by James Alexander-Sinclair
Evergreen trees and shrubs are tricky. They are a very important part of our gardens at this time of year, but they need to be used with great care and a light touch.
Evergreen trees and shrubs are tricky. They are a very important part of our gardens at this time of year, but they need to be used with great care and a light touch.
I'm thinking about this at the moment because I'm planting a new woodland for a client. It isn't enormous but needs to serve the very important purpose of screening out a serious industrial-scale eyesore, about a mile or so away across open fields. Therefore I need some evergreen trees in order to ensure that the eyesore is always concealed. The tricky bit is that anything I plant has to fit in with the surrounding landscape.
If you look around, most native woodland is a bit short of evergreen—there might be some ivy climbing up a tree or the occasional yew. If you suddenly start planting 'aliens', they stick out like sore thumbs. By aliens I mean the good serviceable evergreens that work well in gardens but never quite fit in when planted near fields and woods. A tall conifer in a hedge looks as uncomfortable as a jockey in a basketball team.
The good, tall growing evergreens like laurels (I think Prunus lusitanicus is probably the finest), photinias or even the gorgeous Arbutus unedo will not look right either. You see my problem?
So, my conclusion is that the only reliably hardy, large, evergreen tree that will work in this situation is the holm oak or evergreen oak, Quercus ilex. While not strictly native (it was brought over from the Mediterranean in about 1600) this magnificent tree has been here long enough to apply for citizenship. The leaves are a little like holly, but without the prickles (hence the name Quercus ilex: Ilex is the botanical name for holly). The wood is very hard—it used to be used for wagons—and there are very chirpy acorns.
However, as with all imports, it's best not to allow the holm oak free rein among our native woodlands as it can be a bit intrusive, especially in warmer coastal areas. The National Trust attack it with goats on the Isle of Wight. But it’s absolutely fine in gardens where it also makes an excellent hedge, a good screen and fine topiary.
In this case it is on the edge of garden and countryside so I think it will do the trick nicely. All we have to do now is wait for it to get big enough.
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