The plant of the month for October is the conifer, and there's a good reason to be celebrating these beautiful evergreen trees as this week is National Conifer Week.
Chances are you already have a conifer in your garden as they're hugely popular garden trees. Whether you've got a container, tiny city garden or acres of lawn, you'll find a conifer that's just the right shade, texture, shape and size, from low-growing hummocky Pinus mugo to Korean fir with its steely blue needles, and majestic trees for large gardens like dawn redwoods or cedars.
Most conifers are evergreens, with notable exceptions like larches and the beautiful Ginkgo biloba, with fan-shaped leaves turning butter yellow in autumn. Conifers are more colourful than you'd think, too: as well as deepest green some are yellow or variegated and others like the beautifully textural Japanese Cryptomeria turn vivid bronze-purple in autumn.
Use your conifers as a handsome backdrop, standalone feature, screen or focal point. Yew, for example, is great for trimming into stylish topiary to set off blowsy cottage garden plantings – or to add a minimalist, sculptural element.
