What are the similarities between deciduous and evergreen trees?

For starters, evergreen and deciduous trees are both trees. They have characteristics of trees meaning both have CODIT, branches, stems, roots, and the same essentials of biology. Both deciduous and evergreen trees are photoautotrophs - they convert light to synthesize organic matter. They release oxygen into the atmosphere.

What are the activity levels of deciduous trees compared to evergreen trees?

During Autumn months, deciduous trees are known to drop their leaves and effectively go dormant during winter months. These fallen leaves help to return nutrients to the earth. They spend less energy this time towards photosynthetic activities as they have no method to capture sunlight. On the flip side, when it's time for the trees to regain their photosynthetic system, a deciduous tree must spend a considerable amount of energy and nutrients following the harsh periods of winter. Evergreen trees shed however they do not do it all at once. Therefore, the trees require significantly less energy to maintain and revitalize their photosynthetic system throughout the year. However, having pines year-round means that an evergreen tree has higher baseline energy requirements throughout the year to maintain foliage. Therefore, harsher climates are harder on evergreen trees as they are unable to get the consistent nutrients required to maintain their foliage.

Can evergreen trees be deciduous?

Some evergreen trees are considered semi deciduous trees. Of course, there are some trees that are considered semi-evergreen. Semi-evergreen trees will hold their foliage over the winter but then shed later in the season. Right after they drop their leaves, semi-evergreens replace them with new ones almost immediately. If you plant it too deep, you can expect:

Are evergreen trees and coniferous trees the same thing?

Coniferous trees are evergreen trees. The reason they are called 'evergreen' is that they maintain their needles year-round, hence, they stay evergreen. Typically, they stay green the entire year. Coniferous comes from the cone-like shape of the evergreens. Pine trees, for example, have that distinct cone shape. The root flare must be exposed, whether it's the soil line or the mulch line. Mulch about 3" high with a 2" - 3" diameter around the tree itself. From there, we'll usually then mulch about 2' - 3' out from the newly planted tree. As a side note, we usually go with organic mulch for our trees.

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Evergreen vs. Deciduous Trees

Carl Anderson • February 1, 2025

The key difference between evergreen and deciduous trees is how they handle their foliage. Evergreens keep their leaves year-round, while deciduous trees shed theirs in the fall and enter dormancy for the winter. But that’s just the beginning—explore the rest of the article to discover more key differences between these two tree types.

Table of Contents

Evergreen vs Deciduous Trees
What is an evergreen tree?
What is a deciduous tree?
Famous Evergreens
Famous Deciduous
FAQs

Evergreen vs Deciduous Trees: The Main Differences

You ever wonder what the differences are between evergreen and deciduous trees... other than the leaves? What lies beneath the bark? Check out our side by side comparison below.

Evergreen	Deciduous
Maintain leaves year-round	Lose their leaves in Autumn
Grow in less harsh environments	Grow in harsher environments
Increased energy usage/requirements in fall and winter months (to maintain pines)	Reduced energy usage/requirements in fall and winter months
No spike in energy levels after harsh winter months	Spike in energy levels after harsh winter months (to regrow) before growing season
Thinner leaves/pines	Broad leaves
Softwood timbers	Hardwood timbers
More commonly grown in rain forests	More commonly grow in temperate forests
Evergreens have diminished survival capabilities in normal deciduous environments	Deciduous trees have better survival capability in normal evergreen climates
Flowering happens when leaves are present	Flowering usually occurs when these trees lose their leaves
Structurally stronger leaves	Structurally weaker and disposable leaves
More defensive leaves to discourage herbivores	Less defensive leaves (as the leaves will be dropped)

The plant kingdom has an endless amount of different species and varieties of species and the deciduous and evergreen trees are a wonderful part of that infinite spectrum. Each plant has evolved over millions of years to adapt to a certain climate and therefore, a different way of living.

What is an evergreen tree?

Evergreen trees and evergreen plants are species of the plant kingdom that, as the name implies, stay green all year. They don't seasonally shed leaves and there is a large degree of variation in the evergreen tree species. Mostly, they include both conifers and angiosperms.

What is a deciduous tree?

Deciduous trees shed their leaves and unneeded parts seasonally. A deciduous tree has more effective levels of photosynthesis due to its broader leaves but at the same time is more susceptible to things like wind damage or winter snow. Dropping their leaves in the winter is a survival mechanism to better combat tougher climates but also to protect them from lower levels of water or predators.

The Most Obvious Differences

The most obvious difference between these two types of plants is always going to start with their foliage. Deciduous trees are known to shed their leaves in colder months while evergreens are known to keep foliage all year.

Not only that, but the actual size and shape of the foliage is another obvious difference. For most species, one can quickly recognize the distinct structural difference between deciduous and evergreen leaves. Deciduous trees tend to be larger, broader leaves where evergreens have smaller, thinner leavers (often called needles).

Evergreens are more adapted to survive when nutrient levels in the soil are minimum. That being said, the nutrient requirements of evergreens is higher during bad weather conditions because evergreens have to keep their foliage alive.

For deciduous plants, this nutritional requirement is elevated after harsher times (like Winter) because they need to regrow their foliage.

An interesting fact about evergreens versus deciduous trees is that evergreens have compounds within their leaves to protect them against herbivory. Evergreens adapted to have a longer leaf span.

Deciduous trees don't have these compounds, and spend no extra nutrients or energy trying to defend their leaves because their leaves are meant to be fall off.

Each plant has distinct adaptive capabilities across a variety of habitats. It's possible for both to survive in the same environments through entirely different mechanism.

Striking the Balance

Just like any other plant, trees too must strike the perfect balance between obtaining nutrients, photosynthesis and avoiding the drying out of their tissue (desiccation).

When there are harsh environments, such as shortened day length, less nutrients or a lack of water, deciduous trees survive by dropping their leaves. Evergreens have evolved with mechanisms to lengthen their leaf life-span however they are much more susceptible to desiccation in the winter months. This is why you'll notice that, in winter months, when the soil is iced over, some evergreens grow closer to the Earth.

There are certain parts of the Earth where deciduous trees reign and others where evergreens are king. However, there is a significant portion where the trees overlap and coexist through their various survival mechanism and survive bad weather conditions.

Famous Evergreen Trees

White pine
Balsam Fir
Red Spruce
Hemlock
Eucalyptus

Famous Deciduous Trees

Sugar Maple
Lilac
Blueberry
Shrubs
Honeysuckle

Which One To Plant?

Depending on your location, or the aesthetic you are trying to achieve, you can decide the best front yard trees for your landscape. Deciduous trees are more flowery and colorful, whereas evergreens are more vibrant green and for privacy. It's up to you to decide.

FAQs

What are the similarities between deciduous and evergreen trees?

For starters, evergreen and deciduous trees are both trees. They have characteristics of trees meaning both have CODIT, branches, stems, roots, and the same essentials of biology. Both deciduous and evergreen trees are photoautotrophs - they convert light to synthesize organic matter. They release oxygen into the atmosphere.
What are the activity levels of deciduous trees compared to evergreen trees?

During Autumn months, deciduous trees are known to drop their leaves and effectively go dormant during winter months. These fallen leaves help to return nutrients to the earth. They spend less energy this time towards photosynthetic activities as they have no method to capture sunlight.

On the flip side, when it's time for the trees to regain their photosynthetic system, a deciduous tree must spend a considerable amount of energy and nutrients following the harsh periods of winter.

Evergreen trees shed however they do not do it all at once. Therefore, the trees require significantly less energy to maintain and revitalize their photosynthetic system throughout the year.

However, having pines year-round means that an evergreen tree has higher baseline energy requirements throughout the year to maintain foliage. Therefore, harsher climates are harder on evergreen trees as they are unable to get the consistent nutrients required to maintain their foliage.
Can evergreen trees be deciduous?

Some evergreen trees are considered semi deciduous trees. Of course, there are some trees that are considered semi-evergreen.

Semi-evergreen trees will hold their foliage over the winter but then shed later in the season. Right after they drop their leaves, semi-evergreens replace them with new ones almost immediately.
If you plant it too deep, you can expect:
Are evergreen trees and coniferous trees the same thing?

Coniferous trees are evergreen trees. The reason they are called 'evergreen' is that they maintain their needles year-round, hence, they stay evergreen. Typically, they stay green the entire year.

Coniferous comes from the cone-like shape of the evergreens. Pine trees, for example, have that distinct cone shape.

The root flare must be exposed, whether it's the soil line or the mulch line. Mulch about 3" high with a 2" - 3" diameter around the tree itself. From there, we'll usually then mulch about 2' - 3' out from the newly planted tree. As a side note, we usually go with organic mulch for our trees.

Conclusion

There you have it! Covered here are some of the main differences and similarities between deciduous and evergreen trees. As a side note, we are looking to cater our content more to what the audience desires. If you love reading about gardening or trees but want to read something more, be sure to send us an email with the topics you want to be covered on the website.

As always. if you enjoyed this article, be sure to check out some of our other guides on Sweet New Earth.

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