Evergreens are excellent, non-fussy plants that provide your gardens with year-round color, and give food and shelter to birds and wildlife. 

There are thousands of types of evergreen shrubs, trees and ornamentals, in every size and shape. Some varieties tolerate extreme heat and cold, so be sure to read the plant labels at your nursery to find one that's suited to your USDA hardiness zone. I recommend dwarfs in the small-space, urban or specialty-theme gardens. There are several evergreen ornamental grasses and flowering plants that can be grown together for a beautiful effect. Dwarfs have a "personality". Much less boring than that of their bigger relatives. 

I do not like a lot of plain green in my garden, so i shy away from many evergreens. I would never plant a privet or boxwood hedge. No sir. But if the plants have a nice shape and variegations, and stay that way all winter, I'll give them space in my gardens. The right combinations, along with flowering ornamental evergreens, is stunning.

Use dwarf conifers to dress up an existing planting of evergreens. Dwarf and intermediate conifers can add color, form, and texture to an otherwise monotonous row of tall conifers. Lovely when combined with flowering plants.

They look great year- round, come in all kinds of shapes, forms, and colors, many are water-wise once established, and most thrive in extreme climates. But the real reason to like them is the way they provide strong structure and play well with flowering plants during the growing season, and a garden focus during the winter. Conifers provide important shelter and food for birds and many small animals who live within them during the coldest months.

The types.....

Arborvitae - Members of The Cypress Family of Conifers

American arborvitae (Thuja occidentalis) is a hardy, native evergreen with a narrow pyramid shape. Dwarfs and miniatures make great accent plants or foundation plantings. They go great with blooming evergreen shrubs. The height and slim shapes look stunning in an evergreen garden design, and as centerpieces or focal points in any theme garden design. Awesome in pots, too. The tree is dense, with a pyramid shape, and clusters of little cones. Dwarfs include Golden Globe, Hetz Midget and Tiny Tim.

Other names for arborvitae include northern white-cedar, eastern white-cedar, and swamp-cedar. Native Americans made baskets from the roots, and used the leaves in tea. The wood is used for log cabins, fenceposts, shingles, paneling, canoes, and wood crafting.

How to Grow Arborvitae

Established arborvitae will require extra water only during prolonged periods of drought. 

Use stakes for support as newly planted arborvitaes are vulnerable to wind.

Fertilize the arborvitae in the spring with a slow-release high-nitrogen shrub/tree fertilizer.

How to Prune

Prune in early spring before new growth emerges. Trim from the bottom up. 

Shorten branches that are expanding beyond the desired length. Prune damaged branches anytime.

Recommended Dwarf Arborvitae

‘Tom Thumb’ is a miniature and grows only 12 to 15 inches tall. It is a dense multi-stemmed shrub with a rounded form, perfect for containers or rock gardens.

Conifer is an evergreen tree or shrub that bears cones and needle-like leaves. 
The arborvitae explained above, is a genus of conifer, nicknamed "tree of life"

Most dwarf conifers like sunny, well-drained sites with slightly acidic soil. If your site does not match these characteristics, there are dwarf conifers for other conditions as well. 

When you're planning your garden, don't forget to pay attention to how tall and wide the plant gets at maturity, especially if you're considering a fast-growing shrub. That cute little shrub won't stay tiny forever, and you don't want to prune it several times a year. Many new varieties of shrubs have been developed in recent years to stay nice and compact, so that they can fit up against your house as a foundation planting, or in pots on either side of your front door, or on deck or patio steps.

Dwarf conifers usually don’t get taller than 1 to 6 feet in 10 years. Fortunately, the small size and slow-growth habit of dwarf conifers make them easier to transplant than some other woody plants.  

Miniature conifers (which are tiny dwarfs) grow no more than 12 to 15 inches high and are perfect for containers, rock gardens and as perennial bed accents. Drought tolerant cultivars do best in containers and rock garden, because they can go long periods without water. erfect in a xeriscape. Miniatures in containers can remain outside during winter, even in the north.

According to the American Conifer Society, a dwarf conifer will grow between 1 inch to 6 inches per year while a miniature will grow less than 1 inch per year. Feeding is discouraged. Less nutrients keep dwarfs small. Their roots will search the soil for enough nitrogen and other elements to keep the trees healthy.  

Dwarf conifers can be used to control erosion and eliminate the need to mow on a steep slope. Combined with a few weed-suppressing ground covers, a planting of several dwarf conifers is an attractive and low-maintenance design solution. You can stick them in just about anywhere.