Glossary term
What is Evergreen tree?
Short answer
An evergreen tree is a tree that keeps green leaves or needles all year and replaces them gradually.
Evergreen tree, explained for tree service owners
An evergreen tree holds onto its leaves or needles through the whole year. It does drop old foliage, but only a bit at a time, so the tree never looks bare. Many pines, spruces and firs are evergreens, and so are some broadleaf trees like holly and live oak. For a tree service owner, evergreens bring a few special points. A pine that turns brown across the whole crown is often in serious trouble. Heavy snow can load the branches in winter. And dense evergreens near a house can hold moisture and block light. When you quote, explain whether you plan to thin the tree or take it down, since heavy cuts do not always regrow well on conifers.
Related terms
- Crown
Crown is the upper part of a tree made of branches, twigs and leaves, growing from the trunk.
- Buttress roots
Buttress roots are wide, thick roots at the base of a trunk that help hold a tree upright.
- Cambium
Cambium is the thin layer of living cells just under the bark that makes new wood inward and new bark outward each year.
- Canopy
Canopy is the layer of branches and leaves formed by the crowns of a tree or of many trees together.
- Conifer
A conifer is a tree that makes seeds in cones and usually has needles or scale-like leaves.
- Excurrent form
Excurrent form is a tree shape with one strong central trunk and side branches, like a pine or spruce.
- Girdling root
A girdling root is a root that circles the trunk or another root and slowly squeezes it.
- Root flare
Root flare is the widened base of a trunk where it meets the roots at the soil line.
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