11 Evergreen Shrubs To Grow In Your Gardens

Evergreen Shrubs are the most popular choice for any plant lover because they can remain lush all year round. These plants are easy to grow and can contain foliage throughout the year, making your gardens look rich and beautiful.

Moreover, these evergreen shrubs come in many different types for you to choose from to improve the overall appeal of your outdoor gardens. Evergreen shrubs can also be designed or pruned in many ways to make your gardens look more private and sophisticated. So let’s look at some of these evergreen shrubs and some tips to grow them.

Why Evergreen Shrubs?

Evergreen plants such as shrubs provide many benefits apart from their all year-around beauty. These include-

Privacy:

Evergreen shrubs can be placed carefully in some regions of your gardens to create a private space. With their dense foliage, they can shield your gardens from external noise and looks. So if you like to enjoy some peacetime or host gatherings and parties in your gardens these evergreen plants can help you a lot.

Low-Maintenance:

Even though evergreen shrubs display lush foliage throughout the year their maintenance and care are relatively low. These are very hardy plants that can be grown in a range of conditions and are therefore perfect for beginners.

Adaptability:

Evergreen plants such as shrubs are known for their amazing climate adaptability. And these plants come in a variety of different species each with their own preferences so this makes it easy to choose evergreen shrubs based on your local climate and conditions.

Soil-Erosion Control:

With their robust root system, evergreen shrubs also contribute to the prevention of soil erosion. Their roots hold and stabilize the soil due to which they are not washed away by rain or winds. Therefore they contribute greatly to the environment which is another reason to grow these amazing evergreen plants.

11 Popular Evergreen Shrubs:

There are many options of evergreen shrubs that you can choose to grow. Here we mention some of the famous evergreen plants that you should grow in your garden.

1. Southern Magnolia (Magnolia grandiflora)

These evergreen shrubs can also be grown as beautiful trees with white flowers. Southern Magnolia are known for their thick and waxy dark green leaves that create an appealing contrast with large white blooms.

Due to their large size, they need plenty of space in the garden. Moreover, provide this plant with ample sunlight and well-draining soil to help them thrive.

2. Rhododendron

These are one of the most popular evergreen shrubs mainly because of their beautiful blooms. These plants belong to the same genus as Azaleas and because of that these are hard to tell apart. However, you can differentiate between these plants by identifying their blooms, the flowers of Azaleas contain 5 stamens, while the flowers of Rhododendron contain 10 stamens.

These are hardy and versatile plants that are often used as foundation plants, or as specimens for shrub islands. These evergreen plants are great for shaded areas and their leathery green-to-bronze foliage increase the appeal of any garden.

3. Boxwood (Buxus Sempervirens)

These evergreen shrubs are known for their small leaves with dense growth habits that make them perfect for hedges. These all-season plants don’t grow more than 5 feet but are usually pruned to a much smaller size for many purposes.

Boxwood are slow-growing evergreen plants that can be shaped as you like and styled anywhere in the garden. Although these plants are easy to care for and are generally evergreen, they do need some protection from harsh winter winds, as they can burn the foliage.

4. Yew (Taxus baccata)

Taxus is a very big genus of needled evergreen plants many of which are used for various purposes. However, among these needled plants, Yew can be distinguished because of its soft and flattish needles. These plants also produce bright, red fruits in the fall.

The colour of the foliage of these evergreen shrubs is dark-green which sometimes borders on black. Yew are famous because of their tolerance of shade and the ease with which they can be transformed into hedges.

5. Holly (Ilex aquifolium)

Holly, also known as English Holly, Blue Holly, Common Holly, European Holly, or occasionally as Christmas Holly, is another popular evergreen plant. These plants are famous for their dark green pointed leaves and red berries.

There are many different varieties of these evergreen shrubs to choose from, and each can be shaped in many forms, such as hedges, trees, or shrubs. However, these plants are commonly used as foundation plants.

These plants are dioecious, which means they have specific genders, so to obtain berrie,s you need to have both genders together.

6. Juniper (Juniper spp.)

Junipers are the only plant on this list with a variety of options that can range from ground-hugging plants to 100-foot-tall trees. If your region is dry and rocky, then juniper is a great choice for you to grow. You can also grow Junipers as bonsai.

The low-growing varieties of these plants give a great ground covering, and there are also many varieties of these evergreen plants that feature aromatic foliage and lavender shrubs. So, you get a ton of options with these evergreen shrubs.

7. Nandina (Nandina domestica)

Also known as heavenly bamboo or sacred bamboo, Nandina, are shade-loving and drought-tolerant evergreen shrub. These shrubs are cherished for their colorful evergreen leaves.

Moreover, these evergreen shrubs also produce showy fruits that attract birds to your garden. However, Nandina are considered invasive, so check the variety before you grow them.

8. Daphne (Daphne spp.)

These winter flowering plants are perfect to light up your garden during the dull winter season. Daphnes produce beautiful fragrant flowers that have a very strong scent.

Grow these plants in some shade, moreover, these evergreen shrubs need small space and are therefore, perfect for compact gardens.

9. Heather (Calluna vulgaris)

Heather are small evergreen shrubs that are known for their spikes of vibrant and tiny bell-shaped flowers that come in various colors such as red, pink, white, and more. These evergreen shrubs comes in many varieties, some bloom in summer, while others bloom in fall and winter.

10. Mahonia (Mahonia aquifolium)

Mahonia are low-maintenance evergreen shrubs that has a dramatic appearance. Also known as the Oregon grape, these plants bloom from late summer to early winter and produce cluster of tiny bright yellow fragrant flowers.

The flowers of Mahonia are loved by bees and are follower by black/blue fruits that are enjoyed by birds. Therefore these plants are perfect to attract various wildlife to your garden.

11. Lavender (Lavandula)

Everyone loves the sweet fragrance and unique appearance of Lavender. These evergreen shrubs are extremely easy to grow and their grey-green sweet-scented leaves and colorful flowers can be a great addition to any garden.

Lavenders are drought-tolerant and need well-draining soil and lots of sunlight to grow and thrive.

Care and Maintenance of Evergreen Shrubs:

Even though evergreen plants are very low-maintenance they do require some care and maintenance as they need to survive throughout the year under different conditions to maintain their evergreen foliage. So let’s understand some needs of these evergreen shrubs:

Watering:

It is important to water newly planted shrubs to help them establish a robust root system. After the establishment of the plant create a tight schedule of watering the plants and let the soil dry out in between waterings.

Planting:

While planting the evergreen shrubs choose a location which would suit the plants and check factors such as sunlight, space, soil type and space for rootballs in the ground. These are some of the important factors to consider while planting new plants as these would contribute to the health and growth of the plants.

Pruning:

Pruning is an important part of the care routine of evergreen shrubs. Prune away all the dead and damaged parts of the plants and also prune excessive growth to keep plants in proper shape. Different evergreen plants have different pruning requirements so do your research before performing such activities.

Pests and Disease Management:

Just like other plants evergreen plants are also vulnerable to pests and disease problems. And treating these problems in evergreen shrubs is much more difficult because their dense foliage makes it hard to thoroughly check the plants. So if you notice any issue on the surface it is better to contact experts to help you treat the plants.

Winter Protection:

Evergreen shrubs are more prone to winter damage as they are exposed to harsh weather. So consider covering the plants with sheets or using an anti-desiccant spray to prevent any moisture loss in winter.

Conclusion

Evergreen plants are a great addition to many outdoor gardens as they provide us with so many benefits. The timeless presence of evergreen shrubs adds a charm to gardens making them more likeable and improving the overall appearance of gardens throughout the year. These plants are very low-maintenance and can be considered a great option for beginners.

Evergreen plants are generally easy to care for but if you face any difficulties you can always rely on Plantora– The best plant care app. This app provides you with extensive plant care information on each plant variety. You can use the scanner function to identify any plant and get its detail. This app can also help you identify plant diseases and provide detail on how to treat them. So make sure to try this free and amazing plant care app available on Android and IOS.