Over the past ten years, I’m fairly certain that I have killed more evergreen trees/shrubs than I have managed to keep alive. As much as I love the ornamental grass, I still desire the evergreen and its place in the landscape, especially during the barren winter.

The problem I’ve found is that there appears to be limited choices when it comes to evergreens that can handle my conditions.  And when I say “conditions”, I really mean the deer and the waterlogged soil. They are the problem. I cannot be held responsible for any of the losses; I would never be so irresponsible as to plant an acid loving shrub in my alkaline soil. That would just be stupid.

So each year I try to introduce new evergreen options into my garden because one can only plant so many boxwoods and not get bored off his ass. They serve their purpose as consistent greenery, but we all know they leave a lot to be desired. A strange side note: Contrary to most, I like the boxwood scent. Strange, eh?

Because I’m an incredibly smart and well thought out individual, I only purchase new evergreen plants that are small in size as a means to protect the pocketbook. I can rebound if a $15 plant fails to thrive but will be in therapy if I kill a $100 substantially sized version.

Which brings me to a recent introduction to my garden. Fall of 2013 to be exact. I purchased a one gallon sized Juniper ‘Gold Cone’ on a whim as I was pulled in by the gold coloration … and the 50% off price tag.

Juniperus communis ‘Gold Cone’ is an (eventual) columnar, needled evergreen that matures to an approximate height of 7′ to 10′ and a width of 2′ in ten years. I have it on good source that it puts on 3″ to 6″ of new growth each spring. And that growth is a fantastic gold color.

This shrub survives in zones 5-7, prefers full sun and apparently tolerates most soils (we’ll see how much it digs the wet clay). There are claims on many web pages that Juniper ‘Gold Cone’ is deer resistant, but I’ll be the final judge of that.

So while it’s only been a little more than a year and by all means too early to pass judgment, I can report that it has thrived and the deer have left it alone.

I even went ahead and purchased a second one a few weeks later.

As advertised, this shrub retains its gold color throughout spring and summer.

And did take on a blue hue as the temps dropped in the fall.

Settling in at what I’ll call a brownish blue all winter.

While conducting my research for this tale, I came across a great blog post about Juniper ‘Gold Cone’ and how it looks at full maturity and how best to ‘spiral tie” it so the shaded brown needles are not exposed. You can read all about it here.

I would love to hear your feedback if you have had any experience with this shrub.

Thanks as always.

John