Evergreens will be the structural backbone of this garden in warmer weather, providing a backdrop for showier blossoms and foliage. But in winter evergreens take the spotlight, providing visual interest within an otherwise barren landscape.
The subsequent 10 trees, plants and shrubs will keep your garden looking lively through the coldest of months.
Kim Gamel
Not many evergreens are green. The ‘Fat Albert’ number of Colorado spruce is a gorgeous blue specimen. It’s slow growing, forming an ideal cone with a distinguished silver-blue needle shade.
Colorado Spruce
(Picea pungens ‘Fat Albert’)
USDA zones: 3 to 7 (find your zone)
Mature dimension: 10 to 15 feet tall and 7 to 10 feet wide
Light requirement: Full sun
Water requirement: Moderate
Kim Gamel
A lovely evergreen that looks great alone or in a group is untrue cypress ‘Soft Serve’. This is a compact, cone-shaped evergreen with gentle, lacy branches. Bonus: It’s deer resistant.
False Cypress
(Chamaecyparis pisfera ‘Soft Serve’)
USDA zones: 5 to 7
Mature dimension: 6 to 10 feet tall and 5 to 6 feet wide
Light requirement: Full sun to partial sun
Water necessity: Medium moisture; well-drained soil
Kim Gamel
If you’d prefer a more compact evergreen for container gardens or as a hedge, then boxwood ‘Green Gem’ leaves a good option. It’s a broadleaf evergreen shrub that forms a dense 2-foot sphere at maturity.
Boxwood
(Buxus ‘Green Gem’)
USDA Islands: 4 to 9
Mature dimension: 1 1/2 to two feet tall and wide
Light requirement: Full sun to partial sun
Water necessity: Medium moisture; well-drained soil
Arlington Landscape
If a glowing yellow-green would look better on your landscape, think about false cypress ‘Lemon Thread’. It’s delicate chartreuse thread-like foliage that offers a bright pop of color throughout the often cold winter.
Japanese False Cypress
(Chamaecyparis pisifera ‘Lemon Thread’)
USDA zones: 4 to 8
Mature dimension: 3 to 5 feet tall and 2 to 4 feet wide
Light requirement: Full sun to partial shade
Water necessity: Moderate
Another consistently green option for hedging is cherry or English laurel. The one displayed in this photo was pruned judiciously to keep it in a lower height. Otherwise, it can grow to ten feet tall.
The number ‘Otto Luyken’ has shiny green leaves and creamy white fragrant flowers that appear in the spring.
Cherry Laurel
(Prunus laurocerasus ‘Otto Luyken’)
USDA zones: 6 to 8
Mature dimension: 6 to 10 feet tall and 10 to 12 feet wide
Light requirement: Full sun to partial shade
Water necessity: Moderate
Another chartreuse option that would make a wonderful low-growing hedge is Japanese holly. To find the best yellow shade, plant it in sunlight.
Find out where this shrub is invasive.
Japanese Holly
(Ilex crenata ‘Golden Gem’)
USDA zones:5 to 8
Mature dimension: 1 1/2 to two feet tall and wide
Light requirement: Full sun to partial shade
Water necessity: Moderate
Kim Gamel
With its unconventional weeping habit, blue atlas cedar could function nicely as a specimen plant from your backyard. Use the stunning type to draw the eye to a desired spot in the landscape.
Blue Atlas Cedar
(Cedrus atlantica, Glauca Group, ‘Glauca Pendula’)
USDA zones: 6 to 7
Mature dimension: 3 to 12 feet tall and wide
Light requirement: Full sun
Water necessity: Moderate
Kim Gamel
If you’re searching for a ground cover that carries its color through winter, consider creeping juniper. It spreads by long branches to form a thick mat over time. The cultivar ‘Emerald Spreader’ retains its glowing emerald-green color throughout the winter.
Creeping Juniper
(Juniperus horizontalis)
USDA zones: 3 to 9 (find your zone)
Mature dimension:1/2 foot to 1 1/2 feet tall and 5 to 8 feet wide
Light requirement: Full sun
Water necessity: Medium moisture; well-drained soil
Kim Gamel
And if you’d prefer some constant shade in a shady perennial garden, Christmas fern is a good bet. Clumps grow to two feet tall and gradually spread by rhizomes to present excellent evergreen color perfectly suited to some dry shade area.
Christmas Fern
(Polystichum acrostichoides)
USDA zones: 3 to 9
Mature size: 1 to 2 feet tall and wide
Light requirement: Partial shade to full shade
Water necessity: Dry to moderate
Inform us What are some of your favorite evergreens?