Andorra Juniper
Low spreading ground cover type of juniper. Bright green in spring, and fades to dark green through summer, leading to a purple tint in winter. Excellent plant for highlighting specimen plants or massing on berms or hillsides. The Andorra juniper tolerates extreme heat and drought, making it a good choice for areas with limited water availability like entrances or parking lot islands. One of the best evergreens at tolerating salt, it still needs care to avoid over exposure.

Austrian Pine
One of the most commonly used pines in northern Illinois, the Austrian is an excellent evergreen for a screen or specimen planting. Outstanding characteristics of this pin are it's dark green color, pyramidal shape, medium growth rate, and it's ability to tolerate salt spray and pollution. The Zimmerman Pine Moth and Diplodia Tip Blight are becoming a larger concern for the Austrian Pine, but can be treated with pesticides as a control or preventative measure.

Bald Cypress
Not a true evergreen, but a deciduous plant with needle shaped leaves worthy of our top ten. The Bald Cypress is a large growing tree that will tolerate a wide range of conditions, from standing water, to dry berm planting. This is a good selection if you are looking for a substitution for a willow tree. This tree also has very good resistance to pollution and salt spray, making it good for close proximity to parking lots and streets. Growth rate is fast to medium, often growing over two feet per year.  Because of this location is important to allow for it's size. One drawback of the Bald Cypress is its lack of tolerance for high pH soils, which will cause yellowing of the needles (Chlorosis). This can be treated with various iron products either by injections or soil drenching.

Colorado Spruce
Known widely for it's silver/blue color, the Colorado Spruce is on our most popular evergreens. Because this plant is grown from seed, the color can very widely from the silver/blue color, to a deep, rich green. The Colorado Spruce is best used as a specimen or in small groupings. Similar to the Norway Spruce, the Colorado Spruce does not like wet locations.

Dense Yew
commonly used for foundation planting, hedging, or massing. Grows 3' to 4' high, and 5' to 6' wide, but can be maintained to almost any smaller size with shearing. The Dense Yew will tolerate sun or shade, and pollution, but not excessive moisture. Standing water over the root system has been know to kill existing plants. New planting in damp areas should be avoided, or plants should be elevated as much as possible.

White Pine
The White Pine is the fastest growing pine in our area.  Often exceeding one and a half feet of growth per year, this tree good for an area that needs quick results. With its blue-green needle color and soft textures, it makes a nice specimen plant. Proper location of this plant on site is extremely important because severe foliage damage can occur from salt spray, pollution, and heavy winter winds.

Norway Spruce
A very good tree for screening due to its ability to tolerate harsh conditions and temperatures. Prefers a moist, sandy soil, but tolerates our heavy clay soils in dry locations. Because of this, the Norways Spruce is well suited for berm planting. The dark green color of the needles and the pendulous characteristics of the branch tips are two attributes of the Norway Spruce. This evergreen an reach very large sizes (the record holder is 120'!), so location is critical.

Techny Arborvitae
The most winter hardy of all arborvitae, the Techny is a pyramidal shaped large shrub growing 15' in height by 8' in width. Commonly used in large hedges for screening or as highlights to offset corners of buildings. Can be sheared to maintain a specific height.

Sea Green Juniper
Dark green colored medium sized juniper that can be used as a foundation plant, or for massing. Tolerates hot, dry areas, as well as salt spray. A very versatile variety of juniper, which lends itself to some shearing or selective pruning (looks best when not sheered) The Sea Green Juniper typically reaches heights of 3' to 4' and a width of 4' to 5'.