Dwarf Conifers: Perfect for Small Gardens

Why Opt for Dwarf Conifers?

Conifers had their heyday for many years before falling somewhat out of favour. **Overused, particularly for creating monotonous and unnatural-looking hedges, they are also associated with a dark and sad image. Yet, there are many ornamental conifers that deserve to be reintegrated into our gardens.**

These plants indeed have many advantages:

• they are generally easy to grow, slow-growing, and require little maintenance if they are not used to form meticulously pruned hedges;
• their foliage is evergreen, allowing them to remain beautiful all year round, even in winter;
• they can adapt to various growing conditions;
• their great diversity allows them to be integrated into all garden styles, adding a graphic and structured touch;
• they are beneficial for biodiversity, serving as shelters for birds and bats, and as food for squirrels, etc.

The smaller varieties will have additional benefits: they will be easy to incorporate into flower beds, container gardens, or hedges. Their silhouette will add volume, but their simplicity allows all their neighbouring flowers, fruit-bearing plants, decorative foliage, or colourful wood to stand out.

Dwarf Conifers with Colourful Foliage

If you’re not keen on a small conifer with the typical “basic” green hue, no worries: **there are more daring varieties that change colours through the seasons to break the monotony. They offer foliage nuanced with shades of blue, silver, golden yellow, or can even be variegated.**

**This is particularly true for junipers**, such as the Juniperus squamata ‘Blue Carpet’, which lives up to its name perfectly. It indeed forms a true dense vegetal cushion, 40 cm in height and 1.5 meters across. But it’s especially loved for its beautiful blue-silver foliage. Meanwhile, the Juniperus communis ‘Goldschatz’ is radiant. Named “treasure” because its base grey-green foliage is adorned with magnificent golden shoots. A very bright ground cover for small gardens. Also worth mentioning is the Juniperus pfitzeriana ‘Glauca’, a large ground cover noted for its bluish-grey foliage.

Boring, the thuja? Not necessarily: **the Thuja occidentalis ‘Golden Tuffet’ forms a warm cushion, with its foliage yellow in summer, turning to orange and bronze hues in winter.**

Juniperus ‘Blue Carpet’

Talking about dwarf Japanese cedars, let’s mention the adorable Cryptomeria japonica ‘Vilmorin Gold’, which forms a small ball only 1 meter in all directions. It has green foliage adorned with golden young shoots, which will turn cream in summer.

For its part, **the mountain pine ‘Ophir’ forms a mini compact bush, sporting a very bright light green, turning to golden-yellow during the winter**.

Another little gem: the Podocarpus lawrencii ‘Blue Gem’, whose bluish foliage creates a beautiful contrast with the fruiting in the form of red berries.

Let’s not forget the yews, such as the Taxus baccata ‘Summergold’, forming a bright carpet due to its golden young shoots in summer.

**Also, let’s mention** **the beautiful blue spruce Picea pungens ‘Karpaten’, a conifer ground cover forming a dense dome of bluish-grey foliage.**

And for an even more original touch, opt for the Chamaecyparis obtusa ‘Baldwin Variegated’. **This little Japanese Hinoki cypress delights us with its green foliage variegated with white, beautiful all year round.**

Pinus mugo ‘Ophir’

Small Conifers with Unique Shapes

When we think of conifers, the image that often comes to mind is that of a straight, stiff fir tree with a single trunk. However, there is actually a wonderful diversity of habits and silhouettes: creeping, globular, weeping, pyramidal, etc.

Globular and Spherical

Among the small conifers with adorable spherical silhouettes, you’ll be spoilt for choice. Consider, for example, the Japanese Cedar ‘Green Pearl’ forming a ball of 50 cm in all directions. The Dwarf Mountain Pine ‘Picobello’ also forms a spherical bush of 80 cm in all directions. Meanwhile, the Dwarf Weymouth Pine ‘Minuta’ will become a slightly flattened ball, covered in blue-green needles. Let’s also mention the compact silhouette of the Chamaecyparis pisifera ‘Blue Moon’ (80 cm in all directions). Lastly, the Dwarf Sitka Spruce ‘Tenas’, whose well-rounded silhouette will tend to become a bit more conical over time.

Creeping and Trailing

To dress the base of a slope, a rock garden, or the top of a stone wall, mini-conifers with creeping and trailing silhouettes are ideal. Use them also to create volume at the forefront of a border. Wider than they are tall, they form true plant carpets that remain ornamental throughout the year.

This is the case with many junipers. Opt for the Juniperus horizontalis ‘Icee Blue’, which over time will form a beautiful ground cover of 2 meters in span, with silver-blue needles. Meanwhile, the ‘Blue Pacific’ shore juniper forms a carpet of flexible scaly branches. Initially apple green, it takes on bluish hues under the effect of winter cold. Also mention the scaly juniper (Juniperus squamata) ‘Holger’, with its spreading habit. Its dimensions reach 70 cm in height and 1 meter 20 in width at ripeness.

The Korean Fir ‘Green Carpet’ also has a well-spreading habit, across nearly two meters in span. Quite small at only 35 cm in height and 45 cm in span, the variety ‘Tundra’ will form a flat, dense, and almost perfect cushion.

Also mention the prostrate silhouette of the creeping Siberian Cypress, a particularly tolerant and easy-going conifer, capable of extending over more than 2 meters 50 in width.

And to dress the top of a wall, consider the Chamaecyparis pisifera ‘Sungold’. Also known as Sawara Cypress, it is a small conifer with very bright foliage, in yellow-green hues sometimes turning golden. With its 1 meter 20 in height and 2 meters in span, it will form a true plant cascade.

Other Interesting Silhouettes

Amazing with its branches trailing to the ground, the Tsuga heterophylla ‘Thorssen’s Weeper’ has a weeping silhouette full of flexibility. It can be staked to form a real little plant fountain or used as ground cover.

At the Thuja plicata ‘Whipcord’, the branches are also weeping and contribute to giving this conifer a graceful appearance. To be integrated into the garden or in a pot.

Surprising, the disheveled appearance of the Canadian Arborvitae ‘Filiformis’ will not go unnoticed, with its branches that seem to fray.

Also mention the Japanese Cowtail Pine, which offers a slightly flared open column silhouette. It consists of upward-directed branches, unbranched at their ends, which likely explain the name of this conifer.

As for the American Larch ‘Arethusa Bog’, it opts for a silhouette known as ‘witches’ broom’. It indeed produces horizontal branches adorned with trailing branches.

Thuja plicata ‘Whipcord’

Dwarf Conifers with Ornamental Fruit

While conifers may not provide us with ornamental flowerings as we enjoy in other plants, they can still boast attractive decorative fruits, such as the well-known pine cones. However, some can also be very colourful. This is particularly true for the previously mentioned Abies koreana ‘Green Carpet’, which produces numerous upright cones of a lovely purple-pink in spring. In the case of ‘Luminetta’, the cones are more of a powdery blue-purple.

Over at the beach juniper ‘Schlager’, lovely blue berries accompany the scaly foliage.

The female plants of the golden common yew are adorned with bright red decorative berries. These berries are toxic to humans and animals, but are highly favored by birds.

Small Conifers for Shady Areas

Most conifers thrive in non-scorching sunlight or partial shade. However, certain varieties have the advantage of tolerating shade: a boon for small, less exposed gardens, or for dimly lit terraces and balconies.

Take, for example, the Canadian hemlock, a small creeping conifer ideal for covering a shaded slope or a sun-deprived rock garden. It offers a striking contrast between the white bark of its central branches and the green of its needles.

Meanwhile, the Oriental Spruce (Picea orientalis ‘Silver Seedling’) will brighten up shaded or filtered areas with its randomly variegated silver and sand foliage.

Very accommodating, the Pinus mugo ‘Green Column’ tolerates all exposures, even shaded ones. Modest in size, it will only reach 2 meters in height with a spread of 1 meter.

Pinus mugo ‘Green Column’ can be planted in the shade