Bulbs
Flower Basics
Flower Beds & Specialty Gardens
Flower Garden
Garden Furniture
Garden Gnomes
Garden Seeds
Garden Sheds
Garden Statues
Garden Tools & Supplies
Gardening Basics
Green & Organic
Groundcovers & Vines
Growing Annuals
Growing Basil
Growing Beans
Growing Berries
Growing Blueberries
Growing Cactus
Growing Corn
Growing Cotton
Growing Edibles
Growing Flowers
Growing Garlic
Growing Grapes
Growing Grass
Growing Herbs
Growing Jasmine
Growing Mint
Growing Mushrooms
Orchids
Growing Peanuts
Growing Perennials
Growing Plants
Growing Rosemary
Growing Roses
Growing Strawberries
Growing Sunflowers
Growing Thyme
Growing Tomatoes
Growing Tulips
Growing Vegetables
Herb Basics
Herb Garden
Indoor Growing
Landscaping Basics
Landscaping Patios
Landscaping Plants
Landscaping Shrubs
Landscaping Trees
Landscaping Walks & Pathways
Lawn Basics
Lawn Maintenance
Lawn Mowers
Lawn Ornaments
Lawn Planting
Lawn Tools
Outdoor Growing
Overall Landscape Planning
Pests, Weeds & Problems
Plant Basics
Rock Garden
Rose Garden
Shrubs
Soil
Specialty Gardens
Trees
Vegetable Garden
Yard Maintenance
What Is Semi-Evergreen?
What Is Semi-Evergreen?. When gardeners or landscapers are planning gardens, they take into account when different plants will bloom and how long they will keep their leaves and flowers. Evergreen plants grow their leaves year-round, while semi-evergreens keep their leaves if the winter is mild, but lose them if it is severe. In planning your...
When gardeners or landscapers are planning gardens, they take into account when different plants will bloom and how long they will keep their leaves and flowers. Evergreen plants grow their leaves year-round, while semi-evergreens keep their leaves if the winter is mild, but lose them if it is severe. In planning your garden, you should know what to expect from semi-evergreen species and how to care for them.
Evergreen and Deciduous Plants
Unlike evergreens, deciduous plants do not keep their leaves year round. Instead, they sprout their leaves in the early spring and lose them in the fall when the weather gets cold. Semi-evergreens can exhibit the characteristics of either evergreen or deciduous plants, depending on where they are planted and how severe the winter weather is.
Types of Evergreens
There are two kinds of evergreens. Narrow-leafed evergreens have needle-shaped leaves, while broad-leafed evergreens display leaves of other shapes and sizes. White pines are an example of narrow-leafed evergreens. Rhododendrons and azaleas are broad-leafed evergreens. Although evergreens have leaves on their branches year-round, they shed old leaves periodically. Many semi-evergreen plants are of the broad-leafed variety.
Caring for Semi-Evergreens
Whether or not a semi-evergreen plant keeps its leaves depends partially on the climate. The National Gardening Association divides the United States into 11 different hardiness zones, which is determined by temperature. Each zone is approximately 10 degrees warmer (or cooler) than the zone next to it. Detailed descriptions in plant catalogs or on websites instruct on how to care for semi-evergreens in different hardiness zones.
Examples of Semi-Evergreens
Semi-evergreen plants include bushes, flowers, shrubs and grasses. The National Gardening Associations lists bamboo, holly, camellia, rhododendron and feather reed grass as examples of semi-evergreen plants. When planting, gardeners need to know which hardiness zone they are in to predict how these plants will perform. In some zones a semi-evergreen will keep its leaves year-round, and in other zones it will lose its leaves in the winter.
