Companions for your conifers - the plants that add all-year colour to your garden
The Horticultural Trades Association is continuing its Plant A Tree In November campaign, and has recommended three companion plants for growing near conifers or with conifers in patio pots.
Evergreens provide colour in the garden all year round and, while they may be more of a backdrop to summer flowers, in winter they really come into their own.
The choice of conifers available is huge, ranging from yew trees (Taxus baccata), which make the best hedges because they are slow-growing, to miniatures such as Hudson fir (Abies balsamea 'Nana') and Korean fir (Abies koreana 'Ice Breaker') - the Hudson grows to about 2ft and Korean to just 6ins.
Growing dwarf conifers in pots means you can move them around the garden to wherever you need them and vary the planting around them to flower in winter, spring, summer or autumn - so they are very versatile.
Here are the HTA companion plant recommendations:
Fothergilla monticola: This shrub has very unusual spring flowers that are described as catkin-like spikes and look like particularly luxurious and frothy bottle brush cleaners.
The distinctly ribbed green leaves are also exceptionally colourful in autumn when they turn orange and red.
They like a sunny spot, but can tolerate a little shade, and are fully frost hardy.
Cyclamen hederifolium: These little gems of flowers look gorgeous around the base of any tree or conifer when their pretty pink flowers emerge in autumn.
They are tubers, and grow close to the surface of the soil, producing large seeds every year so they will spread quite quickly and the small fluted flowers come before ivy-shaped leaves with silver-green patterns.
They are also good for patio pots with evergreens such as dwarf conifers and skimmias.
Juniperus 'Old Gold': A dwarf conifer that works well with other conifers because of its contrasting gold-tinged green leaves and because it is both compact and low.
Being a juniper its leaves are also slightly aromatic when brushed against and it has small berries in autumn.
