If I'm not mistaken, winterberry holly is deciduous, not evegreen. I love evergreen hollies myself, especially the "blue" varieties, but understand the poisonous factor. However, they can get huge unless you keep them in bounds with lots of pruning. You might consider boxwood, which looks similar to a small leaved japanese holly. They are smaller in general and easier to contain. But I don't know if the are poisonous or not. Good luck

Yes, boxwood is poisonous (so are those hibiscus I think you have?) I was astonished, when we recently acquired a new puppy and I researched this, to find out how many of our plants are poisonous. But remember that in many cases, they are only poisonous if ingested in significant quantities (which your dogs are unlikely to do) or in some cases, only the root or the berries may be toxic, so you might be able to limit their access to the toxic parts of the plant. A plant is usually listed as "poisonous" if any part of it is considered toxic, in my experience. So look beyond the label and find out what part is toxic, and in what quantity. My adult dogs have never bothered plants -- and the puppy, we keep away from the plants of most concern. It's very hard to avoid all poisonous plants altogether -- you won't have much of a garden! So look more at HOW toxic (do they have to eat the whole plant before they get sick? are only the roots toxic? etc.) a plant is, then consider if you can still use it or not. I wouldn't use anything that was highly toxic in small amounts, or a skin irritant. If your dogs are like mine have been over the years, they're not likely to spend extensive time grazing on your garden -- more likely they'll be digging it up!

You're to be commended for worrying about it -- but I would use common sense in assessing both the toxicity of a plant and the likelihood and/or feasibility of your dogs ingesting some or all of it.

Good luck!

There are some great resources online with lists of both poisonous and nonpoisonous shrub options.

Here is a link that might be useful: Here's one list of poisonous plants

I meant to add that some plants are far more poisonous to humans than to animals, and vice versa -- so that makes a difference, too.

Here are several more websites that might be useful:

http://www.ansci.cornell.edu/plants/anispecies.html
http://www.la-spca.org/education/gardening.htm
http://www.dog-first-aid-101.com/toxic-garden-plants.html

All good sites. You'll see that a LOT of common garden plants (including most bulbs) are potentially poisonous. The reality is that your dogs are unlikely to focus much on your plants unless they are inveterate chewers or are bored stiff ... I thought this one quote (from the second link) was great:

POISONOUS PLANTS
There are differences in the toxic effects of plants on dogs and cats, as well as goats, iguanas, etc. Accordingly, I am providing the Internet website for Cornell UniversityÂs poisonous plant list, which they keep updated as new plants are introduced and new toxicities are discovered. The site is http://www.ansci.cornell.edu/plants/anispecies.html. Once you take a look at the site, you will see it is very extensive. I am reminded of a recent episode of Emergency Vets where a dog was undergoing surgery for getting a stick lodged in his throat. The point is that even a stick can be dangerous to your pet. Use good judgment. If you have a puppy or a dog prone to chewing, take a good hard look at the plants in your yard and their potential to poison. However, if you have an adult dog who has no propensity to chew, many plants with some toxicity potential can be used in your yard without creating a great risk of danger."

Totally off topic: GRAPES are poisonous to dogs. Even a few can cause kidney failure. After hearing this, since I didn't believe it, I checked on the SPCA site, and on the famous urban legends site, snopes.com. It's completely true and most people don't know it (well, I didn't).

Most dogs have more sense than most humans when it comes to poisonous plants; I have always had dogs and gardens and the only problem I've *ever* encountered was with my puppy munching on a fuzzy bear caterpillar, which darn near killed him. Luckily he survived and is now paying me back by digging up my lawn, uprooting anything new in the gardens, eating the strawberries out of the planter, and generally wrecking everything he can get near. He was my main motivation to start gardening "out front" since he doesn't go out there except on a leash. Good thing he's cute.

My favorite evergreen or semi-evergreen is Nandina, aka heavenly bamboo (it is not a bamboo, and does not spread). I also like skimmia, but it's not good for full sun. If you really like holly, you might look into Mahonia; I'm in a warmer zone than you and don't know about hardiness issues for your area.

Dogs simply do not eat holly leaves, in my experience, anyway.

I second the grape warning -- raisins, too, according to our vet (and I never knew about either one). (Wine, too, I assume?... ;) HIGHLY toxic to dogs, though I've tossed many a grape to mine over the years and never seen a problem... but my vet was adamant and said he'd rather see us indulge a dog in a chocolate milkshake -- which is his treat for his tri-color Aussies! (I presume milk chocolate, not dark!) -- than a single grape or raisin. A good thing to remind children of, as they often have grapes or raisins in hand and it's tempting to toss one to a puppy...

I also second the holly comment: we recently had an 8-week old Stabyhoun puppy visit and he pulled leaves OFF a holly (actually played tug of war with the branches as he trotted by), but it was more in the spirit of doing it because he could, not because he wanted to eat them. We watched like hawks and every thorny leaf came right back out of his mouth within seconds -- he never attempted to actually chew, much less swallow, one. I really think you'd be okay with hollies or winterberries.

Thanks for all the info, everyone! I'm not particularly worried about our older dog. She's a very "zen" gal. Loves to lay in the front doorway and watch the rain. Loves to sniff those flowers. But I've never seen her chop on anything but the dried up branches that sometimes fall from our maple tree. She's a stick dog. Not a shrub dog.

As for our 2nd beast, whom we lovingly refer to as "The Whirling Dervish" (sp?), he's too busy chasing birds around the yard (English Setter that he is) to concern himself w/ flowers and the like. But, the hubbie would still rather be safe than sorry so we do our best to keep them safe.

I did know about the grapes. The raisins too. Our only toxic food scare ever was w/ the older pup. Know those bags of Hershey Minatures they sell? Yup, she ate the whole bag once when we were out of the house. Wrappers and all. Called the vet in a panic but, fortunately, she's large enough (97 lbs) that we didn't need to worry.

Of course, her outdoor pursuits (specifically, doing her business) included the sparkle of tin-foil for about a week. Yes, the interesting life we lead w/ dogs.

As for those of you dealing w/ puppies, not to worry. Our oldest settled down....when she turned 3. :oP I can tell you from experience that even dogs go through "the terrible 2's" so, have fun! hee.

How about one of the small leaved Rhodies like the PJM?

i would suggest a chamaecyparis kosterii. beautiful lush dark green, wavy needles. max height 3' plus. wonderful year round. likely to carry them: katsura gardens, plymouth ma.; stonegate gdns, lincoln, ma...... but maybe you're not in ma. (SEEEEE, if you would add your state to your member profile, i could give you vendor references...!)
see a nearby post for how to do this!

Here's the link.

Here is a link that might be useful: adding info to your byline