These evergreen trees make beautiful living privacy screens or focal points in almost any yard.
What Are Evergreen Trees?
Its beloved for its bright red or orange berries in fall and is prized for its deer resistance.
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Plant both male and female cultivars to ensure berry production.
Growing Conditions:Full sun and moist, well-drained soil.
Provide afternoon shade in Zones 8 and 9.
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Neither does poor alkaline soil.
It has a pyramidal shape when young and then rounds with age.
Plant several slow-growing bay laurel shrubs together to create a dense hedge.
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This very hardy tree is also anexcellent choice for cold climates.
The branches of this spruce tree are covered with short blue-green needles with upturned ends.
It is a populartype of Christmas treeand has the classic pyramidal holiday tree shape.
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Perfect for a windbreak, this evergreen tree has dense, full branching and good wind resistance.
It does grow slowly but a mature Black Hills spruce is worth the wait.
Growing Conditions:Full sun and well-drained soil.
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Plant it with Black Hills spruce and white pine for a striking privacy screen.
Blue spruce is native to the central Rocky Mountains where cool temperatures and well-drained soil prevail.
It doesnt tolerate heat and humidity well.
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Keep young plants consistently moist until they are established.
It becomes more drought tolerant after establishes a strong root system.
It is a stately tree with soft, graceful green needles and small cones.
Credit:Dean Schoeppner
It dislikes hot, humid weather and should be watered regularly during drought periods.
This conifer is long-lived.
Despite its name, no part of the tree is toxic.
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Plant it where you want to deter humans and animals from traveling.
Its dense green or blue-green branches form a loose pyramidal shape.
There are many varieties of Chinese juniper; choose an upright variety to create a hedge.
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The blue-gray needles have a white luster, which explains the common name.
This densely branchedjuniperhas rich green summer foliage turning ruddy brown-green in winter.
Zones:2-9
False Cypress
A valuable addition to your winter garden, false cypress (Chamaecyparisspp.)
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has plenty of varieties with different shapes and colors.
Not surprisingly, it’s also wonderful for adding privacy.
Colors range from blue-gray to golden-green.
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Italian cypress is prized for its fast growth as a young plant and strongly upright habitno pruning needed.
These tall and stately evergreen shrubs most often function like exclamation points in the landscape.
Group several of them together to create a lofty hedge.
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Look for a dwarf variety forsmaller landscapes.
It is a slow-growing shrub.
It doesnt grow well in the high heat and humidity of Zones 8.
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They are relatively slow-growing and form an attractive pyramidal shape with dense horizontal branches.
The short, dark-green needles have silver-white undersides, creating a striking effect.
Even more striking are the trees purple cones, which make it stand out in the landscape.
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They grow well at high altitudes.
The effect is both beautiful and distinctive.
Its broad olive-green leaves are glossy and fragrant when crushed.
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Plant three to five plants together to create a living screen in a small space.
Its attractive threadlike needles cover the semi-upright, mounding shrub.
When the leaves emerge, they are a striking golden color that matures to green for the winter.
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It’s a fast-growing tree and thrives in cooler climates.
Use a western cedar hedge like this one as a backdrop for colorful flowers.
Zones:3-8
Yew
The tree of immortality, some ancient specimens ofyew(Taxusspp.)
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have lived for thousands of years.
In evergreen landscaping, yews are often used as hedges and foundation plantings.
Is the yew really poisonous to you?
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Credit:Carson Downing
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Credit: Denny Schrock
Credit: John Granen
