I suspect that is Prunus laurocerasus - Cherry-laurel. This is a very common broadleaf evergreen landscape plant in Tennessee.

Thanks @ViburnumValley central KY Bluegrass z6 and @ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5!

Its a hedge my neighbors have, and i was surprised at how thick it was considering the heavy canopy during the gowing season.

it gets maybe 3 hours of morning sun.

based on the other landscaping choices, i would definitely assume this is something readily available.

i have 40ft of fenceline in mostly shade, and would like to soften it with an evergreen hedge.

@ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5 we have so many decidious trees in the neighborhood that the fallen leaves kill the grass.

i use what i can in the flower beds but have to haul most to the road

my point was.. to use what you can ... and you are ..

i hope you are mulching it down.. so you can use a bit more ...

not sure your gardening level... but i do want to make sure you understand light levels ...

ive been in full shade hosta gardens .. meaning no direct sun .. and my glasses would remain dark because it was so bright ....

plant vigor due to light is can be more than just hours of direct sun ...

also out my north facing front door .. its full shade except at dawn and dusk .... but with blue sky above.. there is no restriction on what can be grown there ....

so just make sure you understand the variable ...

obviously the shrubs in the pic are lovin up that amount of light ... and if they grow there.. they will probably grow around your yard ..

one last though.. try to avoid a monoculture ... if some plague comes along... everything can be wiped out .. if they are all the same thing ...

ken

It does look like Prunus laurocerasus but it isn't the straight species. It's one of the cultivars. To get the same effect you'd need to know the exact name before ordering and to ensure you get vegetatively propagated material, not seedlings. As to avoiding monocultures.... a formal hedge is by definition a monoculture. They are grown the world over and are not necessarily doomed.

English or cherry laurel, Prunus laurocerasus, is very shade tolerant. IME, it grows just as fast and as dense in lots of shade as it does in full sun.

And yeah, take the monoculture comments with a large dose of salt :-) Plant 'plagues' are not all that common and it is very rare for a disease or pest to romp through a same plant planting and wipe them all out. And not much of anything bothers laurels anyway!

Ken, i mulch leaf piles with the mower for my flower beds- roses, azalea, hydrangea.

as far as the light goes, ive noticed that most published and public insight is geared toward premium performance. I’ve been gardening for about 5 years and have pushed those boundaries- sometimes it works and other times it doesnt.

im wiling to take chances to achieve fair or good performance.

the architecture of my home is colonial/georgian maybe? formal monoculture plantings suit the aesthetic, so ive used lots of (disease resistant) boxwood, holly, and liriope.

willing to risk that as well.

the hedge id like to build now would use the laurel as filler. doesnt need to be perfectly private, but ill only use evergreen shrubs.

thanks, everyone for being so helpful!

well.. good luck to you ....

just dont believe everything you read ... unless the writer happens to be your next door neighbor ... since much info and success can be very regional ...

but you have enough experience to understand that ...

we didnt have the web way back when ... we learned by killing things ... lol .. they used to say you werent a real gardener.. until you killed every plant 3 times ... so if you do.. try again.. or move on ... sometimes its not worth beating your head on the side of the house to long...

ken

so ive used lots of (disease resistant) boxwood

==>>> i dont do box at all ... but i wonder about this comment ....anyone else care to opine??

regardless.. happy new year.. and have fun in the garden ...

ken

There are some prelim studies that show certain varieties are less susceptible to blight than others.