Benefits of an Evergreen Foundation

House-hugging plants help anchor a home to the site, providing a transition from the garden to the building.

In the coldest months of the year, a garden with strong lines and structure still looks good, even without colorful flowers. Evergreen shrubs and trees help define the bones of a garden, outlining the shape of beds, screening views, and providing green walls for garden rooms.

Divide a garden into multiple areas with hedging

Creating divisions between different areas of a garden can make even small gardens feel bigger. Low boxwood hedges can be useful for delineating garden borders, while taller hedges can create more visual separation between garden rooms. Without the low hedges or potted trees in this formal entry garden, for example, the front yard would feel like one monotonous space instead of three more interesting garden areas.

Frame a view

Evergreen hedges become building blocks for a garden, guiding visitors down pathways or lines of sight. Borrow a design technique from formal European gardens that looks just as good in summer as in winter, and create an allée of trees and evergreen shrubs that leads to a viewpoint, fountain, or piece of garden art.

Carve out more privacy

When deciduous trees and shrubs have lost their leaves in winter, it can bring attention to garden areas that could benefit from increased privacy. Evergreen hedges provide year-round screening where the homeowner needs it most, blocking the front windows from a busy street or concealing the waste bins from view. Take the time to mark out these areas now for planting this month or in spring.

Layer evergreens with different forms in a single bed

Create a landscape with year-round beauty by filling garden beds with interesting evergreens instead of seasonal flowers. To achieve a great look, choose shrubs and small trees with different foliage colors, then maintain them in different forms, such as spheres, cones, and clipped hedges, or leave them unclipped and natural.

Define the foundation of the home

House-hugging plants help anchor a home to the site, providing a transition from the garden to the building. Using evergreen shrubs as a foundation, planting ensures year-round curb appeal. For a totally integrated look, mimic the architectural lines of the home—such as mirroring tall rectilinear windows with upright, narrow evergreen hedges.

Use free-standing shrubs as focal points

Evergreens clipped into geometric shapes and planted with low-growing ground covers form accents in garden beds or focal points from a distance. To save time spent with pruning shears, choose a slow-growing or dwarf variety of evergreen to make into a topiary, such as boxwood, dwarf white spruce, or yew. In winter, wrap focal-point shrubs with strings of white lights to brighten up the landscape.

Create lines and curves

Evergreen hedges can be just as useful as hardscape materials for carving out the geometry of a garden. Hedges in straight lines tend to have a more formal feel, while curves and organic shapes look more naturalistic. Strike a balance between the two by using curving hedges paired with straight stone walls.

Add order to flower beds

Low hedges and larger evergreen shrubs can help add structure to seasonal flower beds, and they look good no matter the season. When mapping out the spring garden this winter, look for opportunities to add structure, such as planting evergreens as backdrops for bright blooms or as hedges to define borders.

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