•   Aesthetically Pleasing: Needles – usually green or blue – provide color and texture throughout the year, and are a delight during winter when deciduous plants are leafless. Cones come in different shapes and sizes. An entertaining and educational pastime, especially with children, is learning to identify evergreens by their unique needles and cones.
•   Shelter: Tall, dense evergreens protect us from the wind, and intense summer sun. Birds likewise benefit from this protection, and they often nest and find food in evergreens.
•   Screening: Don’t want the neighbors looking in at your hottub? Want to block out the obtrusive pink house next door? Let dense, sturdy evergreen trees do the trick.
•   Low Maintenance: Once established they’re usually trouble-free.

MAKING CHOICES

At Blake Nursery we have a large selection of hardy evergreens. There's much to consider when choosing which ones are right for you, such as mature size, density, and water needs. For example, if you want the densest tree for a windbreak or screening, go for Spruce – providing you have a means of providing sufficient water. If limited water is a factor, consider Montana’s state tree, Ponderosa Pine. It’s looser and more open than Spruce, and thus has a more natural appearance. Other hardy Pine trees to consider are Bristlecone, Scotch, Austrian, Lodgepole and Limber. Each has its distinctive growth rate and habit. A shorter, very dense evergreen is native Rocky Mountain Juniper, with green or blue needles and beautiful winter berries. Besides trees, there’s a vast selection of evergreen shrubs in various sizes and shapes that thrive in Montana, including Pine, Juniper, Spruce, and more. Here we are just touching the tip of the iceberg. As you can see there’s much to consider when choosing evergreens, and planning-before-you-plant is the #1 priority.