bush suggestions


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Old 06-14-08, 04:29 PM
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bush suggestions

rear of house faces north, gets only early am and late pm sun during the summer only.......looking for a bush of some sort that will grow about 4x4, will stay green year round, will tolerate cold winters and snow and handle the lack of sun. I looked at Juniper upon a friends suggestion but found they require full sun. Any suggestions as to what I should consider.
 
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Old 06-14-08, 07:49 PM
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shrub question

How about yews? They can tolerate almost full shade. They are more structured. Another option is the boxwood, although it won't get to be 4 feet high. Viburnum are great,but are not evergreen. Also check with a local nursery.
 
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Old 06-15-08, 06:57 AM
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yew suggestion

Thanks for the quick response, for some reason I though when looking at various evergreens I looked at yews because I know there are many varieties that all the information cards that where attached showed full to partial sun. I have yews in the front which face the south and all do very well. Is there a particular variety of yew that your suggesting will take shade all the time?
 
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Old 06-15-08, 09:30 AM
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Plants need sun to photosynthesize to manufacture food for roots. Some are more shade tolerant than others, but they need so many hours a day of sunshine. Yews are shade tolerant. This means morning sun and afternoon shade. Or, less than 6 hours, but more than three hours of sun. Depending on amount of dappled sun, which is constant throughout the day such as light filtered through tree branches, yews may be able to handle that, but may not flower or produce berries.

The north side of the house gets the least amount of sun, especially in winter, when winter winds can be harsh on plants. In summer, when the sun rises north of east and sets north of west, the north side of the house can get pretty hot in summer. Taunton yew (Taxus x media 'Taunton') forms a low, dense shrub that is resistant to winter burn. It averages 3-4 feet tall and 3-4 feet wide.

In ancient times yews were planted around churches and cemeteries. Some of the oldest yews surviving today are those planted on the north side of churches. For a fun read of the history of the yew: http://livinginseason.blogspot.com/2...-solstice.html
 
 

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