Terry's Gardening Tips
What are Terry's favorite evergreen trees?
Terry’s favorite evergreen trees that grow well in the Cincinnati area: Generally speaking, the best time to plant evergreens is from mid-September to when the ground freezes (usually mid-December).
Picea abies – Norway Spruce, grows to 40-60 feet in height. Excellent, dark green needles, a vigorous grower. Over planted, but a good choice for the Cincinnati area.
Picea omorika – Serbian Spruce, grows to 50-60 feet in height. One of the most graceful and beautiful spruces with narrow, pyramidal growth. Very adaptable, grows best in partial sun.
Picea orientalis – Oriental Spruce, grows to 50-60 feet in height. Dense, compact, narrow pyramidal growth. Good for tighter areas.
Picea pungens – Colorado Spruce, grows to 30-60 feet in height. Gray green to blue green color, very adaptable. Likes full sun.
Picea pungens – Colorado Spruce “Fat Albert”, grows to 15 feet in height. Dense, upright pyramidal form. Outstanding small, blue-needled tree.
Pinus strobus – Eastern White Pine, grows to 50-80 feet in height. Needles that are light to bluish green in color, likes fertile, moist, well drained soil. Will tolerate some shade. Branches are often lost in strong storms.
Pinus flexilis – Limber Pine, grows to 30-50 feet in height. Does best in moist, well-drained soil. Prefers sun to partial shade. Dark green slightly twisted needles.
Tsuga Canadensis – Canadian (Eastern) Hemlock, grows to 40-70 feet in height. Softly and gracefully pyramidal in youth becoming pendulously pyramidal with age. Excellent for groupings or screenings, one of our better evergreens.
Abis concolor – White (Concolor) Fir, grows to 30 – 50 feet in height. Slow to medium grower with soft bluish green needles. Probably the best fir for the Cincinnati area. Will withstand heat, drought and cold equally well. Does best in rich, moist, well-drained gravelly soil (dislikes heavy clay) Note: Cincinnati is too hot for most firs.
Metasequoia glyptostroboides – Dawn Redwood, grows to 70-100 feet in height. Fast growing, does best in moist, well-drained soils in full sun. Neat, uniform conical habit
Taxodium distichum – Common Baldcypress (a deciduous conifer), grows to 50-70 feet in height. Very adaptable to very wet, or sunny, dry locations. Leaves bright yellow-green in spring, soft green in summer, rich orange to pumpkin brown in autumn. I get the most calls on this tree telling me they are dying. Remember, the leaves appear late May to mid-November. Baldcypress trees can be found in Montgomery at the Gateway Falls on Pfeiffer Road and around the Swaim and Pioneer Park lakes.