Commercial trees, shrubs and plants
Plants, trees and shrubs come in all different shapes, sizes, textures, lifespans and price ranges, therefore we have created this page to help you begin to navigate what plants might suit your project best. At Sungreen our team of experts is equipped with the best education and knowledgeability to assist you in picking out plants for your outdoor living project; together we have countless years of experience of landscaping in Calgary and Alberta’s harsh weather climates and formal education and certificates in plant education.
Did you know?
At Sungreen Landscaping we have been constructing retaining walls for over 20 years, we use top grade, high quality material and employ some of the most experienced construction engineers in the city. We stand by our guarantee to offer you top grade service and construction at a reasonable price and are prepared to cater to any and all of your landscape needs.
Generally, trees and shrubs fall into two basic categories:
Evergreen
Plants and trees that have green foliage throughout the year. Most evergreens have needles; however, there are also evergreens with broad leaves or scale-like leaves.
Deciduous
Plants and trees that lose their leaves in fall. These trees and shrubs are the source of our beloved and glorious fall colors; many deciduous plants have leaves that turn impressive shades of orange, red and yellow before falling from the branches when the weather gets cold in Alberta. Most deciduous trees have leaves but some trees like larch trees which are native in north America, shed their soft needles in the fall.
We can most commonly identify the difference between a shrub and a tree by their size; trees are single trunk supporting structures with a crown of leaves whereas shrubs are smaller woody plants with branches which stem at ground level. The lifespan of these plants is dependent upon many factors, including its planting site, weather and how well the plant is maintained. In general, there are three lifespans for trees and shrubs though; short, average and long term lifecycles. A tree or shrub with a short lifespan will live less than 50 years, next a tree or shrub with an average lifespan will live about 50 to 100 years, finally a tree or a shrub with a long lifespan will live 100 years or longer. Usually, fast-growing trees are shorter lived than slow-growing trees. Normally, a fast-growing tree or shrub will grow 2 or more feet per year and a slow-growing tree or shrub will grow less than 1 foot per year.** A tree or shrub with a medium rate of growth will fall somewhere in between.
Plant Hardiness Zone refers to the standard by which gardeners and growers can determine the hardiness of a particular plant. We also use this scale to determine which plants are most likely to thrive at select locations. Canadian plant hardiness zones run from 0, which is the coldest zone, to 9, which is the warmest zone. Most areas in Calgary region are classified as zone 3 in the plant hardiness zone. At Sungreen, we more often than not select trees and shrubs which are a level 3 in hardiness, it is important to us to select a plant that can and will survive our cold weather climate. When working on your design, we determine what we can and cannot plant for each individual project; this process is entirely dependent on the projects conditions. Some of these conditions are as follows: wind level, sun & shade level, wet & dry level, etc.
Finally, we must take the aesthetic into consideration, balancing the deciduous and evergreen plants and how their colors and bloom periods will look together. Calgary and surrounding areas have four very distinct seasons and we want your yard to look incredible in all of them.
