SPECIAL USES. Foundation planting, specimens, hedges, rock and wild gardens, tub planting, bonsai.
Teucrium chamaedrys Labiatae Germander
This is an aromatic Old World shrublet that is adaptable to many uses in the garden, whether formal or informal. Most varieties are less than a foot in height. It flowers in late summer. Many gardeners raise it for its decorative value and snip off the blooms. It is hardier than boxwood and less costly.
CARE. It grows in almost any soil but requires good drainage and full sun. Prune the top and sides twice a year for formal effect. Give winter protection with evergreen boughs.
PROPAGATION. Seeds (good but slow), division, cuttings.
SPECIAL USES. Beds, edging, rock gardens, miniature hedges, foundations.
Thuja Pinaceae Arborvitae
Certain species of the “tree of life” are majestic monsters. But there are a number of shrubby varieties of delicate value in small plantings. All have characteristic scale-like leaves arranged along fan-shaped branches, making fluffy sprays. But shapes vary from balls to pyramids. Foliage may be light, or blue-green, or even golden. Smaller forms are:
occidentalis—This species has two small varieties, compacta (slow-growing, dense pyramid) and ellwangeriana (a low round mound-shape).
minima—A very small and a slow-growing ball.