If you are dreaming of easy-care bushes that provide protection and beauty all year long, consider low maintenance evergreen shrubs. Evergreen shrubs shine in winter and well as summer, providing greenery and shade. These shrubs also provide privacy protection from curious neighbors. This roundup helps you sift through the options and find the best low maintenance evergreen shrubs that look great all year.
Selecting Low-Maintenance Evergreen Shrubs
You may be looking for low maintenance evergreen shrubs for your front lawns or the backyard. Or perhaps you are planning a privacy hedge along one border of your property. Fortunately, there are selections of evergreen shrubs that fit the bill for any of these tasks.
Not every evergreen is a conifer. Many people associate evergreens with Christmas trees and other needled trees. But there is another category of tree called broadleaf evergreen, with leaves that resemble the flat, lobed foliage on deciduous trees. The big difference is that broadleaf evergreens hold onto their leaves all winter long. Here are our favorites, including some conifers and broadleaf evergreens.
1. American Holly
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Holly and Christmas tree evergreens have the holiday in common, but they are very different in appearance. American holly (Ilex opaca) looks a lot like English holly, used to deck the halls, with its lobed leaves and red berries. But they come in all sizes, from 15 feet (5m) to 60 feet (12m) tall. One towering holly might make a perfect low-maintenance evergreen shrub for the front of the house, but smaller versions work better as foundation plants. They are hardy to zone 6.
If you want durable broadleaf evergreens, the inkberry is another member of the holly family. ‘Densa’ from Green Promise Farms can thrive even in sandy soils and exposed sites. Ideal as a privacy or barrier shrub.
2. Common Boxwood
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For a workhorse evergreen, grow boxwood (Buxus sempervirens). It is everyone’s favorite shrub for low hedges since it shrugs off deer grazing, tolerates shearing, and can grow in sun or shade. No flashy flowers will grow, but it makes a great screen with its lively, dense foliage. Hardy to zone 5.
3. Eastern Red Cedar
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If you are looking for a native alternative to overused arborvitae, the Eastern red cedar (Juniperus virginiana) might be just the ticket. These trees are lovely, needled evergreen shrubs, low maintenance, with scale-like leaves. These are good trees to choose for a dry, full sun location, given their drought tolerance. They also provide homes and nurture for wildlife, as songbirds flock to their blue-gray, berry-like cones.
4. Camellias
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Camellias (Camillia ssp) may be some of the best evergreen shrubs for low maintenance and are popular in the Southeast of the country given their tolerance of cultural conditions. They sail through mild winters, love acidic soil and a shady location, yet stun with their cold-season flowers that resemble peonies, with lushly petaled blossoms. Camellia leaves are bright green and shiny. These long-lived plants are hardy to zone 7.
5. Chinese Juniper
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Here’s another evergreen with many of the great qualities of Eastern red cedar. Chinese juniper (Juniperus chinensis) tolerates drought, deer and dry soil. The needled foliage looks like scales. You can find small, shrubby varieties and tall ones too. They are great for privacy screens, hedges or specimen plants. Many juniper shrubs are very hardy and some can tolerate zones 2 and 3.
6. Japanese Pieris
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This broadleaf evergreen shrub (Pieris japonica) is perfect for the front yard or a small backyard garden, topping out at 10 feet (3.3m) tall. It offers shiny dark green leaves that don’t fall in autumn, as well as gracefully cascading white flower clusters in early spring, a boon for pollinators. Pieris prefers acidic soil and grows in anything from full sun to deep shade. Hardy to zone 5, the shrub hardly suffers deer damage.
7. Southern Magnolia
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Southern magnolias (Magnolia grandiflora) are iconic evergreen trees, seen frequently in the South of the country. They can be grown as shrubs or trees, with large, shiny leaves and huge, fragrant white flowers. They prefer well-drained, acidic soil. It’s tall, but not the tallest magnolia, topping out at 60–80 feet (20–27m). The canopy is dense and the evergreen loves elbow room, so it will only work for larger backyards or landscapes.
8. Mountain Laurel
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If you are looking for front yard low-maintenance evergreen shrubs, consider mountain laurel (Kalmia latifolia). It brings a lot to a landscape with its leathery leaves and striking blossoms, white or pink flower clusters twice as wide as your plan. Cultivars expand the colors you can choose from. The broad-leaf evergreen prefers acidic, well-draining soil and a part-shade location.
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