Evergreen Hedging Plants for the Northwest

These plants create structure and act as windbreaks and wildlife habitats

Winter in the Northwest is a nifty sentence to appreciate the rattling business broadleaf evergreen plant plants do in our gardens . They create structure in design and act as windbreaks and wildlife home ground . evergreen plant hedges often go away during the rest of the class , when they are outshine by other florescence plants , but during winter they have an chance to smooth themselves . Below are a few of my favorite picks for evergreen plant hedging works for the Northwest . The shrub mentioned here are all liberal of a wide variety of soil types so long as they are not standing in water , and all three of them are drouth tolerant once build .

‘Maculata’ thorny elaeagnus

Elaeagnus pungens‘Maculata ’ , Zones 7–9

This rattling broadleaf evergreen shrub is an splendid option for winter color and interest group . ‘ Maculata ’ thorny elaeagnus makes an impressive and quite dense thorny hedging , which makes it an splendid pick for add up more home ground for wildlife . The beautiful , variegate leave are green , gold , and yellow with silvern undersides , and they create a bright spot in any expectant garden . I love the unique pattern that each leaf presents . ‘ Maculata ’ blooms in winter with tiny , blot out silvern - white peak that are bell - influence and super fragrant . They will scent your entire garden , perhaps to entice you outside in winter . This bush receive pretty full-grown , growing or so 15 feet tall and wide , so make certain that you have the space for it or the longanimity to keep it in check with veritable pruning and maintenance .

Pacific wax myrtle

Morella californica , Zones 7–10

peaceable wax myrtle is a well-favored and hardy hedging flora that ’s aboriginal to our region . As such , it do well in Northwest gardens , create excellent , dense hedging and windbreaks . This shrub can uprise up to 30 feet tall and 10 to 20 foot wide , so give it some way in your garden or even sustenance to keep it smaller . The narrow-minded , glossy , mysterious green leave have serrate edges . The shrub itself has a lovely , upright growth use ; the ocular effect reminds one of a feather duster . Wildlife love to eat the abundant dark purplish berries that resemble peppercorns in late winter . This shrub can be well comprise into “ rewilding ” sundry borders that many nurseryman and garden designers are create in urban gardens in the Pacific Northwest .

Irish yew

Taxus baccata‘Fastigiata ’ , Zones 6–8

This is my all - time favorite evergreen plant shrub and hedging plant life for small urban gardens or private terrace spaces . Irish yew have little dismal green needles with pointed tips that have a very cushy texture . Plant Irish yew in stiff rows for wonderful hedges , plant it a little farther apart for mixed borders , or plant it in an open planting excogitation . Irish yew holds its needles in an upright figure , resembling a bottlebrush ( Callistemonspp . and cvs . , Zones 7–11 ) . In late fall , the distaff plants have dusty red fruit squall arils . These fruit seeded player are toxic to human being and pets , so be aware of where the plants are placed in the garden . If not pruned , Irish yew will reach 8 feet magniloquent and 3 feet wide , although it can be pruned to control for size of it or for a more formal feeling .

The thinness of gardens in winter helps us to appreciate the wonderful line evergreen plant plants do in our outdoor spaces the rest of the twelvemonth , adding foundational anatomical structure and grain . While there is an interminable list of plants that can do this job , I hope the shrub mentioned here will facilitate you think about incorporating evergreen hedges , gravid and low , into your garden . You will enjoy them class - round as a backcloth to your repeated works , and our much - beloved feathered Friend will enjoy them as well . For more evergreens for the Northwest , check out these articles :

— Jason Jorgensen owns and operate Third Spring Landscape Design in Seattle .

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