Get the latest news delivered daily!

Get the latest news delivered daily!

What if I told you there was a garden you could plant which, when mature, never needed to be watered yet did not include a single cactus or succulent species? Moreover, what if I told you that this was a colorful garden that included plants with a wide variety of shapes, sizes, and textures, that a number of them added a dramatic touch, and that some were powerfully fragrant as well?

If you are wondering what kind of garden I might be talking about, consider conifers. A conifer is any plant that forms cones. We are talking about pines, cedars, cypresses, and junipers of course, but sequoias are conifers too.

There is a caveat or two that must be conveyed: When I say “never needs watering,” there is an assumption that some rain will fall every now and then. Even California native oak trees may die in a prolonged drought. Of course, covering the ground wall to wall with plants – so no soil water can evaporate – or keeping the soil covered with several inches of mulch at all times, will make “never needs watering” much more feasible. Finally, during the first two years of growth of any garden plant, observation for water stress must be constant and water applied when necessary.

Pines. If you have ever visited Wrightwood in the San Gabriel Mountains, you might be inspired upon returning home to tear out everything and plant nothing but pine trees around your home. It is impossible to match the sweet resinous scent that wafts through a forest of pines.

One of the most attractive pine trees is the California native pinyon pine (Pinus monophylla). It has a symmetrically domed growth habit, an attractive blue-green color and a manageable height of only 30 feet. It’s referred to as monophylla (meaning one-leaved) because its leaves or needles uniquely occur singly, as opposed to other pine trees where needles are found in bundles of two or more.

A bonus of growing pinyon pines is their production of large pine nuts, which is just another term for the edible seeds of pine trees. Most pine nuts commercially sold in the United States come from the two-needle pinyon pine (Pinus edulis), which reaches only 20 feet tall and shares its habitat with the single-needle pinyon mentioned above.

Japanese black pine (Pinus thunbergii) grows 20 feet tall, 10 feet wide, and is sometimes called a natural bonsai tree on account of its sparse habit of growth and clumping needle bundles that are spaced along its branches. No one who looks at this tree can deny its appeal.

Frequently encountered pine tree species in our area, some of them more than a half-century old, include Canary Island, Aleppo and Afghan pine.

Within their first 10 years in the ground, each of these species will grow up to 20 feet or more in height and ultimately reach 60 to 100 feet.

Canary Island pine (Pinus canariensis) is the easiest to identify because of its uncompromisingly vertical growth habit and, for this reason, is sometimes used as a parkway or street tree, clearly visible as such when driving on Coldwater Canyon Boulevard just north of Beverly Hills.

Aleppo pine (Pinus halapensis) and Afghan pine (Pinus eldarica), the latter with its unmistakable pyramidal form, are the fastest growing pines for our area. They are both native to the Middle East and are resistant to drought. Just make sure you give them well-drained soil and plenty of room in order for them to thrive.

Incidentally, to pine — as to long for something or someone — has nothing to do with the tree but is derived from Latin and Greek words for “penalty,” the idea being that the suffering you feel is a penalty for putting distance between yourself and the object of your desire. Still, if you grew up with a pine tree in your backyard and miss it, pining for your pine may be one of your greater longings until you plant a pine tree of your own.

When you think of the oldest trees on earth, Sequoias naturally come to mind and there are, in fact, specimens of those mighty trees that are more than 3,000 years old. However, some bristlecone pines, also native to California , have been on earth for more than 4,000 years. They are not afraid of heights, growing at an elevation of 8-12,000 feet in the White Mountains above Death Valley, although they grow no more than 50 feet tall.

The Great Basin bristlecone pine (Pinus longaeva) can teach us something about the conditions that favor the longevity of plants. This species survives more wind and cold than any other full-sized tree on earth, yet it outlives them all.

The soil in which bristlecone pines grow is rocky and low in fertility. In its high-altitude habitat, the snow may not melt until summer, and the growing season is never longer than four months. Yet somehow these pines endure, probably because the soil they grow in is so poor that no other plants can live in it. Thus, there is no competition for water and minerals, limited as these resources may be.

Bristlecone pine’s short growing season may also have something to do with its success since it is not captive to the frenetic and enervating growth rate, as well as the long growing season, of shorter-lived species. Species that have a long growing season allow pests and disease organisms many opportunities for taking up residence within their stems, leaves, or roots.

Ultimately, though, botanists point to the wood of this tree as the key to its longevity. The wood of bristlecone pines is extremely dense and resin rich, making it all but impossible for insect pests and pathogenic fungi or bacteria to gain entrance.

Bristlecone pines are seldom seen in nurseries, even California native nurseries, but you can procure 15 seeds of this most ancient of plants on eBay for around three dollars. Bristlecone pine is an extremely slow grower so you will probably want to keep it in a container for its first decade or two of life.

Finally, dwarf mugo pine (Pinus mugo) is a cute and cuddly ornamental. Depending on variety, a mugo pine can remain a low mound of three feet or grow up to a height of 10 feet. Locate it near an entrance or other high-visibility spot where its charms can be fully appreciated.

Junipers.  My favorite juniper goes simply by the name of common juniper (Juniperus communis), yet there is nothing common about it. Foliage is silvery blue and soft-textured. I first encountered it in the Jerusalem Botanical Gardens as a densely growing arboreal shrub that was around 20 feet tall. Yet there are cultivars of common juniper to meet every garden designer’s desire, whether selecting tree, hedge, shrub, or groundcover. There is even a prostrate type known as mountain juniper (Juniperus communis var. montana) that grows no more than six inches tall, yet has a spread of six feet.

Rocky mountain juniper (Juniperus scopulorum var. Blue Weeping) is silvery-blue with a dramatically pendulous habit of growth and a mature height of 20 feet. Install a recirculating waterfall or water wall – which is not a particularly water-needy feature – in your garden to enhance the effect of any weeping tree.

You can make a multi-colored carpet of green, gold, and blue from low-growing, horizontally directed junipers. Juniperus chinensis var. Daub’s Frosted has blue-green foliage crowned in gold, growing 15 inches tall and five feet wide. Juniperus squamata var. Blue Star is a compact shrub with soft silver-blue foliage; at maturity, it is 2-3 feet tall and 3-4 feet wide. Juniperus sabina var. Monard is a handsome mounding juniper in green that reaches only one foot in height with a spread of six feet. Monrovia nursery grows 55 juniper varieties, most of them suitable for Southern California gardens. To find nurseries near you that carry Monrovia plants, visit monrovia.com and click “Find a garden center” on the home page.

Last but not least, I must mention the Hollywood juniper (Juniperus chinensis var. Torulosa) with its sculpturesque, if memorably contorted, branching structure.

It is critical to keep juniper leaves, known as scales, dry. Wet scales bring on disease. Therefore, it is highly recommended that a drip system be installed when planting junipers.

Cypress. A golden Monterey cypress (Cupressus macrocarpa var. Donard Gold) has a lemony fragrance to match its color and a symmetrically conical growth habit; it reaches 30 feet tall with a width at the bottom of eight feet. By the way, the conventional Monterey cypress that is often sold as a living Christmas tree due to its classic form is not recommended for planting outdoors in our area. It grows rapidly but within 10 years, at most, it will be ravaged by devastating bark beetles. The Arizona cypress (Cupressus arizonica), on the other hand, is famous for its icy blue foliage and contrasting cinnamon bark. It is suitable both as a specimen tree and for a windbreak.

Sequoia. Yes, you can grow redwood trees in Southern California. I have seen them dotted around the San Fernando Valley, from Granada Hills to Sherman Oaks to Hidden Hills. They are also thriving in Griffith Park and in Franklin Canyon, just south of Mulholland Drive. You can grow both the giant sequoia (Sequoia gigantea) and the coast redwood (Sequoia sempervirens) in your garden, although the latter may need some sun protection, especially in its initial years, in order to thrive. Most often these trees will not grow more than a hundred feet tall in our area, as opposed to more than 300 feet in their habitat, and frequently do not grow more than 50 feet tall locally. Sequoias are famously pest- and disease-free and their fresh forest fragrance is much prized.

California native of the week: The California incense cedar (Calocedrus/Libocedrus decurrens) is an excellent tree for partial or full-sun exposure. In its high elevation forest habitat, it is accustomed to growing initially in the shade of mature trees but welcomes full sun once it increases in height. The incense cedar is endowed with a perfectly conical shape, has unusual, flattened, lush green scales for leaves, and a wonderful fragrance. It can grow up to a hundred feet tall and 15 feet wide in its habitat, but I have never seen it exceed 30 feet tall locally. It will struggle in the garden unless given plenty of room to grow and, under confined conditions, is subject to fungus rust with gooey sap excretions and bacterial canker. Although it is extremely tolerant of dry soil, the ongoing drought increases its susceptibility to disease.

You are invited to send along your experience growing conifers with photos if you have them.

Please send all questions, comments, and photos to Joshua@perfectplants.com.

We invite you to use our commenting platform to engage in insightful conversations about issues in our community. We reserve the right at all times to remove any information or materials that are unlawful, threatening, abusive, libelous, defamatory, obscene, vulgar, pornographic, profane, indecent or otherwise objectionable to us, and to disclose any information necessary to satisfy the law, regulation, or government request. We might permanently block any user who abuses these conditions.

Get the latest news delivered daily!