When you set out to landscape your back and front yard, you should take all the elements into consideration. Your overall year round climate will determine what type of landscape will work well and flourish. You will have to think about whether you live in a windy place, a hot climate, a rainy place, or a dry one and then figure out what to plant. When you construct the right type of area in combination with planting the right kind of plants, you will have a garden area that looks spectacular.

Aside from this, the landscaper must know a bit of the flora and fauna of the particular land he is to landscape. The plants he will put in the garden must be of the right type for that kind of soil. It must be resistant to the endemic pests in the area. It must survive that kind of weather conditions. And it must not be harmful to the existing species therein. After such practical considerations, then the aesthetics can come in.

In the North the bright colors of iris, peonies, lupins and roses are once more proclaiming the month of June and the spring flowering shrubs with their wealth of pastel shades have again had their day. With the passing of the blooms on the shrubs comes the go ahead signal to start pruning and so help them to make strong growth that will bear next years bloom.

Time to take out thin and old wood and cut back a bit, too, if necessary but dont cut back your shrubs until they look like overgrown footballs or clipped hedges unless they are hedges. A natural looking shrub looks best. Of course, such shrubs as forsythia, if they have grown beyond control, can be cut back to 18 or 20 inches from the ground to force new low growth. .

If you know anything about landscaping and landscape design, then you are aware that evergreens (bushes or trees that don’t drop their leaves or needles) are the foundation of proper form and function. But what evergreens are the best for the typical home landscape and are they high or low maintenance?

Here are just a few of my favorite evergreens for home landscapes and what I like and dislike about each one.

Taxus Yews

Yews can be found in over 80% of the landscapes in the Midwest and easy. They are also grown as far south as Georgia with good success. Taxus yews have a darker green foliage and stand up well to extreme weather conditions. Their new growth each year has a bright green appearance, giving them some nice variation. They can be trimmed tightly each year and really dont have any problems with insects or fungus. The only thing I dont like about yews is that they are very common and boring.

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