The Enchanting Tale of Evergreens: Your Garden’s Everlasting Elegance

Thanks for dropping by today as I am about to chat about your yard and fabulous Evergreen shrubs! To clear things up, I’m not a plant geek. I’m more of a weekend Gardening DIY-er who loves all things green. And, if you’re here, you might be a bit like me. We might not know the Latin names of all our favorite plants, but we know a good thing when we see them, and Evergreens are a mighty good thing!

We’re not just talking Christmas trees. I love good spruce, but evergreens are not limited to Spruce trees, and you might be surprised to learn that they come in all shapes and sizes, including shrubs.!

Picture it: a garden filled with plants that, unlike their leaf-dropping cousins, keep their cool when winter hits, standing tall and, well, “ever-green,” no matter the season.

Whether you’re looking for towering trees that reach for the sky or short-statured bushes that fit perfectly in that tricky corner of your yard, these green gems are the perfect addition to any garden (we should know we use them in ours)

We use them because they are low-maintenance and can tolerate drought conditions (well, to a point), and you don’t have to be a Bill Nye, the Science Guy, to plant them and have them flourish. Plus, the bonus: they add a touch of variety and color to your outdoor space!

Not only do evergreen shrubs stay beautifully leafy year-round, offering a pop of color when the rest of the world seems to be sleeping, but they also offer a year-round feast and home sweet home for the wildlife in your backyard.

The best part: they’re not just for the birds and the bees. Evergreens (bushes, shrubs) are really hardy heroes and are perfect for basic garden-loving DIY’ers who want to take their yard and outdoor spaces to a new level and add year-round color. It’s amazing how little you have to do to reap a large ROI of color and wait till you see the birds that the trees attract and house!

Stick around as we delve into why you’ll love evergreen shrubs so much and explore some fantastic varieties that could be the next stars of your garden.

Now, if you’ve never tried planting an Evergreen, no worries! By the end of this, I bet you’ll be ready to grab your gloves and shovel and join the Evergreen fan club.

Intrigued? I hope so, or you are not reading a very good article, and I like writing good articles for you!

Why Choose Evergreen Shrubs: The Everlasting Allure

Evergreens are not just about their relentless verdancy; they bring a multitude of benefits to our gardens and lives:

1. A Feast for the Eyes, All Year Round: Evergreen shrubs don’t shy away when winter shows its teeth or summer blazes in full fury. The green color is a constant, providing year-round beauty, so different than your typical foliage that colors and dies.
2. Easygoing Companions: Evergreens are no divas. They demand little but give much in return. Did you know that some shrubs require very little maintenance, are resistant to pests, and can tolerate drought? These evergreen shrubs are perfect for anyone looking to add beautiful greenery to their yard without spending too much time or effort on upkeep. They’re a great choice for both beginners and experienced gardeners alike. Plus, they’re a great way to add variety and color to your yard!
3. Nature’s Privacy Screens: Evergreens, with their dense, lavish foliage, act as nature’s own privacy screens, providing a lush barrier that doubles as a noise buffer. Say hello to peaceful garden retreats!
4. Versatile Virtuosos: Evergreens come in all shapes and sizes, from the towering to the ground-hugging, each bringing its unique personality to your garden. Their varied forms allow you to design layered, multidimensional landscapes that engage the eye.
5. Sanctuaries for Wildlife: In their dense foliage, birds and other critters find safe havens from harsh weather and predators. Some evergreen species also offer berries and seeds, transforming your garden into a vibrant wildlife diner.

Five Evergreen Shrubs That Are RockStars to Grace Your Yard

Now that we’ve captured your attention and have piqued your interest in the everlasting elegance of evergreens, we want to share some varieties that could turn your yard into a living masterpiece.

Again these are easy-growing, ornate, green (or blue) shrubs that will bring tireless color to your yard.

1. Blue Star Juniper: With its star-like needle formation, this silver-blue beauty is a compact slow-grower, ideal for creating low borders or as a rock garden stunner. Resilient and low-maintenance, it brings a cool contrast to your garden that’s hard to resist. Plant it where it does not sit in water.
2. Boxwood: The timeless elegance of boxwood, with its dense green foliage and adaptable nature, makes it perfect for formal hedges or standalone features. Their resilience is legendary, and with regular pruning, they’ll reward you with lush, dense growth.
3. Emerald Green Arborvitae: A preferred choice for tall, narrow screens or hedges, the Emerald Green Arborvitae adds a touch of luxury with its dense, pyramid-like form. Resilient and adaptable, it thrives in sunny spots, offering lush, year-round greenery.
4. Inkberry Holly: A native Eastern United States gem, the Inkberry Holly stands out with its glossy leaves and blackberries. Ideal for hedges or foundation plantings, its adaptability extends to wet soils where other shrubs falter. Place them downhill from the other trees to absorb excess water.
5. Wintercreeper: A truly versatile species, the Wintercreeper adorns your garden with its variegated leaves, be it as a ground cover, wall climber, or cascading beauty. Hardy and tolerant, it adds structure and color throughout the year.

Remember, these are DIY’er evergreen planting shrubs anyone can plant. You have to want privacy or greenery!

Our Personal Tips and Tricks To Maintain The Everlasting Elegance of Evergreens

Over the years (as DIY’er evergreen planting homeowners), we’ve learned a lot about each of these trees, and while growing tags are helpful, personal experience is best! Nurturing these evergreen gems is a rewarding journey that comes with its own challenges and triumphs.

Let me share some DIY’er evergreen planting tips and tricks to ensure your evergreen shrubs remain in their prime, regardless of season.

Evergreen Care Through the Seasons

This should help DIY’er evergreen planting homeowners who have not planted this type of shrub before to garner success as it helps us.

Winter Guard For Evergreen Shrubs

1. Winters can be tough on your evergreens, but a few simple steps can shield them from frost damage and desiccation. Erect a burlap windbreak around young shrubs to protect them from windburn, gently brush off heavy snow from branches to prevent breakage, and avoid piling up shoveled snow on them.

Do not wrap a temporary fence so tightly around the trees that you create them to almost suffocate while being barred off from DEER.

They are not deer resistant, and we can speak to this first hand, but unlike what happened in our old neighborhood to a neighbor, don’t kill your tree off.

If you place a temporary fence around them, keep it just a bit away, tight enough that nothing can jump into it, but not tight enough that it is hugging it.

Quick Winter Guard Over Done Story

Quick story: In one of the neighborhoods we lived in, our one neighbor placed the fencing so tightly around the lower portion, starting at 6 feet down to the base, it suffocated them, and they were brown and bare, not from deer but from the fence experience.

They left the fence on well into the summer when they realized they were killing the tree! Don’t do this. A light fence supported on temporary poles around the tree is all you need.

Summer Shield For Evergreen Care

2. Summers bring their share of heat stress and drought. Ensure your evergreens receive adequate water and are mulched around the base to conserve moisture and cool the roots. Providing some shade to younger shrubs during heatwaves can also prevent sun scorch.

Place the hose at the tree’s base and let the water trickle for a while; it won’t flood but will penetrate. Keep the flow low and slow. Do this for each of the evergreens you have planted during a very hot season to maintain.

Evergreen Care: Feeding Finesse & Pruning

3. Feeding Finesse: We’ve been feeding our evergreens Holly Tone for years, and the results are visibly impressive. This slow-release organic fertilizer provides the nutrients for vibrant foliage and strong root development. Apply it in early spring and late fall to prepare your evergreens for the changing seasons. Make sure that you then follow with a thorough watering application or use nature as we do, and when it predicts 100% rain, we fertilize without having to water.
4. Pruning Pros: Trimming your shrubs regularly is beneficial for maintaining their shape and promoting denser growth. It’s best to prune them during late winter or early spring before new growth begins. For spring-flowering evergreens, prune them right after they finish blooming. Use sharp and clean pruning shears, and always start with removing dead or damaged branches. Don’t startle the shrubs in the summer with pruning.

Caring for Evergreen shrubs is like nurturing a relationship: it requires understanding, patience, and, most importantly, love. These steadfast companions have the potential to transform your garden into a sanctuary of perennial beauty, offering joy and tranquility all year round. Invite these timeless charmers into your yard and let the magic of evergreens unfold!

Why We Love Evergreen Shrubs

One tradition has never waned in all the homes where we’ve planted our roots – planting evergreen shrubbery. Unlike most other trees, they fill our yards with a deep, rich green that never fades. Their year-round vibrancy is a metaphor for life – always growing and flourishing.

THUJA Evergreen Shrubs

Thuja evergreens have been our cherished companions, growing along the border of our patio, spreading out their branches, and forming a thick, green curtain over the years. They replaced the need for a fence, offering live and growing privacy.

Picture it – dining under the sky, entertaining dear friends, all ensconced within a living screen of lush evergreens. It’s a private retreat, a haven where we’re cloaked by nature, invisible to the world.

Majestic Hemlock Trees Evergreen Shrubs

We lined our borders in one of our homes with majestic hemlock trees. We opted for larger specimens, towering over ten feet, to get as much privacy as possible from the beginning.

Each day, as we glance at their growing branches from our windows, we feel a sense of belonging and home that bricks and mortar alone could never offer.

A word of caution, hemlock is NOT deer resistant, and I don’t care what any says; they are not. When the deer are hungry, the deer will feast on these from 6 feet tall down to the base. To combat the issue and because our home is set upon a woodland, we use natural deer spray, garlic cloves, Irish spring, human hair, and many mints between the trees.

Sometimes even though the evergreen shrubs packaging is marked ‘Deer Resistant’ it does not always ring true.

Emerald green arborvitae

Emerald green arborvitae found a special place in our hearts and our yard, growing rapidly, its cold-hardy nature easily battling the chilly Pennsylvania winters.

It’s not just a shrub; it’s a warrior standing tall through the harshest conditions, reminding us of nature’s resilience and strength.

Boxwood

And who could forget the charm of the boxwood trees? Their year-round greenery is nothing short of enchanting. However, they come with their whims and fancies, a little temperamental, you could say. They are temperamental evergreen shrubs, to say the least, but gorgeous when groomed.

A word of caution – they do not take kindly to walkways that bear the brunt of winter’s fury. We learned this the hard way when a gush of harsh winds one winter claimed a row of them in front of one of our homes. Still, they remain our favorites, their beauty often overshadowing their tantrums.

Blue Star Junipers

Then there are the Blue Star Junipers, the showstoppers with their pop of color, bringing a whole new dimension to our garden, and they are part of the evergreen shrubs family too!

Plant them alongside perennials like coneflowers and black-eyed Susans, and you’ll have a border that’s nothing short of a piece of art – a masterstroke of nature. The perennials are part of evergreen care in a way because planting flowers that companion well does tend to make evergreen shrubs thrive (while it may not be fact, it is how we seem to see things react so it is our opinion)

These evergreen shrubs have not just been trees in our gardening journey. They’ve been our companions, our privacy guards, our teachers, and at times, our challenges. But most importantly, they have been a living, breathing part of our homes and lives.

Other Things To Enhance Your Backyard Besides Evergreen Shrubs

• INVITE NATURE: Install bird feeders or a mini pond to attract wildlife. Your yard will burst with life and charm!
• RECYCLE & REUSE: Use old pallets to create DIY garden furniture or a rustic-looking bar for backyard parties.
• PLANT A HERB GARDEN: Fresh basil, rosemary, and mint are handy for the kitchen and add delightful scents to your outdoor space.
• BUILD A FIRE PIT: It’s an excellent spot for making s’mores, telling stories, or just enjoying a cool evening.
• LAY A STONE PATH: Guide guests through your garden with a beautiful stone path. It’s a practical and aesthetic upgrade.
• LIGHT IT UP: Illuminate your yard with tasteful string lights. It creates a warm ambiance and extends the enjoyment of your backyard into the evening.

Our Evergreen Shrubs Guide + Evergreen Care Guide Journey Stops Here But Begins With You Now

So if you ask us why we love evergreen shrubbery, our answer is simple – how can one not love something that adds so much joy, beauty, and serenity to life? Every time we step into our garden and see these evergreens, we are reminded of nature’s eternal charm, the beauty of life in every season, and the pleasure of creating a space that feels uniquely ours. It’s not just about having a beautiful yard. It’s about the connection, the sense of fulfillment, and the memories we make, one evergreen at a time.

As you begin your gardening journey, we hope you find the same joy and satisfaction we have found with our beloved evergreens. May they grow with you, add beauty to your days, and become an enduring part of your cherished memories.~ DANA XO