Please suggest some evergreen interest
Q I have a southwest-facing front garden that I’d like to add some evergreen plants to, for interest from autumn and over winter. What would the best options be for planting in containers please?
Mel West (via email)
A I suggest that you plant the following evergreen shrubs in containers to colour autumn and winter:
Euonymus fortunei ‘Blondy’: Bright silver-mottled foliage.
Sarcococca hookeriana var. humilis: Dense thickets of shining green leaves and scented white flowers.
Cotoneaster conspicuus ‘Decorus’: Dark-green leaves and scarlet berries.
Nandina domestica ‘Fire Power’: Foliage suffused with vibrant cream, orange, red and pink tints.
Choisya ternata ‘Sundance’: Golden trefoil leaves.
Aucuba japonica ‘Crotonifolia’: Leaves speckled with gold.
Lonicera nitida ‘Baggesen’s Gold’: Vivid golden foliage.
Mahonia x media ‘Charity’: Cones of scented bright-yellow blossom.
Teucrium fruticans ‘Compactum’: Leaves mantled with silvery down.
Thuja occidentalis ‘Rheingold’: Golden foliage; coppery gold in winter.
Camellia x williamsii: Several flushes of pink blossom.
Larger garden centres usually stock the above species and varieties. Stand the plants in their pots in water for 30 minutes before planting, and set them in the ground at the same depth as their rootball.
Water well and
