What is more confusing then siting evergreens?

14 years ago

Maybe I am the only one that finds this confusing? I have mostly been purchasing decidious shrubs and two years ago, I started trying to add more evergreens. It is not easy. I do have boxwood and I planted them before I knew you had to be careful and they rarely ever lose a branch to winter damage. Recently, I brought home a 'Sunny Foster' Holly, that is hardy to zone 6. The nursery suggested that I plant it in a sheltered location. Explaining that should be in the Southeast part of the property. My southeast corner gets plenty of sun til early afternoon right now since a Maple has no leaves already. On the forums I am reading that you should avoid wind and avoid winter sun. But this shrub prefers full sun and where can I possibly find a place that has full sun in the summer but no sun in the winter? Isn't it usually the other way around? Your garden gets more sun in the winter when the leaves are off the trees? I have another holly 'Honey Maid' that I am trying to figure out where to put too. Would appreciate any input that would help me sort this out.

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Comments (3)

davidrt28 (zone 7)
14 years ago
Actually, it isn't too confusing. (at least this aspect of it)

If you have a 2 story house than an area about 15-20 feet west of your NW corner will have a fair amt. of sun in the summer when the sun angle is high, but only very late afternoon sun in the winter (the type least likely to burn) when the sun angle is low. This is especially true in New England versus, say, Atlanta, because your sun is lower in the winter.

Of course it depends on the plant too. A Foster holly probably has enough foliar hardiness that "shelter" could mean the side of the house most protected from wind to prevent it from desiccating. So there are really 2 related, but competing factors. My VERY casual observation of rhododendrons in interior Massachusetts this summer leads me to think the ones out in the open were dessicated by winds while ones on the lee sides of houses, even it it meant some winter sun, did slightly better. Try to find a local horticulturalist here on gardenweb or in your town for further guidance...
Once again, hollies are the honorary conifers LOL.
prairiemoon2 z6b MA
Original Author
14 years ago
David, thank you for that illuminating response. So it is a question of calculating where there is a small area that would offer those particular conditions. Who knew. lol I'm trying to think of whether this will help me. First, it is my casual observation,that my house doesn't sit squarely on the North/South lines, so on a compass, the corner of my house that should be Northwest, probably isn't. But perhaps you meant which ever corner of the house which would be the northwest corner of the house? Tomorrow I will use that northwest corner anyway and measure it out and see where I end up. I suspect in my lawn, not far from our back lot line where there is a line of trees in the next yard. A plant in that location would be facing East, yes? Which would receive morning sun in the summer, but because of the angle of the sun in winter, you mean it would not? I will check it out tomorrow and see if that gives me some thing to consider.

On my West lot line, we have a post and rail fence and a few immature shrubs that allow a lot of wind through there, especially since the side lot lines have solid stockade fence. I'm not confident that any planting that could not suffer the exposure would be happy.

I had a moment of hesitation before posting whether a Holly was a conifer, but I guess in my mind I have substituted, 'evergreens' for conifers. :-) So thank you for answering my question anyway. The Southeast side of our property would have the house to protect it and I think it would provide the least windy site, but more sun, true.

I will call around and see if I can find someone locally that actually is a horticulturalist. It would appear that I have not been as confused as I thought I was. It is just that there is only a small area that would provide the sought after least amount of sun in winter and then the exposure to wind, is a competing factor. Maybe that is why there aren't more hollies growing everywhere. [g]

Thanks very much...
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ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
14 years ago
whats confusing is why this is in the conifer forum????

now.. i really dont care where you post.. so dont think about that ...

but some conifers are evergreen.. and some are deciduous ... and some are not ..

some shrubs are evergreen.. like holly and boxwood.. but they dont develop cones.. so they are not conifers.. though they are evergreen ...

evergreen really is descriptive of nothing more than NOT deciduous ...

when you start to understand the terms.. then you may be able to start to delineate the concepts ...

green plants need sun to proper photosynthesize ...

there is no such thing as too much ... e.g full sun ... [presuming zone appropriate]

how little is too little is left to the fates ... whether or not a given plant will get enough sun to properly grow and color.. in a given 2 square feet of soil .. is really left to you figuring it all out ...

we may speculate .. but when it all boils down to it... only about 5 years after planting ... will you start to find out if it is too dark at that specific site ... because the plant will not be growing to expectations ...

well.. good luck with all that.. you MIGHT get a better answer in the shrub forum .. and maybe not .. there might be some holly/boxwood peeps [they are their own breed] over in the shrub forum ...

ken

ps: one clue is that there is no evergreen forum.. because it does not describe a type of plant ....

What is more confusing then siting evergreens?

Comments (3)

davidrt28 (zone 7)

prairiemoon2 z6b MA
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What is more confusing then siting evergreens?

Comments (3)

davidrt28 (zone 7)

prairiemoon2 z6b MAOriginal Author

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ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5

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prairiemoon2 z6b MA
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