

In prefabricated compositions that called mixborders various plants are used. Here conifers play the main role and, against the background of other vegetation, always focus on themselves. Bright perennials should be planted next to them - rhododendrons, dwarf spireas, heathers, undersized barberries and others.

Conifers always take pride of place in any composition, for example, in rocky gardens only undersized, dwarf and creeping varieties are used.

It is believed that conifers are unpretentious, but in order for them to have an attractive appearance and pleasing to the eye, they need care. In hot weather, it is advisable to cover them from bright sunlight, and for the winter varieties that are not resistant to frost shelter from the cold... Healthy conifers will always be beautiful and will give you valuable phytoncides, oxygen, a unique aroma that you can inhale daily. Proper care will provide them long life, and your favorite garden will look lively and harmonious.

Conifers in the landscape design of a summer cottage have been used for a relatively long time. Coniferous groups are distinguished by a highly decorative appearance and are perfectly combined with deciduous and flowering plants, which makes it possible to create very beautiful and original personal plot and dacha.

Basic rules for placing conifers in the garden

Tall conifers can be used in the garden as tapeworms, as well as when creating alleys or large group compositions. Varieties and types of coniferous crops with changes in the nature of growth processes and having a crown are especially highly valued. unusual shape, as well as those differing in an unusual type or color of needles with a long-term preservation of decorative qualities.

As a rule, such plants are characterized by low height or belong to dwarf forms.... A wide variety of varieties and species allows for landscaping mixborders, as well as decorating the backyard landscape and garden spaces with ground cover plants. Successful combination with many other cultures allows you to effectively and quickly decorate rock gardens, paths along the house or the coastal zone of natural and artificial reservoirs.

Conifers in the landscape design of the suburban area

The use of such plants in the landscape design of a backyard or garden plot justified for many reasons:

• conifers do not change their color and do not lose their visual appeal all year round;
• varieties and hybrid forms differ in a variety of colors and shapes;
• such crops are able to retain dust very well and reduce external noise;
• special substances secreted by needles inhibit the spread of bacterial and viral infections;
• able to enrich the air with oxygen and a significant amount of phytoncides.

Regardless of what varieties of forms are used to decorate the landscape, such vegetation is attractive and very useful. Typically, collections include ephedra of different growth rates.

How to use ephedra in landscape design (video)

Stunted species

All undersized species are presented:

• dwarf species with an annual growth rate of 80-150 mm;
• miniature species with an annual growth of 30-80 mm;
• microscopic species with an annual growth of no more than 30 mm.

The most popular undersized species and varieties in landscape design:

• common spruce Beech. Has a dense flattened crown, an increase of one and a half centimeters and apical branches. Growth is predominantly wide;
• Kempfer's Blue Dwarf larch is a very short and slow-growing cultivar with a round and dense crown and hanging ends of branches;
• Canadian hemlock Tracilis variety "Oldenburg" refers to slow-growing dwarf forms about 25-30 cm high and a crown diameter of 40-50 cm;
• dwarf variety "Los" with stanza type of growth and highly decorative bluish-green needles;
• miniature fir of the noble variety "Abies procera" is one of the most popular conifers;
• hemlock Canadian varieties"Jeddeloh" is currently the most common dwarf form with a semicircular shape and spirally arranged branches;
• dwarf thuja western variety "Danika" with a height of no more than 80 cm has a dense and spherical crown with a diameter of 100 cm with a scaly, dense, light green or brownish-green crown.

Depending on the level of illumination, soil and climatic characteristics and care, the height of the crop may vary.

Medium-sized conifers

Plants of medium vigor are less demanding in maintenance and harmoniously complement deciduous shrubs, and also go well with roses different types.

The most popular medium-sized types and forms in landscape design:

• Serbian has flexible thin shoots hanging along the stem;
• Blue Diamonds has a tall, thin trunk and a neatly formed conical crown;
• Canadian spruce of the "Piccolo" variety is distinguished by a bright and elegant above-ground part with the presence of emerald-green needles, which casts blue under the sun's rays;
• evergreen spruce "Konika" has a very attractive and original appearance, as well as slow growth, which is why it is very popular in our country;
• a medium-sized fruiting berry shrub yew has very beautiful needles, which makes it look great when decorating the local area and recreation area;
• medium-sized thuja is an unusual spherical plant, consisting of dense and vertical branches;
• golden yew is characterized by a cupped crown shape and needles in a yellowish color, and is also perfect for growing in shaded areas.

Landscaping is not always able to look full if the overall design picture is not complemented by tall conifers.

Tall conifers

For decoration with tall plants, planting of thuja, pine and spruce is often used, which are distinguished by their unpretentiousness and durability.

The most popular tall species and forms in landscape design:

• Vatereri pine is an evergreen large shrub with a columnar, dense or looser, umbrella-shaped, very picturesque crown and a reddish trunk;
• The blue sun-loving Hoopsii spruce has a stable and predictable growth, reaching a height of 10 m with a width of 4 m;
• The "pencil tree" or Skyrocket juniper is an upright shrub or tree up to 12 m high by 5 m wide;
• evergreen shrub with a spherical aerial part up to 4 m high and no more than 5 m wide with golden-yellow or greenish-yellow needles;
• thorny tall spruce "Hoopsie" reaches a height of 13-15 m and has dense needles of silver-blue color;
• »Reaches a height of 3 m and has a very beautiful crown conical shape with blue needles;
• western thuja is most often used in the creation of hedges, easily tolerates haircuts and reaches a height of 5 m.

Tall conifers should be planted in strict accordance with technology and taking into account their growth force.

Creeping varieties

V last years especially popular when decorating small backyard gardens ground cover or creeping highly decorative varieties are increasingly used:

• spruce "Lombers" ordinary is one of the most popular and demanded shrubs creeping on the ground with an attractive emerald green coloration;
• European larch variety "Repens" is a very attractive low-growing creeping plant with weeping branches lying on the ground;
• thuja "Timi-Tini" is a spherical, rather drought-resistant plant that does not require special attention and abundant watering;
• mountain pine "Hampi" is most often used for decorative design rock gardens, and in winter time the buds on the plant acquire a very attractive red tint;
• pug miniature is able to grow on the surface of the ground with a very attractive and uniform fluffy pillow.

No less popular are pillow-shaped and weeping spruces, as well as "Blue Forest", with a height of 20-40 cm with needle-shaped and very prickly needles.

How to make a composition of ephedra (video)

Compositions from conifers: options and compilation rules

Ephedra are great in combination with other conifers and green spaces. Before composing compositions, it is very important to determine the width of growth of such a culture and the characteristics of care.

Deciduous shrubs and conifers

Decorative landscape compositions on a personal plot must necessarily include a wide variety of elements that look the most attractive and advantageous.

It should be remembered that not all cultures get along well with each other, and that is why, when combining different representatives on the same site flora, it is very important to consider their main biological features... This rule especially applies to varieties of juniper, which can be affected by "rust".

Arrangements of thuja and conifers

Vegetation with blue needles looks great against a green background. In such compositions, it is necessary to plant thuja in the background, and arrange the foreground dwarf thuja and rocky juniper.

Tall coniferous vegetation in the form of spruces and pines, located near garden stairs or retaining walls, complemented by medium-sized thuja and low-growing deciduous crops, is most harmoniously combined. It must be remembered that pine with cedar and thuja with spruce take root quite hard, so such combinations should be minimized.

Conifers with roses and other garden flowers

Coniferous crops are beautiful not only in themselves, but also very well combined in all kinds of compositions with a variety of decorative deciduous or flowering plants. They serve as an excellent backdrop for beautifully flowering deciduous crops such as roses, rhododendrons and hydrangeas. The palette of colors, shades and textures can be very diverse.

Beautiful compositions of conifers

When performing the arrangement of conifers, it is very important to take into account the growth characteristics of the plant. d, as well as the state and development of the crown of culture in adulthood, which will not allow the harmony of the composition to be disrupted over time. Experts recommend, when independently creating a landscape composition, adhere to the basic principles of contrast and place popular low-growing crops with a spherical crown in the foreground of tall pyramidal conifers.

In the role of the top, the prickly spruce of the Bialobok variety, as well as the western thuja of the Smaragd and Yellow Ribbon varieties, the common juniper of the Hibernica and Meyer slots, or the berry yew have proven themselves to be the best. Conica gray spruce can dominate very effectively. Plants with different crown shapes can be planted in the second tier. In coniferous mixborders, cultures of various heights, crown shapes, and crown coloration should be selected.

Group plantings can be diversified with bright flowering rhododendrons, evergreen haulteria, heathers or variegated shrubs.

Protecting the coniferous garden from the sun and frost

V winter period conifers suffer the least from low-temperature regimes, and the main danger for them is frosty and drying wind. The varieties grown in areas with little snow and frosty areas, as well as on the territory of Siberia and the Far East, require special attention.

It is advisable to bring a container not too bulky plant indoors for the winter. If necessary, you can cover the street container culture with ordinary spruce branches, creating a kind of "hut". Conifers of open ground require insulation trunk circle a layer of sawdust, straw, peat or pine needles, after which the stem is wrapped with non-woven material or burlap.

Polyethylene for winter shelter does not fit. It is advisable to install screens or screens in order to protect against gusty winds and spring sun rays. A sprawling coniferous plant needs to bind branches and build a canopy or screen. Such adult crops as cedar, yew, fir, spruce and pine need shelter for the winter.

How to plant conifers (video)

For growing almost any variety of conifers in a backyard landscape, areas that are well protected from cold gusty winds and bright sunlight are optimal. It is best to acquire such plants in nurseries where the culture has already passed the initial stage of adaptation to agro-climatic conditions in a particular region.

In recent years, conifers have become more and more popular in landscape design. They are often used to create beautiful compositions and are reliable for different areas. This is due to the excellent combination of conifers with deciduous plants, stones, herbs, flowers, plus a variety of species, differences in shades, shapes and sizes, as well as a unique healing aroma that fills the air, and year-round decorativeness.

Compact coniferous composition in front of the house

Features of creating rockeries from conifers in front of the house

Rockery is a gently sloping garden that uses stones, flowers, shrubs and, in some cases, dwarf trees. The basic principles of creating a rockery in front of the house:

• the absence of a clearly pronounced tiered;
• to create a plot pattern, a combination of large stones with gravel bedding is used;
• the basis of the plant composition is conifers, or rather them;
• when choosing plants, preference should be given to the most unpretentious representatives of conifers.

A simple composition of unpretentious conifers

It is customary to distinguish 3 main types of rockeries, depending on the flora characteristic of certain natural areas: European, English Japanese. The first is usually decorated with plants that grow in the middle lane... When creating an English rockery, the main emphasis is on the restraint of the composition, the main plants here are cereals, wormwood and some types of coniferous shrubs etc. is predominance of stones, with a minimum amount of vegetation.

English

The landscape is complemented by steppe grasses

European

Composition of conifers in front of the house in the shade of a deciduous tree

Japanese

In this photo, conifers replace mosses, framing a path that imitates a river, but it is not difficult to imagine spherical thuja in place of mossy islets.

There are other types, but these are the most common, so to speak, classic. If you want to be original, for example, you can create a mobile rockery, which will represent a fragment of a gently sloping garden, placed in some container. It can be something like a hollowed-out tree or an imitation of it.

How to choose a place for rockeries with conifers

One of the distinguishing features of a gentle garden from an alpine slide is that the former does not require abundant lighting. Therefore, when choosing a place for rockeries, there should not be any particular difficulties. It will look harmoniously near the gazebo or in front of the windows of the house, near a decorative reservoir.

It is important that the site is level, even if it is on a slope, there should be no pronounced level differences.

Composition of conifers on the slope.

Level drops, natural or artificial, make it possible to make a waterfall.

On a flat area.

Compositions on a flat area are relatively simple and for beginners.

Coniferous compositions in landscape design

After the place has been chosen, you should decide on the plot of the composition and first create a project on paper. Here, too, there are subtleties and nuances.

Firstly, when drawing up a composition on paper, it is imperative to take into account sizes of stones and plants.

Second, choose the right color palette of stones, here designers recommend giving preference to yellow, brown and beige shades.

Gray stones dilute the vibrant coniferous greenery, adding a watercolor composition.

Thirdly, the main thing is achieve a natural imitation of the natural location rocky outcrops on the surface of the earth.

Ephedra can also act as an accent background for compositions from other plants.

Fencing from Verginsky juniper.

Advice - do not allow the predominance of one color.

Conifers can vary quite a bit in color. When creating a composition, the correct formation of the color scheme is important. There are also rules developed over the years:

1. For a 3-component composition, there should be 2 colors.
2. 5-component - 3 colors.
3. A multi-component composition is created from plants that are grouped according to color characteristics.

Three active colors in the composition.

In this composition, a mistake was made - the predominance of one shade of green, although a shrub with bright flowers slightly smoothes the impression of monotony.

The organic and carefully thought-out color scheme, as well as the arrangement of forms, make this composition almost perfect.

When creating compositions from coniferous trees and shrubs, it is imperative to take into account the distance from the place from which it will most often be viewed. It must be equal to or greater than two heights of the entire composition. For conifers, many designers consider the background to be the best. It is preferable to arrange compositions on the east or west side of the site.

A well-thought-out coniferous composition and a well-groomed lawn are made for each other.

The compatibility of different plants plays an important role. Conifers go well with roses visually. But it should be borne in mind that the former oxidize the soil, and for the latter it is undesirable. Therefore, additional costs will be required to maintain the soil in proper condition.

So that over time the composition does not lose its attractiveness and does not become like wild thickets, when selecting plants, one should take into account their height when they grow, as well as the shape and size of the crown.

Among the most popular and demanded conifers are:

1. Tall:
   • (up to 5 m);
   • Spruce Hoopsi (up to 15 m);
   • Skyrocket - juniper (up to 3 m);
   • Vatereri - Scots pine;
   • Pincus Silvestris - pine (up to 40 m).
2. Medium-sized- are especially loved by landscape designers:
   • yew berry;
   • Konica - spruce;
   • golden yew.
3. Creeping and undersized:
   • Tini Tim - western thuja;
   • Mini Pug and Humpy - mountain pines;
   • Lombers is a common spruce.

If the area of ​​the site allows, then it can be divided into separate zones, which can be not only a decoration of the garden, but also its fence. True, in order to form the latter, one will have to wait a certain time.

Recreation area design.

Coniferous compositions in the country

It is possible to create compositions from conifers in small summer cottages. Here it is necessary to take into account the general landscape of the area and its area. As practice shows, small rockeries with an area of ​​3.5 m2 or more or mobile compositions will be most optimal for them.

Conifers as a border near the house.

In a small summer cottage

A dramatic composition with conifers in the backyard, compact but rather difficult to implement.

Composition only from conifers

When creating them, it is very important correct preparation soil for planting plants and strengthening the site from subsidence of the soil under the weight of stones and gravel. this is done in several stages. At the first, markings are made, then a layer of soil is removed and a small pit is dug. Usually the depth does not exceed 30 cm.

In the process of preparing a place for a coniferous composition.

At the second stage, the selected soil is thoroughly cleaned of roots and weeds, the soil is strengthened with geotextiles and the earth is returned to its place. If use is planned, then in these places drainage is made from a compacted mixture of sand and fine gravel or expanded clay.

Large stones are buried about half or one third into the ground; for stability, you can put smaller stones under them or add gravel. The designers recommend that the direction of the entire composition be oriented in one direction. The final step is abundant watering. At this stage, it is advisable to prevent erosion of the earth.

To make it convenient to look after the composition, it is necessary to provide convenient and functional paths. Alternatively, they can be made from wood cuts or flat stones. Such a path will also become an additional decoration of the garden.

Coniferous composition along the track.

Caring for coniferous compositions is not difficult, but it requires knowledge of some rules and strict adherence to them.

1. Regular weed removal.
2. Periodic pinching and pruning.
3. Regular fertilization starting from the 3-4th year.
4. Moderate loosening of the soil.
5. Shelter for the winter plants with spruce branches.
6. In extreme summer heat, it is advisable to protect the conifers from direct sunlight by installing awnings.

Coniferous compositions schemes

Many gardeners dream of growing conifers of various types and varieties in their garden. Conifers in the garden, together with decorative deciduous and beautifully flowering plants, create an indescribable beauty. And also, in addition to beauty, conifers protect our garden from noise, dust and saturate the air with essential oils useful for our health.

A composition of coniferous plants is a group of coniferous species and varieties, planted according to certain rules of landscape design. To create such a composition on your site, you need to adhere to the basic recommendations with which we will now share with you.

Conifers in the garden can be planted in different parts of the site, but from this the group will have a different shape. If you want to create a 360-degree composition, then the tallest conifers should be planted in the center of the group so that medium-sized and small conifers can be placed in the foreground. Then all the plants will receive enough sunlight and delight our eyes, as everyone will be in sight.

If you want to decorate the entrance to a building or plant a composition near a wall, then the most tall plants should be planted in the background, respectively, undersized and dwarf conifers - in the foreground.

If you want to do a ribbon planting, then always plant tall plants in the background as well, and medium-sized and low-growing plants will fit well between tall conifers, but planted closer to the foreground. Be careful not to plant plants of the same height nearby. Plants of the same growth and preferably of one type are planted only in green hedge.

Conifers now delight us with a huge assortment of shapes and colors of needles. The creation of a composition with completely different colors of needles, on the contrary, "breaks" it, does not group it. If you want to make a composition of three conifers, then it is advisable to plant 2 plants with the same color of needles and 1 plant with a different color.
If a composition of 5 conifers is envisaged, then it is desirable to use 3 different colors of needles (for example, 1 yellow, 1 blue, 1 gray, and 2 green).

To create a composition of conifers in your garden, you need to either grow the plants yourself, which is very time consuming, or buy it. And you can contact our partners. In addition, all types of conifers are available from which we will now make a composition!

In our example, most conifers will be tall trees, so they need to be planted at a sufficient distance from each other so that when they grow up, they do not interfere with each other. To do this, we will use the characteristic in which the sizes of adult plants are indicated. And since there will be no small distance between the conifers, you can fill it with shade-loving bushes and flowers. Bulbous and bulbous flowers look very beautiful near conifers.

A little about the formation of groups. In landscape design, it is customary to place plants in the following groups:
Picture 1.

Picture 2.

Picture 3.

A group of 5 plants. In the center (1) there are tall coniferous plants, on the sides (2 and 3) - a medium-sized and low-growing plant. Red lines indicate that all plants are visible from one side. Also from other sides.

Picture 4.


These are the simplest examples that you might find useful.
And now we offer you a ready-made composition scheme of eight conifers. Let's create it following the example of the pictures. For this we use picture number 1 (with three plants) and picture number 3 (with five plants). On the left side, you see plants planted in 3 pieces. - this is Crimean pine (4), Siberian cedar (5), Norway spruce (2). On the left side, the conifers are planted according to the scheme of 5 pieces. - Thuja Smaragd (6), Thuja Columna (7), balsam fir (8), blue spruce (1), Scotch pine (3).

Brief characteristics of conifers in the composition:

1. Spruce prickly or blue (Picea pungens) - height 20-30 m., Width - 6-8 m. Annual growth 30 cm. The color of the needles is bluish, gray-gray, silvery shades. The shape of the crown is pyramidal. The root system is deep, less fertile soil- superficial. Loves moderately nutritious soil and sufficient watering. Increases decorative effect on podzolic, moist soils, on dry, poor, stony or clayey soils, loses decorative effect. Wind-resistant, photophilous.
2. Norway spruce (Picea abies) - height 20-40 m, width - 6-8 m .. It grows up to 10 - 15 years slowly, then faster, 50 cm in height. The color of the needles is dark green. The shape of the crown is pyramidal. The root system is deep, if it grows on loam and sandy loam. If the soil is often wet, then the roots are shallow, which can be affected by the wind. Loves wet air, moderately moist, acidic and well-drained soils. Grows well in the shade. In the spring you need to shade young plant from the sun and protect from return frost. But it is frost-resistant in winter.

3. Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris) - height 20-25 m, width 7-10 m. Growing rapidly, annual growth 30-40 cm. The color of the needles is bluish-green, the shape of the needles is slightly curved. The root system is powerful, pivotal, feels good on stony soils, is not afraid strong wind... Not demanding for soils, only does not like compaction and strong soil salinity. Very light-requiring. Actively highlights essential oils and phytoncides, which purifies and ionizes the air.

4. Pallas or Crimean pine (Pinus Palasina) - height up to 30 m. The needles are long (18-20 cm), slightly curved, dark green. This pine is less hardy than Scots pine. Annual growth is 30 cm. Loves calcareous soils, but grows normally on sandy, crushed stone. Photophilous, in the shade it loses its decorative effect and is damaged by pests. The root system is powerful, deep, so it is not afraid of the wind. Drought-resistant, does not like stagnant water. Gas and dust resistant.
5. Siberian cedar or cedar pine (Pinus sibirica) - height 30-35 m, width 5-8 m. The first 20 years it grows very slowly, then the annual growth is 30-40 cm. The needles are dense, protruding, dark green with a bluish bloom. The root system is powerful with a short main taproot and numerous lateral roots, not afraid of strong winds. It grows on any soil, except clay and pure sandy. But he prefers light loamy and loamy, slightly podzolized soils. Photophilous, shade-tolerant. The older the plant, the more it requires light. Loves moderately moist soil and moist air. Very hardy. Cedar wood repels midges, mosquitoes, moths.

6. Thuja western Smaragd (Thuja occidenalis Smaragd) - height 3-5 m., Width - 2 m. Annual growth 10 cm. Crown shape - narrow, pyramidal, dense. The needles are dark green, retain their color well in winter. It is not demanding on soils, but it grows better on fresh loams and on limed soils. Sun-loving, can grow in partial shade. Frost resistant. Looks good in containers and green hedges. Cleans and ionizes the air.

7. Thuja western Columna ( Thuja occidenalis Columna)- visota -10 m., Width-up to 1.5 m. It grows very quickly. The needles are scaly, shiny, dark green, retain their color in winter, the color darkens in the shade. It takes root well if the root system is not disturbed too much. It is not demanding on the soil, it grows on acidic and alkaline soils, the main thing is that they are nutritious and moist. Does not like drying out of the soil. Photophilous, the crown is dense in the sun, rare in the shade. The most frost-resistant among western thujas. Well suited for hedges due to rapid growth and heights.
8. Balsam fir (Abies balsamea) - height 20 m, width -6 m. The shape of the crown is narrow pyramidal. The needles are dark green, shiny on top, with two whitish stripes on the bottom. Growing fast. The root system is shallow, so you need to protect it from strong winds. It is undemanding to soils, but prefers acidic ones. If the lower branches are covered with humus, they will take root. Does not like trampling the soil and breaking off branches. Sun-loving, but also grows well in partial shade. Frost resistant.

Increasingly, in landscape design, a variety of conifers are used to decorate plots, which create harmonious combinations with lawns, decorative deciduous and flowering shrubs, perennial flower crops... This article is all about garden conifers; rules for creating harmonious compositions; to help gardeners, photos of a variety of conifers with the exact names of varieties.

Conifers: species, cultivation techniques

The inclusion of conifers in garden compositions allows you to create unique beauty corners of the garden that remain decorative at any time of the year. The assortment of conifers for landscaping areas is constantly expanding, including uniquely colored spruce, cypress or juniper.

Advice. Trees with needles of different shades fit perfectly into garden design, creating a fresh spot against the background of other plants.

Decorative conifers for the garden are very popular in the design of landscape compositions due to their positive qualities:

1. Conifers retain their attractive shape, as the crown grows, their crown becomes only thicker and more elegant.
2. Plants do not freeze even in the most severe winters, decorating the winter landscape, conifers and shrubs are easy to care for and endurance.
3. The powerful root system of these plants fully provides the conifers with moisture, so mature trees can be watered infrequently.
4. Ephedra are easy to tolerate insufficient lighting put up with shading.
5. Many varieties of conifers have a compact form that does not require special care.

Landscaping using conifers

Coniferous crops are so diverse that they can be used to create landscape compositions of any style; compact and miniature forms of conifers look appropriate in rockeries and on alpine slides.

Types of conifers

Usually, the following conifers are used for landscaping areas different varieties, differing in height, shape of branches, color of needles.

Pine

Pine is the most ancient representative of the green coniferous kingdom. Pine trees are not demanding on the soil, they are highly resistant to drought and winter cold, but they require a lot of free and light space. When planted in an urban area, pines react strongly to smoke and air pollution, so their widespread use in creating landscape compositions near an industrial zone is very limited. Pines are conventionally divided by height into three groups:

• Tall - the height of the tree reaches more than 10 meters.
• Medium height - from 3 to 9 meters.
• Low and compact forms - they reach no more than 3 meters in height.

The habitual green color of pine needles is not the only one, modern varieties of pine needles can have a blue or yellow hue, there are species with a two-tone color of needles.

Attention! For landscape gardening, all types of pines are used, but a special group is made up compact species mountain pine, which is widely used for planting in the form of a tapeworm on an alpine slide.

Ate

Spruce is a coniferous culture that is perfect for planting in city parks and squares to create a variety of compositions. Spruce remains green in winter and summer, so parks with fir tree compositions acquire a special charm in winter. The needles of spruce have different colors: green, blue, gray, which adds decorativeness to the created landscape compositions.

A huge variety of spruce crown shapes allows these trees to be used as group and specimen plantings; elfin trees are an ideal decoration for mixborders or rockeries.
Spruce varieties are suitable for creating hedges.

Fir

Fir is a tree with dense needles and original cones, indispensable for creating landscape compositions. For the normal development of the plant, it is necessary to create certain conditions for the fir:

• Uniform soil moisture, prevent stagnation of water in the near-trunk circles.
• Fertile soil.
• Protected from the wind.
• Fir does not tolerate air pollution.
• Shelter in winter for young seedlings from frost.

Fir is the only coniferous crop that can reproduce by shoots. You can always see rooted young shoots near an adult tree, which can be easily separated from the mother tree for separate planting.

Cypress

Cypress trees are very much appreciated for the decoration of urban and park areas. The plant may have different shape: filamentous, weeping, dwarf, in total there are more than 80 types of various crowns. The needles on the shoots of cypress trees can have a needle-like or scaly shape in various shades of green, blue and light green.

Cypress trees are highly resistant to drought, the plant is winter-hardy, adapts to any growing conditions, put up with shading.

Cypress

The slender Lawson cypress is most suitable for planting in cities, ideal compositions are created by landscape architects using varieties of Virginian cypress.

Juniper

Junipers are highly decorative, a variety of species and forms. Plants look great in compositions different style, including group planting of ephedra on green lawns and the creation of rocky hills.

The spiny needles of junipers are usually needle-shaped and can be colored in different tones of green or blue. Needles often have a specific bluish bloom.

The most common and undemanding type of juniper is the Cossack juniper, which has scaly needles. On city lawns and in rockeries, this type of plant can most often be found.

Juniper

The Chinese juniper usually reaches a height of 10 meters, its slender crowns are painted in green or golden tones of various shades. The plant is used for single plantings and for creating decorative hedges.

Thuja

Thuja is most often used for landscaping cities. These plants are undemanding to growing conditions, give good growth, are very decorative, especially during the period of fruit formation. Thuja has a different crown shape: pyramidal, spreading, columnar, which makes it ideal for creating landscape compositions of different styles.

Thuja western is especially often used for landscaping urban areas, which has proven itself well when grown in difficult urban conditions. The variety of western thuja species allows you to create ideal compositions from tall and low-growing varieties.

Yew

Yews, which are usually planted in the form of hedges, can give a special artistic expression to the park design. Yew - amazing plant which has leaves reduced into needles and bright berries. In total, there are 8 types of yews in nature, most of which have decorative forms.

Yew berry is the most decorative view from the Yew family. The plant is notable for its bright, dense green needles and red berries that do not ripen on all plants. The thing is that the yew is a dioecious plant. All yews are characterized by slow growth, the plants can live to a very respectable age. In addition to berry yew, medium yew and pointed yew are successfully used in landscape design.

Conifers on the site: video

Conifers in landscape design: photo