The Best Conifers for Your Yard
Conifers lend a sense of year-round beauty and structure to your landscape. Here are some of our favorite picks.
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This is one of the most stunning evergreens we've ever seen. Silver Korean fir offers a dense, beautiful habit and white-bottomed needles that curl up toward the stem. This gives the tree a decidedly flocked appearance year-round.
Name: Abies koreana 'Horstmann's Silberlocke'
Growing Conditions: Full sun and moist, well-drained soil
Size: To 30 feet tall
Zones: 5-8
Grow It Because: You love the unique silvery effect and soft needles.
An absolutely graceful tree, weeping white pine looks like a waterfall of beautiful blue-green needles. It's especially effective grown over a sturdy arbor or other structure to create a curtain effect. Plus, it's a widely adaptable tree and native to areas of North America.
Name: Pinus strobus 'Pendula'
Growing Conditions: Full sun and moist, well-drained soil
Size: As tall as it's supported; unsupported it grows like a groundcover
Zones: 4-9
Grow It Because: You love its long, soft needles and the weeping or groundcover quality it has.
Loved for its beautiful silvery blue color, dwarf blue spruce is a good choice for small-space landscapes. Many selections reach no more than 8 feet tall and wide.
Name: Picea pungens 'Montgomery'
Growing Conditions: Full sun and well-drained soil
Size: Varieties can grow as tall as 10 feet
Zones: 3-8
Grow It Because: You love the blue color and dwarf size.
A pine look-alike, this beautiful evergreen has shiny, dark green needles and a spire-like habit. It's an uncommon and unusual choice to add a slightly different look to the landscape.
Name: Sciadopitys verticillata
Growing Conditions: Full sun and moist, well-drained soil
Size: Varieties can grow up to 30 feet tall
Zones: 4-8
Grow It Because: You want something easy, but a little different.
One of the most unique pines in the landscape, contorted white pine offers twisted branches and needles, casting a distinct silhouette. It also offers a small footprint, growing about 10 feet wide at maturity.
Name: Pinus strobus 'Contorta'
Growing Conditions: Full sun and well-drained soil
Size: To 50 feet or more
Zones: 3-9
Grow It Because: You like the interesting effect the branches and needles have.
Most conifers have a golden selection that's either love it or leave it. Golden Korean fir is a standout among these varieties; it offers flat needles with a decidedly golden-green hue.
Name: Abies koreana 'Aurea'
Growing Conditions: Full sun and moist, well-drained soil
Size: To 30 feet tall
Zones: 5-8
Grow It Because: You like the soft needles and golden color.
Famous for its exceptionally long life, bristlecone pine is also exceptionally beautiful. This gem is extremely slow growing and offers blue-green needles with flecks of white resin. It's native to areas of North America.
Name: Pinus aristata
Growing Conditions: Full sun and well-drained soil
Size: Very slow growing to 30 feet
Zones: 4-8
Grow It Because: You like its interesting nature, slow growth, and drought resistance.
A favorite for its dense growth, small needles, and nearly perfect cone-shape habit, dwarf Alberta spruce is widely and easily grown. It's native to areas of North America, too.
Name: Picea glauca var. albertiana 'Conica'
Growing Conditions: Full sun and moist, well-drained soil
Size: Varieties can grow up to 20 feet tall
Zones: 3-6
Grow It Because: You like the dense growth habit.
A landscaper's dream, there are hundreds of mugo pine varieties. Most offer rich, deep green needles that stay looking great all year and a compact mounded habit.
Name: Pinus mugo
Growing Conditions: Full sun and well-drained soil
Size: Varieties can grow as tall as 10 feet
Zones: 3-7
Grow It Because: You like the small size.
A tree of exceptional beauty, Japanese white pine offers clusters of silvery blue needles and a wonderful habit that looks especially good in winter.
Name: Pinus parviflora
Growing Conditions: Full sun and moist, well-drained soil
Size: Varieties can grow as tall as 80 feet
Zones: 6-9
Grow It Because: You like the blue-green needles and the tree's unique shape.
Among the thousands of junipers, 'Blue Star' stands out for its silvery color and dense, ground-hugging habit.
Name: Juniperus squamata 'Blue Star'
Growing Conditions: Full sun and well-drained soil
Size: To 16 inches tall
Zones: 5-8
Grow It Because: You want a silvery-blue groundcover.
We think this is one of the most beautiful pines. It offers long, soft, blue-green needles and is adaptable to a range of conditions. It's native to areas of North America, so it's a great choice for wildlife gardens.
Name: Pinus strobus
Growing Conditions: Full sun and moist, well-drained soil
Size: Varieties can grow up to 125 feet tall
Zones: 4-9
Grow It Because: You want a highly adaptable pine with long, soft needles.
The more grown up version of dwarf blue spruce, this tree offers gorgeous blue color and prickly needles. A large number of varieties is available, including columnar forms.
Name: Picea pungens f. glauca
Growing Conditions: Full sun and well-drained soil
Size: Varieties can grow as tall as 50 feet
Zones: 3-8
Grow It Because: You like the silvery-blue color.
A top landscape tree, as well as a favorite Christmas tree, Frasier fir offers beautiful dark green needles and a wonderful pyramidal shape. Another bonus: This tree is native to Eastern North America.
Name: Abies fraseri
Growing Conditions: Full sun and moist, well-drained soil
Size: Varieties can grow up to 40 feet tall
Zones: 4-7
Grow It Because: You like the soft, dark green needles and Christmas-tree shape.
For a dense screen, you can't go wrong with Hinoki cypress. This tree offers deep green foliage and a wonderful horizontal branching habit.
Name: Chamaecyparis obtusa
Growing Conditions: Full sun and well-drained soil
Size: Varieties can grow as tall as 80 feet
Zones: 4-8
Grow It Because: You like the dense habit and dark green color.
Native to areas of Northern North America, balsam fir is a top-notch choice because of its wonderful woodsy scent, dark green needles, and purplish-blue cones.
Name: Abies balsamea
Growing Conditions: Full sun and moist, well-drained soil
Size: Varieties can grow up to 60 feet tall
Zones: 3-6
Grow It Because: You like the soft, dark green needles and Christmas-tree shape.
Another evergreen at the top of our most graceful list, Canadian hemlock has arching, almost feathery new growth. It's also a winner because it doesn't mind a bit of shade.
Name: Tsuga canadensis
Growing Conditions: Full sun or part shade and moist, well-drained soil
Size: Varieties can grow as tall as 80 feet
Zones: 4-7
Grow It Because: You want an evergreen that thrives in part shade.
We admit we're cheating a bit on this one: Dawn redwood offers feathery green needles that look gorgeous in spring and summer. In autumn, they turn russet red and then drop, exposing the tree's delightfully architectural branching habit.
Name: Metasequoia glyptostroboides
Growing Conditions: Full sun and moist, well-drained soil
Size: Varieties can grow as tall as 150 feet
Zones: 5-10
Grow It Because: You want something unique with good fall color -- and you don't mind that it loses its needles each winter.
