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evergreen shrubs for shade

14 years ago

What kind of evergreen shrubs would work for shady foundation plantings? Hollies? Boxwoods? I think hollies may get too tall, I wouldn't want them to get more than 4' or so. I have some work to do anyway, and there are big shrub sales going on right now, perfect time to buy, although perhaps not a perfect time to plant!

Comments (3)

User
14 years ago
I love both hollies and boxwood as formal hedges. Of these two, I am not sure if the more dwarf forms of boxwood are hardy in your zone(??). Wintergem box is the cold hardiest but the ones I am familiar with are not tiny plants (and Wintergem grows fast for a Boxwood). As for hollies there are seemingly hundreds of varieties. If you want holly, there are really dwarf, very hardy cultivars of Japanese holly. Also, check out dwarf cultivars of Pieris japonica (Japanese Andromeda) which should meet your ultimate height limitations. I'm sure others will be able to offer you some excellent options as well. Good luck.:)
saddleup
Original Author
14 years ago
Japanese holly...hmmm...I'll look that up!
I saw ONE pieris at the store I was at today. Just one! If there were several, I would have snatched them up in a heartbeat! I do like them! I'm afraid I'm looking rather late in the season already (isn't that depressing? Summer still feels so new to me this year!)
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Evergreen shrub for shade
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Sorry I have been absent from this forum for awhile. I apologize for not reading the original post more carefully as to the size requirements. Just as a note, Loropetalum chinense is available in two sizes other than jumbo. Purple Diamond tops out at four feet. Purple Pixie at about two feet by two feet. Again, I have no idea if they are winter hardy for you, but if so, they are strikingly beautiful shrubs with four season interest: very showy spring flowers with purple foliage, good blue-green summer foliage, brilliant red coloring mixed into the green in fall, and evergreen in winter. IF they are hardy, Camellia sasanqua Hot Flash and Shishigashira will mature at around 3' by 4' and are shrubs of the highest caliber in my opinion. Good, clean, evergreen foliage and lovely fall/winter flowers. Osmanthus Goshiki with evergreen green/cream variegated foliage is a fairly dwarf shrub, topping out at 3 to 4 feet. It grows so slowly, it could easily be kept pruned to any size you like. Osmanthus heterophyllus Variegata gets larger, but again is a very slow grower, so can be kept where you want it sizewize. It just might be my very favorite shade plant with clean, sprakling white variegation on dark green leaves. It just lights up its space planted among white hydrangeas. Again, I have no idea about hardiness for you with any of these shrubs. One holly I would also recommend is Ilex cornuta O'Spring. It has yellow and green variegated shiny leaves and is gorgeous.
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Any kind of juniper might work, depending on the shade level. I've got some planted on the east side of my house, getting sun only in the mornings, growing well. Juniper comes in many shapes/sizes/colors, and deer don't touch it.
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Depending on where you live and climatic suitability, I'd suggest Ilex crenata 'Sky Pencil', Ilex crenata 'Mariesii' Azara microphylla or Euonymus japonicus 'Green Spire'. Of these, the Sky Pencil is the most distinctly columnar, followed closely by the euonymus. The 'Mariesii' is very slow growing but in time can reach a significant height. All, being broadleafed evergreen shrubs, are quite tolerant of pruning should it be necessary. Nandina domestica is also very tolerant of shade and tends to grow taller than wide so can be used in this situation but is considered invasive in some parts of the country. Irish yews are also very columnar when young (they fatten up as they mature) and are the most shade tolerant of conifers.
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Comments (2)
Hollys are, I think for the most part, OK in shade. There are such a range of heights and widths. Most of them might get taller than 7 ft. There is one I'd like to have called "Castle Wall" that only gets about 5-7 ft and 3 or so wide. Yews are perhaps my favorite evergreen shrub and can take shade to full sun. They are so beautiful, and so versatile. A word of caution about them, though: They are extremely poisonous. Something like .2% body weight can be deadly (that's pretty toxic!) I have dogs who tend to explore with their mouths, so I have eliminated yews from the roster. I just mention this because you said you had a toddler :) Hey, what about Skip or Cherry Laurel? I think that would be about right in terms of height, and they'd like the filtered light.
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User
14 years ago
In the Northeast the weather has been beyond bad--days and days of rain, overcast, thunder, no sun. Still, it was a good late Spring/early Summer for planting. Fall in my zone is actually considered very good (if not optimum) for planting of trees and shrubs (not sure if this is true for your area or not). The Japanese hollies (Ilex crenata) are all relatively slow growing. There is a dwarf variety of this plant available (bought mine at Home Depot). We are kind of in the doldrums of Summer so not too much is going to be available locally here until the Fall. Happy hunting!

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