Who can resist the sensual, scent of roses or wafting grasses in a garden, it’s why most of us love gardening. But it’s good to have a counterbalance to all this glamour, the kind of plants that have a reliable presence and don’t need much work to keep them looking good.
This is where evergreen shrubs have their place, they’re the permanent presence that adds weight to any group of plants.
Euonymus Silver Queen, commonly seen in supermarket car-parks and therefore taken for granted, features at the renowned Great Dixter garden in East Sussex. Here it’s pruned into an organic shape by cutting out branches to give it a shaggy outline.
Euonymus Emerald n Gold
Rarely troubled by pests or diseases, it likes:
- sun or part-shade
- fertile but not soggy soil
- cut out any branches with green leaves, they grow more quickly and will soon take over
- it will eventually grow to 1.5 wide x 1.5 m.tall, but can be clipped smaller if necessary
- even if you don’t want to reduce the size, a little light pruning in spring will encourage sparkling, new foliage to grow.
There’s another perfect evergreen shrub here.
Happy gardening
Jill
photo: Jill Anderson
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