A coniferous flower bed is rightfully considered one of the best decorations of the yard in front of the house. She makes the residents happy appearance throughout the year and gives great mood. Organizing such a flower bed does not require significant financial investments. Coniferous plants are mostly perennial, so the owner of a flower garden does not have to renew them annually. Conifer flower beds are easy to organize and care for. The group of coniferous plants used in landscape design includes spruce, pine, thuja, fir and juniper.
Before creating a flower bed, you need to design the plot of land on which the planting will take place. Design involves choosing a location with sufficient lighting for plants. There should be enough space on the site for the normal development of plants, which is especially important for large breeds. It is equally important to take into account the characteristics of the soil, in particular its level of moisture and chemical composition. These features should be suitable for planting the type of trees and shrubs you choose.
To choose the right type of flower bed, you need to measure the area and evaluate its topography. You also need to determine the architectural features of the house near which green spaces will be located. When choosing conifer species, you should take into account the size of adult plants. For small area It is better to choose compact conifers. To ensure that the flower garden always looks attractive and harmonious, it is recommended to select plants with approximately the same development rate.
From sizes and landscape features plot, as well as the preferred types of conifers depends on the type of future flower bed. A flower garden can be compact, large, horizontal, two-tiered, made in a forest style, or represent a complex composition.
Beginning gardeners often forget that it is necessary to leave enough space between plants, otherwise an adult coniferous tree will cover neighboring plantings. We should not forget about the shades of conifers. They can be lush green, muted green or bluish. It is important that the colors of the needles of plants growing in the same flowerbed are harmoniously combined with each other.
Conifers are picky about their neighbors. For example, cedar, thuja, larch and pine do not get along well with spruce and fir. Therefore, you need to choose conifers that can grow in close proximity to each other without oppressing their unwitting companions.
Planting order
A coniferous flowerbed is created quite easily, but the gardener needs to follow certain rules when planting plants. First, you should delimit the area allocated for the flowerbed. Its outline can be outlined using decorative stones, paving slabs or in any other way. After this, in the flowerbed you need to remove upper layer soil and mix the soil with peat and sand.
Places for future planting should be marked with pegs. Even if the plant is compact in size, sufficient margins must be provided around the planting site. Otherwise, the area may be too small for the conifer to develop, and it will die.
At the next stage, you need to dig holes for the plants with a depth of 50-70 cm, and then fill the bottom of each of them with pebbles or sand with a layer of 15-20 cm. This will ensure optimal moisture circulation. On top you need to add fertilizers suitable for the respective types of plants.
After this, the seedlings should be placed in holes, covered with soil, compacted and watered abundantly. Then you need to add another layer of soil and mulch (surface covering the soil) with some suitable material (pine chips, peat).
Rules of care
Taking care of coniferous flower beds is easy, which is why they are so popular. During the first year after planting new plants, you need to add anti-stress agents to the soil, which will ensure rapid adaptation of the seedlings. Wrapping with kraft paper in winter will help protect young plants from frost.
Conifers definitely need sufficient and timely watering, as well as spraying the above-ground parts of plants with water.
In addition, you need to promptly trim dried branches and perform decorative pruning of crowns. Following these easy recommendations will help you create coniferous flowerbed, which will become a true decoration of your site.
The name "mixborder" comes from English words“mix” (mixing) and “border” (border, border) and fully reflects the meaning of the purpose of this flower garden, which is planted either along the border of a plot or house, or on a small limited space of the lawn.
Mixborder - the most important thing
An example of a mixborder of plants typical of an English garden.
mixed flower garden, usually longitudinal in shape, consisting of different varieties plants. It is most often used in its composition; in some places it is supplemented with annuals. The size of the mixborder depends on the area of the site and climate and can consist of trees, small shrubs and climbing bushes.For proper care Such a flower garden requires knowledge of the biological characteristics of plants and phytodesign. plant suitable plants necessary in accordance with their height, size, different flowering periods, and then the beauty and picturesqueness of the landscape will delight the owner of the site throughout warm period of the year.
For harmonious landscape design, the following types of mixborders are used:
- Coniferous-heather perennials- form a composition that is often framed on the façade of a building or used as, on a low elevation or to border a terrace.
- a flower garden in which wild or perennial perennials are planted garden species flora - usually placed parallel to the paths to the house or against the backdrop of a grassy lawn. The option of fencing the area when planting along the border of the site is considered very successful.
- If the site area is large enough, it is possible to use combined mixborder, consisting of coniferous trees and various shrubs, but it is desirable that the selected area is illuminated by the sun with varying intensities.
- When located near the house the best option will row ornamental shrubs , blooming at different times of the year.
- After finishing planning the landscape of the site, you can make additional planting flowers growing in the shade.
Mixborder of low-growing flowers.
How to fit a mixborder into the landscape
To begin with, a place is selected to place the mixborder in the landscape of the site. This is especially important when planting. Optimal place at the same time there is a space that during the day can be illuminated by the sun's rays, but then gives way to shadow.
The most commonly used locations are:
- along the edge;
- along the perimeter of the building facade;
- on a slope with a slight inclination;
- along the border of the site as a natural fence.
The length of such a flower bed can be any and is limited only by the size of the allocated area.
The finished mixborders, which can be seen in the colorful pictures above, are the result of an exciting and very labor-intensive project, into which all the knowledge about correct selection plants (about their mutual influence on each other, characteristics of growth and flowering).
Schemes and photos
There are 2 types of mixborders:
- The flower garden is visible only from one side- in this case, the plants are planted in rows, with low-growing species in the foreground (40 cm tall), medium-sized ones in the second (60 cm), and the highest ones in the background (a meter or more).
- Flower garden with all-round view- plants are planted so that the tall ones are in the center of the composition, and the rest are planted, selected according to the gradual decrease in their growth.
Let's consider ready-made diagrams:
Before buying seeds or plant seedlings, be sure to make a plan. When designing it, you need to consider:
- composition and type of soil;
- air humidity;
- lighting (sunny or shaded);
- Is the area protected from the wind?
It is also necessary to take into account what root system in plants so that creeping rhizomes do not spread over the surrounding area. After all, then other plantings will suffer, and the harmony of the flowerbed will be disrupted.
Important! Plants that are selected for a mixborder should have similar needs in terms of moisture consumption, type of soil and amount of sun exposure.
Here are some more landing rules:
- You cannot plant tall plants near the viewing point that will block the view of the flower garden;
- the continuity of flowering of such planting can be ensured by planting annual plants that bloom for a long time;
- The background for a flower garden must be green leaves, which with their splendor during the period between flowering different plants do not allow it to lose its decorative effect (for example, and);
- if at a certain moment the flowerbed has not acquired a presentable appearance, then you can get out of the difficulty with the help of flower pots, arranging them for a while.
Mixborders made from coniferous plants
Coniferous plants are used as “skeletal” plants, i.e. those who in the future will set the height of the border and fill it. They are planted on different distances, leaving free space for planting annual or other perennial plants.
Using coniferous plantings, you can come up with many options for combining crown shapes, different sizes and create an original composition. The most commonly used dwarf conifers are:
- Spruce (different types have different colors);
- Korean fir (green needles shimmer with silver, unusual purple cones);
- Lawson's cypress,
- Bergmann or mountain pine (curly or pyramidal);
- Thuja folded (with a voluminous crown descending to the ground);
- Juniper (low, creeping branches);
- Yew (branches fan out, looks original with red berries);
- Weeping larch.
Dwarf and larger shrubs are planted permanently to subsequently determine the planting structure. Often boxwood or other wood is used for the base. evergreen shrub. Such plants correct pruning grow for several years, requiring almost no care (, magnolia, etc.).
Shrubs that are distinguished by colorful flowering look good: cinquefoil, different varieties , .
Scheme using conifers:
Here is an example of a mixed mixborder from different types of plants:
It includes: 1- Dwarf spruce (1), 2 - Tulips and Asters, blooming in spring(60 pcs.), 3 - Chist with fluffy leaves (7 pcs.), 4 - Phlox, bloom all season (10), 5 - (8); 6 - Sedum prominent (6); 7 - a (10), 8 -, blooming in June (3), 9 -, which in the future will become a compositional center (7), 10 - Rhododendron, blooming in May and August (3); 11 - Thuja with crown diameter up to 1 m (1).
In the first years, such a mixborder should be supplemented with annuals; the following are suitable for this purpose:
- cold-resistant - poppy, petunia, calendula, begonia, etc.;
- plants that bloom throughout the summer - asters, lavatera, sweet peas, cornflowers, violets, etc.;
- plants that bloom towards the end of the season - carnations, dahlias, sunflowers, etc.
A couple more schemes:
Attention! When selecting plants, you need to focus on the volume of the already grown plant and its expected height.
There is no need to try to get the most lush decorative misborder in the very first year of its creation, because with thick planting, poor growth and even death of the plant is possible. The area allocated to each perennial must be calculated in advance:
- large plants usually occupy 1 m 2 of land;
- average - about 0.5-0.7 m2;
- - 0.2 m 2.
Flowerbeds in the shade:
Along the path
Very often, flower beds are located along the boundaries of the territory summer cottage or along the paths. In such a situation, the outline of the flower arrangement should be highlighted using path tiles or other suitable material. You can use tree stumps, chocks and cobblestones.
Small flower beds are always decorated with long-growing plants (polygonum, echinacea). An excellent addition to the composition will be decorative foliage plants (cineraria, wormwood), shimmering with silvery light.
Scheme of the flower bed along the path:
Mixborder located along the house (in the photo below we use: actinidia kolomikta varieties Male, hydrangea Quick Fire, Little Rocket, and two types of hosta: Patriot and Sagae): 
Along the stairs:
Corner flower beds
On every site there is a not very attractive corner in the corner of the fence or near the compost heap, which I would like to make more attractive and pleasing to the eye. As a solution to this problem, corner mixborders are suitable, which will add originality to the design of the area and cover problem areas.
Schemes of a corner flower bed:
Designations for the last diagram: 1 - Woolly chistets; 2 - Ashy fescue; 3 - Veronica Kolosovaya; 4 - Golden cinquefoil; 5 - Red geranium; 6 - Lobelia perennial; 7 - Red Quinoa; 8 - Molinia; 9 - Switchgrass; 10 - Asters; 11 - Tithonia roundifolia; 12 - Peach bell; 13 - Phlox paniculata; 14 - Coreopsis large.
Example of a corner composition:
How to make it yourself
You can create a mixborder yourself, without counting on the help of designers.
Having selected a ready-made diagram or drawn your own, a lover of landscape design will try to do everything with his own hands.
First you need to prepare the ground:
- The boundaries of the flower bed are outlined with a shovel.
- The top layer of grass and soil 5 cm deep is removed.
- Fertilizer application per 1 m2: two buckets of humus, half a bucket of vermicompost, complex mineral fertilizers and 60 g of phosphorus-potassium.
On the diagram and in reality Plants should not be placed strictly in rows or at right angles, you should use a slightly chaotic layout with smooth outlines.
Care must be taken to color selection plants.
contrasting type looks very impressive and noticeable on long distance. Most often used a combination of red on a green background or yellow with purple colors . But it is not recommended to have too many flowers so that the flower bed does not look untidy.Creating mixborders yourself is a fascinating activity, although difficult. Optimal choice and correct landing different plants, caring for the entire composition will make the territory of a summer cottage or other area incredibly attractive and unique.
Video consultation
Instructions for creating a mixborder with your own hands - in the video from the channel “Dacha Troubles”
They try to structure each garden around some kind of supporting point, some kind of skeleton, which can be artificially created like a sculpture, a fountain, or natural in the form of an evergreen plant. Nowadays, greater preference is given to coniferous trees and shrubs, especially their dwarf versions, which also retain excellent decorative properties. all year round, regardless of the season. Dwarf conifers for the garden 55 photos of landscape design ideas.
Actually dwarf and creeping conifers in the wild they are extremely rare, inferior to their giant relatives. Miniature plants They are mainly created artificially based on structural anomalies known as “witches’ brooms” by grafting their cuttings onto a prepared rootstock of the desired breed. The second popular method of growing “dwarfs” is cross-pollination of conifers in a nursery. Coniferous plants for the garden photo:
Amateur gardeners understand the name - dwarf plants- flora that does not exceed the height of human growth in adulthood, that is, almost two meters. Dwarf conifers and shrubs for the garden do not require annual pruning, they tolerate shape-correcting topiaries well, are unpretentious to the soil, and most of them tolerate shade and frost well. Thanks to the wide variety of crown shapes and needle colors, they represent serious tools for the work of landscape designers. 
Often, decorative coniferous trees for the garden find their home on alpine hills, rockeries or other types of rocky gardens. In these options, they act as the center of the composition, grouping other types of plants around themselves; it is worth taking advantage of all the wealth color range, forms of coniferous dwarfs. If you skillfully use the principle of different heights, you can avoid monotony and create several original viewpoints at once. 
Traditionally, low-growing conifers for the garden are taken for the construction of borders, the organization of low hedges, medium height. Forms with dense bushes of cypress, spruce, juniper, and western thuja beg to be used in borders. Medium hedges can be formed by common spruce, yew, and junipers with a crown in the form of columns. 
An environment of heathers will help to emphasize the graceful appearance of low-growing coniferous trees. The entrance to the estate in the form of a thuja arch will look stylish, and the approaches to the porch of the house will be decorated with common spruce and prickly spruce in containers. Coniferous plants for the garden photo:
Trees in garden landscape design
Large trees, trees more than two meters in height, as well as coniferous trees for the garden, are widely used in landscape design. When carrying out landscaping work in city parks, large trees are almost always planted next to old-time trees in order not to disturb the “green interior”. On private country estates, mature plants with a properly formed crown can also act as hedges. In both cases, tree planting is carried out in accordance with the texture and habitation characteristics of permanent natural representatives. 
Landscape large trees and dwarf conifers for the garden are grown in nurseries, from where they are delivered to a new planting site. Companies that sell large trees monitor the quality of the specimens they offer. On their websites, they post offers for the sale of trees of various species without trade markups. See below for low-growing conifers for the garden: 
The degree of survival of trees in a new location is influenced by factors such as resistance to tree insects, general state, compliance with all standards when growing, digging from the ground, transporting and final planting, also take into account the location where it is better to plant shade-loving conifers for the garden, and where sun-loving ones. 
Nursery specialists advise purchasing large-sized ones in winter period time. Planting trees in winter ensures a high survival rate in a new area.
Winter planting is recommended after slight freezing of the soil. The optimal planting period is from late autumn to early spring at temperatures from -15 0C. Since coniferous trees for the garden at this moment are in a state of deep dormancy, its root system is less susceptible to various damages, and the chances of taking root in a new place increase exponentially.
It is worth taking into account the fact that in winter the root system of the tree freezes completely. This the process is underway gradually, with the air temperature significantly lower than the ground temperature. When digging up plants, their roots are protected with an earthen ball, the size of which should correspond to their size. If you allow the coma to weather and freeze, the root system will die. Accordingly, the tree will not wake up in the spring. 
Modern landscape design is unthinkable without majestic spruce trees, luxurious thujas, mighty oaks, serious larches, frivolous pines; dwarf conifers for the garden are also always held in high esteem. Woody compositions of large trees are a timid reminder of the forest, noisy and green in summer, silent and thoughtful in winter. Coniferous plants for the garden photo:
Conifers have long occupied place of honor in landscape design. They are quite unpretentious, look and smell great, purify the air and remain green all year round. In addition, they combine perfectly with other trees, flowers, stones or lawns, which allows you to create great amount various compositions. Most popular types are flower beds, rockeries, alpine slides and hedges, although some prefer to plant single trees or even grow dwarf bonsai trees.
The modern market offers an impressive range of conifers of different species, colors and sizes. Thanks to this, it is possible to improve not only a park or large areas of land with evergreen plants, but also a rather modest corner of an ordinary garden plot.
Features of the composition
In landscape design, as a rule, specially grown dwarf plant species are used, which are not cheap, so it is better to start by drawing up a sketch of the future composition on paper. One of the primary factors is, undoubtedly, the size of the area allocated for planting, as well as the features of the terrain. Despite the well-known unpretentiousness, It is best to plant conifers on the western or eastern side of the site.
A flat, level area is suitable for a rock garden or flower bed, and a gentle slope or artificial pond will be an ideal basis for an alpine slide.
When creating a layout, you should pay attention to the geometry of the planned composition. The elements must be harmoniously combined in shape and size. As a rule, the largest ones are the semantic center and are located in the middle or at the very beginning of the composition. It is better to place the difference in heights and shapes in a descending order: from larger and more massive to the outskirts, avoiding sudden jumps.
You should pay attention to the choice of colors. Conifers can differ quite greatly from each other, providing a fairly wide palette both within the original green color (from pale light green to dark blue-green tones), and having a variety of mixed shades - yellowish, blue or purple. To prevent the canvas from turning out tacky, designers advise:
- choose no more than two colors for a composition of three elements;
- take three colors for a five-element composition.
- if there are more components, it is recommended to arrange them in groups according to color.
However, the main principle when constructing a composition, both in form and color, is the desire for reasonable minimalism, avoiding excessive variegation and excessive variety.
An important point is and functional purpose future landing. If the goals are purely aesthetic - decorating a corner of a summer cottage or the desire to try your hand at landscape design, then optimal choice will be the creation of a rock garden, flower bed or alpine slide. More practical options are mixborders or hedges, which help not only to protect your territory from strangers, noise and dust, but also to zone the space in an original way.
A rock garden is a gently sloping garden without pronounced differences in tiers, when decorating which we use dwarf trees, stones, bushes, flowers and small pebbles (most often gravel). There are three types of rockeries:
- European;
- English;
- Japanese.
In English, preference is given to grasses, bushes and creeping conifers. Japanese ones emphasize the design of stones and gravel, occasionally diluted with greenery. European rockeries are most common in the middle zone. Its semantic center, as a rule, is a vertical conifer of a conical or oval shape, around which other elements are placed - stones, creeping shrubs, lower spherical trees.
The principle of creating an alpine slide is the same as that of a rock garden - a combination of conifers with stones and other types of vegetation to create a miniature imitation wildlife. However the alpine slide requires more light, and the cascading structure gives it its charm. In such a composition, a clearly expressed layering and arrangement of elements in a descending order are visible.
Special attention Care should be taken to ensure that the larger elements do not block the smaller ones when viewing.
A flowerbed with conifers will be an excellent option for decorating a small garden plot or country house. This type of composition is especially loved by gardeners because it can be placed at minimal cost on a standard few hundred square meters.
The main types of flower beds are:
- A large flower bed, usually located on the outskirts of the site. In the foreground, the composition is supported by medium-sized shrubs and creeping species.
- A compact flowerbed, of which the mobile model is a subspecies, is located in a small area and resembles a miniature rock garden. The composition also includes flowers and stones.
- The landscape flowerbed is stylized as an unprocessed wild coniferous forest in miniature. For decoration, raw stones, driftwood, and mosses are usually used.
- A symmetrical flower bed is planted from the center, where the most tall plant, descending through 1-2 plants of medium height to the shortest - creeping species of thuja and juniper.
Hedges and mixborders from coniferous thuja and juniper. Such a fence not only reliably protects the area from unwanted visitors, traps dust and exhaust gases, but also looks invariably stylish and elegant. And from dwarf species You can plant small barriers, which can be used to conveniently zone an area or fence off flower beds.
Which plants to choose?
Choosing conifers for the garden is not such a simple matter, having a number of secrets and subtleties. Despite their easy availability, you should not take branches or seedlings of wild pines and spruces, as they will inevitably tend to restore their original height and size, destroying the harmony of the composition.
For decorative purposes, it is necessary to buy specially grown varieties of conifers that have a compact size and a predictable direction of growth.
Also, we should not forget about the other elements of the planned composition - deciduous trees, flowers, hostas, which will affect the choice of color and size of the coniferous one.
Species of coniferous plants are conventionally divided into three large groups:
- tall;
- plants of medium height;
- short.
Pine
Pine is one of the most common and famous trees. It is unpretentious to soil and climate, but requires a lot of space for its luxurious crown. There are many varieties of dwarf pines, including creeping mountain pine, which allows it to be used both in compositions and as a solitary tree. Popular ones include the dwarf fluffy pine called Nana, the spherical twisted Watereri and Panderosa with long yellowish needles.
Spruce
This tree is widespread in the middle zone and is also quite picky about living conditions. In landscape design, both ordinary spruce and its numerous varietal varieties. The most famous is the blue spruce, which due to unusual color needles always look beautiful and solemn. Good choice For a large-scale composition, a tall Hoopsie spruce, reaching a height of up to 15 m, or a fluffy Serbian spruce would also be suitable.
More compact options are medium height Canadian spruce conika, frost-resistant tompa spruce, weeping inversa or dwarf species, for example, miniature cushion nidiformis, white-sided spruce with a characteristic white edging of branches or Lombers spruce.
photos
Fir
This tree is distinguished by thick needles and characteristic cones on the branches, which makes it a real pearl of any flower bed. However, unlike the previous ones, fir is quite demanding on the soil, does not like polluted air and cold weather, and needs regular watering.
You should also pay attention to the young, fast-growing shoots that appear on the tree, which should be removed in a timely manner.
Thuja and cypress
These trees adapt well to urban conditions, tolerate pollution and frost, and are easy to care for. Thuja has a scaly structure, while cypress can be either scaly or needle-shaped. A distinctive feature of these plants is the huge variety of crown shapes, which allows them to fit organically into any composition. The most common type of thuja is the western breed, which has both tall and dwarf forms.
Due to their dense crown, cypress and thuja trees are ideal for creating hedges and mixborders.
Juniper
Junipers are quite diverse in shape and size, ranging from tall ten-meter trees to creeping shrubs. They are united by specific prickly and scaly-needle needles.
The most common and unpretentious Cossack juniper, suitable both for use in compositions and for creating hedges. Typical colors of juniper are green and bluish with a bluish bloom, although some types Chinese juniper They are distinguished by a rare golden hue.
photos
Yew
Yew is deservedly considered the most decorative of coniferous trees. It is distinguished by wide, long needles reduced from leaves, as well as bright berries. Despite the rather slow growth, Yew is often used as a base for living fencing. The main types used are berry, medium and pointed yew.
Combinations and combinations
Despite the fact that conifers are often picky about environmental conditions, they can be quite intolerant of other plants and each other. So, you should not plant cedar, pine or thuja next to spruce and fir, and larch will not tolerate any other conifers next to it. Birch or bird cherry are also undesirable neighbors for them, since they will take all the nutrients from the soil. Shrub and single roses invariably look impressive and stylish against the background of conifers. However, in this combination, flowers are at risk due to alkalization of the soil, so they need regular fertilization.
A beautiful and successful symbiosis is formed in conifers with deciduous shrubs, herbs and perennial flowers. Hydrangea or rhododendron are always a winning choice. The classic ideal combination is considered to be a simple combination of conifers and grass lawn.
