10 Best Small Evergreen Shrubs

Boxwood

Botanically known as Buxus, Boxwood is one of the most favorite among plant lovers. If you desire a neat and tidy look around your garden, or better yet, you want to make a fence out of evergreen shrubs, box should be your top pick. A typical box shrub grows up to 5m tall and 5m wide; making it ideal for small spaces.

Box Shrubs are easy to maintain and grow, autumn and spring being the best seasons for plantation. Perhaps the most charming feature about the box is its compact structure that can be shaped as you like. 

Lavender

If you want to add some color and life to your backyard, growing Lavender shrubs is a good option. With a beautiful bright color, Lavender Shrubs are the perfect evergreen, easy to manage shrubs that can help you decorate the surroundings of your house with very little labor. It is one of the easiest shrubs to grow because it is resistant to drought and can survive in sandy soil as well.

Growing to a height of around 1m, Lavender shrubs can be used to cover either a vast area on the ground, a thin and well-kempt border across the garden or it can even be grown in small patio containers. 

Holly

Holly is one of the perfect small evergreen shrubs to grow if you want to give a sophisticated and rich look to your cultivation space. Holly Shrubs have very dark green and glossy leaves, in the midst of which, bright red cherries pop out to add a beautiful charm to the shrub. Holly has a number of variants, all of which can be grown either in open spaces or as densely packed hedges.

Also known as Christmas Holly, this evergreen shrub grows up to 15 inches tall. Since it can survive under a full sun or a partly shaded area as well, the Holly is low maintenance and a delightful presence around a garden.

Mahonia

Apart from a well-structured form and spiky leaves, Mahonias have an added plus: beautiful, bright yellow flowers. These flowers grow in clusters on the tips of the bright green leaves, making for an excellent color combination in depressing winters! Mahonias are one of those evergreen shrubs that require very little care and can grow in various types of soils.

Growing somewhere between 2.3 to 4m in height, Mahonia species can be planted as ground cover or even as prominent shrubs that line the outside of hedges.

Camellia

Camellia is a beautiful flowering small evergreen shrub known for large, round flowers. With deep green foliage, Camellia is a wonder shrub with flowers that come in colors like white, red, pink and even yellow. Some varieties of this shrub are tall, however, dwarf ones are also available- the choice depending on how much area you want covered.

The maximum height that a Camellia reaches in several years is six feet, though you can maintain it to the height you desire. The best places to grow these plants are in patio pots and borders that are rich in acidic soil.

Fatsia

Fatsia is a shrub that has hand like leaves that grow on upright stems. This feature being its strongest pull, Fatsia is also a favorite in households because its plantation process is not labor intensive and it can grow in coastal conditions and shady areas as well. In the autumn season, this shrub flowers into white, rich and creamy buds that can be an amazing decoration outside the main entrance.

Fatsia is not very compact because the leaves jut down in different directions; therefore, using a large pot is the best way to grow and maintain it. Fatsia grows between 5 to 8 feet tall.

Blue Star Juniper

If you are interested in foliage shrubs, Blue Star Juniper is your best option of small evergreen shrubs. Consider this shrub a shorter, more compact version of Blue Spruce Trees because it has a similar appearance to the latter. While Blue Star has no flowers, its spiky blue needle-like leaves make up for the absence of these in a very grand manner. Resembling a bush, Blue Star is a dwarf plant that doesn’t grow more than 2 feet tall, making it an excellent choice for a ground-cover shrub. 

Daphne

Compact, fragrant and beautiful, Daphne is an small evergreen shrub that blossoms in winter, giving your otherwise dry garden a bright and warm look. This shrub is one of the slowest growing plants in the Plant Kingdom, making it an ideal pick for a garden where you want low shrubs. The tinge of yellow on the sides of the leaves and exotic purple flowers add a very artistic look to it.

Growing to about 0.5 meters in full height, the Daphne can be cultivated in sunny or partially shaded areas as well.

Aucuba

If you are on the lookout for an evergreen shrub that is highly tolerant of dry soil, lack of sunlight and harsh climatic conditions, Aucuba is your answer. A foliage shrub, Aucuba has many varieties available for cultivation, the yellow-speckled leaves being the most famous one. The splash of bright yellow on the deep green leaves resembles an artistically made oil painting.

While the plant itself is low and short, the leaves on it are long and leathery, giving it a rich look. Aucuba grows up to 2.5 meters in height. 

Moonshadow Euonymus

The beauty of Moonshadow Euonymus lies in the striking green and gold combination of its leaves. Being at its best in the spring season, Moonshadow is an exotic evergreen shrub that changes its color to off-white as the growing season wears on. It is a short plant that needs very little maintenance and is perfect as a ground cover because of highly dense foliage.

The maximum height for this shrub is 1 meter, therefore it can be grown as a border outside the garden. Euonymus species can also be made to climb walls and pillars if you want them to be coated with a dense layer of colorful foliage.