Evergreen and evergreen plants enrich the garden even when other plants have long since faded. But what's the difference?
Deciduous plants are familiar to every hobby gardener. They sprout in spring and delight with their lush green in summer. After an often pretty fall coloration, the plants appear bare and gray from November. If you don't want to stand in front of a dreary garden even in winter, you have to look for alternatives that enrich the picture with their greenery. Anyone who takes a closer look at the plants and their properties will quickly come across terms such as "evergreen" and "evergreen". In the following we explain how the two terms differ from each other and give tips on which plants are an eye-catcher in winter and don't lose their leaves.
Why do plants shed leaves and needles?
Deciduous plants dominate in the gardens. Evergreen plants, on the other hand, are far older and clearly in the majority. In our latitudes, evergreen plants are less important because they usually cannot withstand the harsh winters and their leaves freeze. Evergreens are mainly distributed in the tropics.
Larger deciduous trees can only thrive in the harsh climate if they shed their leaves in autumn and sprout again in spring. Anyone looking for evergreen plants in the rock garden is more likely to find them. Low cushion perennials are often evergreen and survive the cold season because they are completely covered by snow and are well protected from frost.
When is a plant evergreen?
Evergreen plants do not lose foliage or needles in the fall. The green remains for different lengths of time.
» Did you know: Fir trees take about ten years to shed their needles.
Plants are called evergreen if they keep their leaves or needles all year round. If the old leaves are shed, the plant remains green and the new shoots produce the next permanent leaf generation in spring.Examples of evergreen plants
| evergreen conifers | deciduous trees and subshrubs |
| fir tree | Rhododendron |
| Spruce | Holly |
| Pine | Cherry Laurel |
| juniper | sage |
| Yew | Rosemary |
Evergreens are a valuable addition to any garden. Birds find a retreat in evergreen trees. Evergreen plants can serve as privacy screens for us humans. The plants delight the eye with their different leaf markings and leaf colors. Many evergreens flower and bear fruit.
What should be considered when caring for evergreen plants?
Evergreens are best planted in spring. Container plants are allowed into the ground until early fall. It is important that ground frost has not yet been forecast and that the plants can still take root well before winter.
» Tip: Camellias, medlars and other frost-sensitive plants should not be planted later than the end of May.
The location plays a major role for evergreen plants so that they survive the winter unscathed. Deciduous trees are attacked by the so-called frost drought in full sun. The sun thaws the leaves and they evaporate moisture. However, since the ground is still frozen, the leaves cannot continue to be supplied with moisture via the roots. The foliage dries up and under certain climatic conditions entire shoots can die off.
Evergreen plants should not be exposed to direct midday sun. On sunny winter days it can help to cover the plants with garden fleece. When there is no frost and the soil feels dry, it is time to water your evergreen plants.
What are semi-evergreen plants?
If this term appears, we are dealing with plants that are only considered evergreen under certain climatic conditions. For example, mild winters are a prerequisite for privet and akebie not losing their leaves. Some rose species and Japanese azaleas also show this behavior.
Which plants are evergreen?
Evergreen plants delight with their foliage during the cold season, but lose leaves or needles over the course of the coming season. This behavior can be observed very well with the popular autumn cyclamen. During the rest period in summer, the leaves are completely withdrawn. The new shoots will not appear until autumn.
Evergreen plants do not shed their leaves until the end of winter. Fresh leaves form firstagain from spring.
Wintergreen plants provide an appealing touch of color in the sometimes dreary conservatory. Christmas roses open their white flowers in the middle of winter. From January, the lenten roses will provide crimson splashes of color. The blue cushion also remains green over the winter and shows its flowers from April. The candytuft is one of the evergreen early bloomers. Sunrose and avens also enrich the picture during the period when there are few flowers.
Examples of evergreen plants
- Christmas Rose
- Blue Pillow
- Bergenie
- Candytuft
- Lentenrose
- Sunrose
- Wollziest
- Waldsteinie
| evergreen plants for sunny locations | evergreen plants for shady locations |
| Blue Fescue | Bergenie |
| Caucasus Cranesbill | Red Fern |
| Sunrose | Autumn Cyclamen |
| Purple Bells | Elven Flower |
| Red Hawkweed | Male fern |
| Candytuft | Lily Bunch |
| velvet carnation | Hazelroot |
| Rue | Deer Tongue |
What should be considered when caring for wintergreen plants?
As already mentioned, leaf drop is not uncommon in evergreen plants when the climatic conditions are not suitable for the crops. Under strong sunlight, the leaves may be shed and die prematurely.
Placing the plants in dense and heavy clay soil will enhance this effect. Winter protection in the form of brushwood or leaves protects the plants in the root area.
As with evergreens, wintergreens should not be planted in full sun. For he althy growth it is sufficient if the wintergreen plants only get sun in the afternoon.