Gardening Guides
Easy-Care Evergreen Plants and Combos for Stunning Shade Gardens
Here’s what to plant for year-round interest and minimal maintenance in full-shade to dappled-light garden beds
Come winter, many of our favorite tried-and-true plants for shade lose their leaves or die back to the ground. By adding a few hardworking evergreen plants to shaded areas, you can fill in winter bare spots, create year-round structure and cut down on maintenance — all in one fell swoop.
To get started, take a look at these shade-tolerant evergreen plants and dynamic combinations from Houzz gardens.
To get started, take a look at these shade-tolerant evergreen plants and dynamic combinations from Houzz gardens.
Leopard Plant
(Farfugium japonicum ‘Aureomaculatum’)
Hosta-like foliage. With an all-green color palette, this partially shaded garden in Santa Barbara, California, relies on a contrast in form and texture for visual interest. Feathery asparagus ferns play off succulent green aeonium, grasslike dwarf mondo grass and the broad, spotted foliage of leopard plant. While not evergreen in cold-winter areas, the plants in this Southern California garden would retain their foliage throughout the winter in a mild coastal climate.
Prized for its glossy, kidney-shaped leaves with dappled spots, leopard plant acts like a warm-climate hosta look-a-like and can be used as a standout foliage plant in mixed borders. In colder-winter areas, grow it as an annual or pot it in containers to overwinter in a greenhouse.
Plant combination:
Light requirement: Part shade to full shade
(Farfugium japonicum ‘Aureomaculatum’)
Hosta-like foliage. With an all-green color palette, this partially shaded garden in Santa Barbara, California, relies on a contrast in form and texture for visual interest. Feathery asparagus ferns play off succulent green aeonium, grasslike dwarf mondo grass and the broad, spotted foliage of leopard plant. While not evergreen in cold-winter areas, the plants in this Southern California garden would retain their foliage throughout the winter in a mild coastal climate.
Prized for its glossy, kidney-shaped leaves with dappled spots, leopard plant acts like a warm-climate hosta look-a-like and can be used as a standout foliage plant in mixed borders. In colder-winter areas, grow it as an annual or pot it in containers to overwinter in a greenhouse.
Plant combination:
- Leopard plant (Farfugium japonicum ‘Aureomaculatum’, USDA zones 7 to 10; find your zone): Perennial; evergreen in mild-winter climates
- Asparagus fern (Asparagus densiflorus, zones 9 to 11): Perennial; evergreen in mild-winter climates
- Dwarf mondo grass (Ophiopogon japonicus ‘Nana’, zones 6 to 11): Perennial; evergreen in mild-winter climates
- Aeonium (Aeonium sp., zones 9 and up): Succulent; evergreen in winter but very frost-tender
Light requirement: Part shade to full shade
Boxwood
(Buxus spp.)
King of structure. Useful as a hedge, structural backdrop, bed accent or container plant, boxwood is a workhorse throughout the garden. In partially shaded beds, it grows best with dappled-light exposure, such as under tree canopies.
Cold hardiness depends on the species: B. sempervirens is hardy to minus 15 degrees Fahrenheit, or minus 26.1 degrees Celsius (zones 5 to 8); B. microphylla is hardy to minus 5 degrees Fahrenheit, or minus 20.6 degrees Celsius (zones 6 to 9); B. sinica var. insularis is hardy to minus 25 degrees Fahrenheit, or minus 31.7 degrees Celsius (zones 4 to 9). Foliage can turn brown if exposed to lower temperatures than listed.
Plant combination:
Light requirement: Full sun to part shade
(Buxus spp.)
King of structure. Useful as a hedge, structural backdrop, bed accent or container plant, boxwood is a workhorse throughout the garden. In partially shaded beds, it grows best with dappled-light exposure, such as under tree canopies.
Cold hardiness depends on the species: B. sempervirens is hardy to minus 15 degrees Fahrenheit, or minus 26.1 degrees Celsius (zones 5 to 8); B. microphylla is hardy to minus 5 degrees Fahrenheit, or minus 20.6 degrees Celsius (zones 6 to 9); B. sinica var. insularis is hardy to minus 25 degrees Fahrenheit, or minus 31.7 degrees Celsius (zones 4 to 9). Foliage can turn brown if exposed to lower temperatures than listed.
Plant combination:
- Boxwood (Buxus spp., zones 4 to 9) of various sizes: Evergreen
Light requirement: Full sun to part shade
Yew
(Taxus spp.)
Evergreen garden walls. In this St. Louis garden, the evergreen and deciduous plantings form tiers of green. Semideciduous hornbeams grow along the back border, with deciduous Japanese maples filling in the lower canopy, and low evergreen yew hedges edged with white-flowering hellebores making up the bottom tier.
Among other garden hedge plants, yew is particularly cold-hardy and shade-tolerant. Use multiple as a screen or plant a single yew to add a winter focal point in partially shaded beds.
Caution: Some species of yew, particularly Japanese yew (T. cuspidata), are toxic if ingested by pets or wild animals. Skip planting them (substitute with boxwood) if you or your neighbors have pets or if deer frequent your garden.
Plant combination:
Light requirement: Full sun to part shade
(Taxus spp.)
Evergreen garden walls. In this St. Louis garden, the evergreen and deciduous plantings form tiers of green. Semideciduous hornbeams grow along the back border, with deciduous Japanese maples filling in the lower canopy, and low evergreen yew hedges edged with white-flowering hellebores making up the bottom tier.
Among other garden hedge plants, yew is particularly cold-hardy and shade-tolerant. Use multiple as a screen or plant a single yew to add a winter focal point in partially shaded beds.
Caution: Some species of yew, particularly Japanese yew (T. cuspidata), are toxic if ingested by pets or wild animals. Skip planting them (substitute with boxwood) if you or your neighbors have pets or if deer frequent your garden.
Plant combination:
- Yew (Taxus sp., zones 4 to 7): Evergreen
- European hornbeam (Carpinus betulus, zones 4 to 8): Semievergreen
- Japanese maple (Acer palmatum, zones 5 to 8): Deciduous
- Hellebore (Helleborus spp., zones 4 to 9): Perennial; deciduous in winter in all but very mild-winter climates
Light requirement: Full sun to part shade
Bergenia and Mondo Grass
(Bergenia cordifolia and Ophiopogon planiscapus)
Charming path edgers. This backyard in Vancouver, British Columbia, offers two examples, each with very different foliage textures, of shade-loving border plants that generally hold their foliage year-round. With large paddlelike leaves, bergenia adds bold texture to planting beds. Bergenia can grow in cold climates, but leaves often show damage over the winter; it is evergreen in milder regions.
Grasslike mondo is slightly less hardy and forms an attractive lawn-like mat with clumps of tufty, fine-textured foliage. Mondo leaves are evergreen in warm regions but can die back considerably in cold-winter areas.
Plant combination:
Light requirement: Full shade to part sun for bergenia; mondo grass also can be grown in full sun
(Bergenia cordifolia and Ophiopogon planiscapus)
Charming path edgers. This backyard in Vancouver, British Columbia, offers two examples, each with very different foliage textures, of shade-loving border plants that generally hold their foliage year-round. With large paddlelike leaves, bergenia adds bold texture to planting beds. Bergenia can grow in cold climates, but leaves often show damage over the winter; it is evergreen in milder regions.
Grasslike mondo is slightly less hardy and forms an attractive lawn-like mat with clumps of tufty, fine-textured foliage. Mondo leaves are evergreen in warm regions but can die back considerably in cold-winter areas.
Plant combination:
- Bergenia (Bergenia cordifolia, zones 3 to 8): Perennial; evergreen in mild-winter climates
- Mondo grass (Ophiopogon planiscapus, zones 6 to 9): Perennial; evergreen in mild-winter climates
- Rhododendron (Rhododendron sp.): Evergreen in mild-winter climates
Light requirement: Full shade to part sun for bergenia; mondo grass also can be grown in full sun
Fragrant Sweetbox
(Sarcococca ruscifolia)
Surprising fragrance. Passing through this shady Seattle garden in spring, one might first be struck by the attractive foliage variation among the bronze and lime-green Japanese maples and the blue-green hostas, and then be left to wonder as to the source of a subtly sweet scent.
Although the white flowers on fragrant sweetbox are fairly inconspicuous, they produce a lovely scent that wafts through garden beds in March and April. The evergreen plants have attractive deep green, hollylike foliage and thrive in part-shade to full-shade beds. Plant fragrant sweetbox in mixed borders or use it as a foundation plant.
Plant combination:
Light requirement: Part shade to full shade
(Sarcococca ruscifolia)
Surprising fragrance. Passing through this shady Seattle garden in spring, one might first be struck by the attractive foliage variation among the bronze and lime-green Japanese maples and the blue-green hostas, and then be left to wonder as to the source of a subtly sweet scent.
Although the white flowers on fragrant sweetbox are fairly inconspicuous, they produce a lovely scent that wafts through garden beds in March and April. The evergreen plants have attractive deep green, hollylike foliage and thrive in part-shade to full-shade beds. Plant fragrant sweetbox in mixed borders or use it as a foundation plant.
Plant combination:
- Fragrant sweetbox (Sarcococca ruscifolia, zones 7 to 9): Evergreen in mild-winter climates
- Japanese maple (Acer palmatum, zones 5 to 8): Deciduous
- Hosta (Hosta sp., zones 3 to 9): Perennial; deciduous in winter
- Bleeding heart (Lamprocapnos spectabilis, zones 3 to 9): Perennial; deciduous in winter
Light requirement: Part shade to full shade
‘Purple Pixie’ Fringe Flower
(Loropetalum chinense ‘Purple Pixie’)
Plum-colored foliage. Plants with purple leaves are useful in shaded beds because they add interest and break up swaths of green. Not many shrubs or trees with purple foliage retain their leaves through the winter and tolerate shade, but Loropetalum does. It thrives in mild-climate gardens, like outside this home in Dallas. Dwarf cultivars with weeping forms, such as ‘Purple Pixie’, can be useful as border plants in partially shaded beds, while standard varieties can be trained as a hedge.
Plant combination:
Light requirement: Full sun to part shade
(Loropetalum chinense ‘Purple Pixie’)
Plum-colored foliage. Plants with purple leaves are useful in shaded beds because they add interest and break up swaths of green. Not many shrubs or trees with purple foliage retain their leaves through the winter and tolerate shade, but Loropetalum does. It thrives in mild-climate gardens, like outside this home in Dallas. Dwarf cultivars with weeping forms, such as ‘Purple Pixie’, can be useful as border plants in partially shaded beds, while standard varieties can be trained as a hedge.
Plant combination:
- ‘Purple Pixie’ fringe flower (Loropetalum chinense ‘Purple Pixie’, zones 7 to 9): Evergreen in mild-winter climates
- Japanese holly fern (Cyrtomium falcatum, zones 6 to 10): Perennial; semievergreen in winter
- Horsetail reed (Equisetum hyemale, zones 4 to 9): Perennial; evergreen in mild-winter climates
Light requirement: Full sun to part shade
Golden Sweet Flag and Japanese Forest Grass
(Acorus gramineus ‘Ogon’ and Hakonechloa macra ‘Aureola’)
Strappy, grasslike foliage. In this partially shaded garden on Bainbridge Island, Washington, the delicate leaves of two grasslike plants arch over the stones of a dry stream bed to form a serene vignette. Both golden sweet flag and Japanese forest grass are useful evergreen plants for shaded beds in mild-winter climates. Plant them in mixed borders with some breathing room or along pathways, where their graceful foliage forms and feathery foliage can stand out. Grow them as annuals in colder-winter areas.
Plant combination:
Light requirement: Full sun to part shade
More
How to Design a Beautiful Shade Garden
See other inspiring planting ideas
Find gardening tools
(Acorus gramineus ‘Ogon’ and Hakonechloa macra ‘Aureola’)
Strappy, grasslike foliage. In this partially shaded garden on Bainbridge Island, Washington, the delicate leaves of two grasslike plants arch over the stones of a dry stream bed to form a serene vignette. Both golden sweet flag and Japanese forest grass are useful evergreen plants for shaded beds in mild-winter climates. Plant them in mixed borders with some breathing room or along pathways, where their graceful foliage forms and feathery foliage can stand out. Grow them as annuals in colder-winter areas.
Plant combination:
- Golden sweet flag (Acorus gramineus ‘Ogon’, zones 5 to 9): Perennial; evergreen in mild-winter climates
- Japanese forest grass (Hakonechloa macra ‘Aureola’, zones 4 to 9): Perennial; evergreen in mild-winter climates
- Makinoi’s holly fern (Polystichum makinoi, zones 5 to 9): Perennial; semievergreen
- Western sword fern (Polystichum munitum, zones 3 to 10): Perennial; semievergreen
- Masterwort (Astrantia major ‘Alba’, zones 4 to 7); Perennial; deciduous in winter
Light requirement: Full sun to part shade
More
How to Design a Beautiful Shade Garden
See other inspiring planting ideas
Find gardening tools
Whether a plant falls into one of the following three categories depends on the natural life cycle of the plant as well as the climate in which it is grown. In warm-winter areas, even plants that botanists would classify as deciduous may hold on to their leaves year-round. Likewise, some of the plants described here (noted, where applicable) may not be evergreen in cold-winter regions.
Evergreen: Plants in this category, such as conifers, boxwood and holly, are green year-round. They do drop leaves or needles, but it is done sporadically throughout the year, rather than all at once.
Deciduous: Deciduous plants drop their leaves in autumn, look bare in winter and then regrow their leaves in spring. The leaves of deciduous plants like Japanese maples, American sweetgum, eastern redbud and many others may turn brilliant colors in fall before dropping, but this is not true of all deciduous plants.
Semievergreen: Other plants, such as ferns and oakleaf hydrangea, fall between evergreen and deciduous in their life cycle. They generally hold on to their leaves over the winter, and then they drop them all at once in late winter or early spring and quickly replace them with new leaves. Others in this group may retain leaves for multiple years and drop them if exposed to stress, like a cold snap or a drought.