Evergreen trees and shrubs often (but not always) have needles and produce cones. These needled cone-bearing trees are called conifers. Example of conifer trees include pine, fir, spruce and cedar.

For example, shearing arborvitae with power hedge trimmers the way you can a yew may leave you with a collection of bare brown sticks. Here are a few common evergreen shrubs.

Spring-blooming trees and shrubs produce their flower buds on “old wood,” i.e. branches that grew new flower buds late last season. The buds overwinter, then open in spring.

A: The width of the mature plants is the tricky part, since many upright evergreens mature at least 3 to 5 feet wide at their base, and not many are able to be trimmed to keep them smaller.