With April planting time, Spring, longer days, and milder temperatures on the way, now is a great time to get some ideas for what to plant to bring your garden to life.
With the ground warming up (still with some unpredictable weather), and then risk of frost gone, April is a good time to plant and move conifers and evergreen trees and shrubs.
Evergreen Shrubs
Evergreen shrubs are the kind of plants that have woody structure covered in foliage all year round, come in many different sizes, with different types of foliage e.g., needles or leaves.
The Advantages of Evergreen Shrubs
There are many advantages to having evergreen shrubs in your garden apart from the obvious reason of providing green all year round. These include:
- Providing shade from the sun in the hotter weather and providing shelter from the wind which is particularly valuable in the colder months.
- Evergreen shrubs can provide great cover for wildlife, which again can be valuable during hotter, colder, and wetter times. They can also provide food for birds e.g., berries.
- Some evergreen shrubs can grow big and bushy enough to provide privacy where needed in the garden and block less attractive views with something more pleasant to look at. They can also create and mark borders and dividing areas. All this can be particularly useful where e.g., gardens/neighbours are close, the property is close to a buy road.
- Many evergreen shrubs can also provide a nice smell as well as a nice visual display.
Evergreen Shrubs For Colour In April
Popular evergreen shrub families include Azalea, Bamboo,Cceanothus, Daphne, Heather, Lavender, Mahonia, and even Olive.
Some suggestions of evergreen shrubs that flower around April and May include:
Aucuba Japonica Variegata, commonly known as Variegated Japanese Laurel, is a large evergreen shrub which, in April and May, produces these small flower clusters of purple, followed closely by small, shiny red berries which wildlife love.
Berberis Darwinii commonly known as Darwins Barberry is a bushy evergreen shrub which, in the months of April and May blooms beautiful clusters of small, bright, rich orange flowers.
Choisya White Dazzler commonly known as Mexican Orange. In the months from April to May and August to September if pruned at the right time (suggested pruning below) the Choisya White Dazzler will bloom these free flowering scented flower clusters of pure white colour.
Photinia Pink Marble commonly known as Christmas berry is a bushy evergreen shrub with dark green leaves margined with white, the young leaves are often red with light pink variegation which creates a beautiful sight. In the months of April and May the Photinia Pink Marble will bloom small creamy white flower sprays adding even more interest to this plant.
Not so evergreen, infact deciduous is the Exochorda The Bride, which is a stunning shrub with long arching stems producing stunning white flower blooms through the months of April and May.
To look at our full selection of shrubs click here.