UK: Celebrate Conifers with National Conifer Week

Low maintenance, attractive forms and all year round colour are just a few of the benefits that the conifer can bring to the garden.

Such is its popularity across the nation, the conifer has been attributed its own week as well as being the Horticultural Trades Association’s (HTA) Plant of the Month for October.

Alex Gregor.

National Conifer Week, organised by the British Conifer Group (BCG), takes place on Saturday 26 September running until Saturday 3 October. Retailers are encouraged to inspire their customers upon the many benefits of growing conifers in the garden.

If not already a feature of a garden, a conifer can regularly be found to be one’s neighbour. Whether planted in a container on a balcony, in a domestic garden or featured in acres of grounds, conifers can work as a backdrop, standalone, or in a border with other plants. They are extremely versatile, coming in an amazingly diverse range of shades, textures, shapes and sizes.

Rower and Olympic Gold medallist 2012 (Team GB) Alex Gregory says, “Conifers have always been a part of my life. From the early days of climbing in their branches, to the family pilgrimage we took to the Californian giant redwoods. There's something fascinating about the variety of sizes, colours and shapes conifers provide. They really are a feast for the senses. Every garden should have at least one conifer.”

Recommended RHS AGM varieties include:
Picea abies 'Acrocona'
Larix decidua 'Puli'
Thuja plicata 'Atrovirens'
Taxus baccata 'Icicle'

Those looking for companion plants to complement conifers in the garden are recommended to try:
Acer ‘Osakazuki’
Colchicum speciosum
Erica ‘Springwood White’

Nominated and agreed upon by British growers and retailers, the HTA’s Plant of the Month campaign highlights the plants that are widely available and looking especially good each month.

For more details, please visit www.the-hta.org.uk/plantofthemonth

For more information
Horticultural Trades Association
Horticulture House
19 High Street
Theale
Reading
West Berkshire
RG7 5AH
T: +44 (0)118 930 3132
Fax: +44 (0)118 932 3453
NGGV: +44 (0)118 930 2092
www.the-hta.org.uk