After our flowering perennials have long since faded, autumn leaves have dropped from our deciduous trees, and a blanket of snow covers our lawns, we can always rely on our evergreens to bring colour and visual interest to the landscape. There’s no shortage of gorgeous evergreen trees and shrubs to grow in Alberta. If your yard has been looking a bit lifeless in previous winters, now is a perfect time to get some fresh new evergreens in the ground.
Evergreens Are the Best Plants for All-Season Colour and Interest
February can be pretty grey and bleak in Edmonton, but if you’ve got a landscape full of lush, green foliage, it’s a lot easier on the eyes! Your landscape will never be lacking in colour if you plant any of these gorgeous evergreen trees and shrubs.
Mops Mugo Pine
This lush evergreen shrub maintains a tidy, rounded form with no pruning required. Its ultra-vibrant emerald foliage holds its colour all through the winter and performs best under the full sun. It reaches 24 inches tall and 30 inches wide at maturity, making it perfect for mass planting or as a statement plant in garden beds.
Dwarf Alberta Spruce
This adorably chubby conifer only reaches 13 feet tall, so it’s perfect for the front yard. Its needles are so dense that, from a distance, this evergreen almost looks fluffy. It rarely produces cones so that it won’t make a mess on your lawn, and it’s perfect for decorating with lights and ornaments for the holidays! Dwarf Alberta spruce prefers moist soil, so spreading a layer of mulch around the base will help keep it hydrated for longer.
Globe Blue Spruce
One of the best evergreen shrubs for the front of the house, the globe blue spruce has icy blue needles that form a perfectly even globe shape. It makes a gorgeous border plant for paths and fence lines, and its satisfying symmetry makes it a popular choice for zen gardens. A slow grower, the globe blue spruce reaches a maximum of 3–5 feet tall and 5–6 feet wide.
Yew
There are several varieties of yew to grow in Alberta—some are trees, and some are shrubs! They produce bright red berries (caution, these berries are poisonous!) in winter that contrast beautifully against their glossy green needles. Yew cuttings are great for holiday decorations—the colours are just so festive! Whether you want a small yew for mass planting or a tall columnar yew for privacy hedging, there are plenty of options to suit your unique landscaping needs.
Creeping Juniper
This low-growing juniper spreads outwards instead of up, making it a fabulous ground cover plant. It does well in rocky, poor soils, and it’s terrific for preventing erosion on sloping terrains. In winter, its foliage takes on a slightly plum purple tint, bringing fabulous colour contrast to the scenery. Creeping juniper spreads about 6–8 feet wide at maturity, so you can always cut it back if it’s getting too unruly.
Upright Juniper
An ideal evergreen for privacy screens and borders, upright juniper grows tall but remains compact, so you can plant them tightly together to create an everlasting wall of greenery. So long as it receives full sun, upright junipers are some of the easiest evergreens to grow and maintain. If your yard space is limited, an upright juniper is a fantastic choice.
Scots Pine
The Scots pine is an ideal choice if you’re looking for a super-sized evergreen to provide shade and lovely green colour. We love that classic pyramidal shape. While there are dwarf varieties available, larger cultivars can reach up to 125 feet tall! Average specimens will usually max out at 60 feet and a 40-foot spread.
Columnar Blue Spruce
Another gorgeous option for privacy screens and borders, the columnar blue spruce has stunning cool-toned needles that sparkle in the sun. It grows relatively fast—up to 12 inches per year—so you won’t have to wait long for these evergreens to fill out. Plant them at least five feet apart for best results.
Bird’s Nest Spruce
This shrubby evergreen is about twice as wide as it is tall, just like a bird’s nest! It does best in moist, well-drained soil, tolerating partial to full sun. It’s ideal for borders, garden statement plants, and even containers! Make sure you repot it in a slightly larger container every two years to allow its roots to spread.
Discover even more of the best evergreens for sale in Alberta by visiting one of the Salisbury Landscaping garden centres in St. Albert and Sherwood Park! From mounded shrubs to sky-high shade trees, there are so many options for bringing non-stop colour and texture to the landscape.