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Evergreen Trees Evergreen Shrubs Evergreen
Plants
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Evergreen Plant
Characteristics
Evergreens retain their leaves all year round as opposed to deciduous plants which lose all
their foliage for a proportion of the year leaving them bare. Old
leaves shed soon after the new leaves appear. Leaf persistence lasts for one to five years in some cases with
the Great Basin Bristlecone Pine lasting up to forty-five years.
Evergreens Provide Year Round
Interest whether in the countryside national parks of Sierra Nevada where magnificent Giant
Sequoia grow or the humble dwarf conifers in your own garden. For the gardener, they also provide essential
structure or 'bones' of garden design. Choosing the right evergreens will give you long-term enjoyment with the
satisfaction of easy care. Choose the wrong evergreen and you will have a constant battle controlling its
growth!
Reasons To Be Evergreen Trees or Deciduous
Trees Deciduous trees drop their leaves for a specific reason which is typically
self protection. This is a defense mechanism to a cold or dry season.
Retaining leaves would become a liability by threatening the life of the plant.
Tropical Evergreen Plants The
majority of tropical rainforest plants are evergreen. These plants replace their leaves throughout the
year. When leaves age they become ineffective at supporting the plants life and so
ultimately drop. All plant waste matter easily rots down in the rain forest, so providing essential growth
nutrients for established and newly sprouted plants.
In other areas where the seasons have a dry climate cycle, both
evergreen and deciduous plants thrive, having adapted to their own environments successfully.
Warm Temperate Evergreen
Plants The majority of plants in a warm temperate climate are evergreen. The climate and
conditions determine the success or failure of a
plant to adapt. The ideal environment for evergreens to thrive will provide, warmth
and stability, plus have a ready supply of water and adequate nutrients.
Cooler temperate climates have fewer evergreen plants.
Such areas produce an abundance of conifers as fewer evergreen broad leaf plants are able to tolerate severe
cold when temperatures go down to -30 °C, -22 °F.
Seasonal Climate Evergreen Plants
In regions with cold or dry seasons there are good survival reasons for a plant being
deciduous. The existance of evergreen plants usually indicates an adaptation to low nutrient levels.
Deciduous trees, for example, lose their nutrients whenever they drop their leaves. It is essential for the tree to
replenish these lost nutrients from the soil so as to build new leaves and promote growth.
In difficult times when hardly any nutrients are available, evergreen plants
have a distinct survival advantage. Though their leaves and needles must be capable of withstanding cold
including severe drought, they are less efficient at photosynthesis (The process used by green plants to turn
the energy of sunlight into chemical reactions that convert carbon dioxide into oxygen and also produces sugars
that feed the plant).
In warmer climates with both poor soil and ground conditions, some evergreens
such as pines and cypresses species grow very well.
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