Evergreens are the perfect type of plant to invigorate your outdoor space year-round. In this guide we’ll explore the benefits of evergreens, highlight our favorite varieties, and explain what makes evergreens a top choice for homeowners redesigning their landscape.

Why Choose Evergreens?

Evergreens are a great option for keeping your landscaping looking lively year round, but they also provide many benefits to landscapes. In Michigan, we use evergreens to add year round color to otherwise grey landscapes. Almost every design we create will incorporate Here are some reasons to add evergreens to your existing landscape:

  • Year-Round Greenery: The consistency of color provided by evergreens throughout the four seasons can provide greenery and shade throughout the year. Evergreens provide vibrancy and color, even in the winter months which can otherwise result in bleak and colorless landscapes.
  • Privacy and Noise Reduction: Evergreen trees and shrubs create natural year-round privacy and noise reduction. For this reason, evergreens can provide a barrier from both neighbors and unwanted wildlife.
  • Low Maintenance: Many evergreens are low maintenance, requiring little care and eliminating the need for replanting each season.
  • Variety and Versatility: There are over 600 types of evergreens, ranging from giant trees to small shrubs to ground cover, meaning there is a type to suit any landscape or style.
  • Customizable Pruning: Though evergreens do not require extensive pruning, owners of evergreens can customize the shape and style of their plants to match the needs and style of their landscape.

Our Favorite Evergreen Shrubs

Boxwoods

  •   Varieties: Winter Gem, Green Gem, Green Velvet
  •   Key Features: These rounded shrubs are compact, easy to shape, and deer resistant.
  • Used as borders, accent shrubs, ornate shapes, and formal gardens.

Yews 

  •  Key Features: These vibrant, dark green foliage with soft needles are easy to shape and are low maintenance.
  •  Perfect as privacy screens, borders, and accent plants in any landscaping.

Juniper Shrub

  • Key Features: These deep green, needled evergreens are drought tolerant and pest resistant. Can be used as ground cover to add texture to landscape.
  •   Good for erosion control on hillsides and as accent shrubs.

Holly

  • Key Features: These shrubs have bright red berries and deep green leaves; they help with privacy and improve air and soil.
  • Works as hedges, screens, or colorful centerpieces of a garden.

Rhododendron 

  • Key Features: Glossy leaves and vibrant, bell-shaped flowers that provides privacy screening, year-round vibrancy, and attracts wildlife.
  • Perfect for adding structure or color to a garden, flowers beautifully in Spring.

Our Favorite Evergreen Trees

Emerald Green Arborvitae

  • Key Features: Tall, narrow trees that are drought tolerant, low maintenance, and vibrant year-round.
  • Used for privacy hedges, foundation plantings, or individual trees.

Thuja Green Giant

  • Key Features: One of the fastest growing evergreens that acts as a windbreaker and provides privacy. These trees are typically resistant to common diseases and pests.
  • Perfect for a larger yard in need of privacy.

Juniper Tree

  • Key Features: These trees come in various sizes and shapes, fitting almost any landscape needs. They are drought tolerant, pest and disease resistant, and deer resistant.
  • Great as privacy screens, hedges, or as individual trees.

Spruces

  • Varieties: Norway Spruce, Serbian Spruce, Blue Spruce
  • Key Features: Dense, symmetrical evergreens that enhance privacy, provide windbreak protection, and provide shelter for wildlife.
  • Works great along a property line to create a skyline or with plants and gravel for a natural look.

Pine

  • Varieties: White Pine (Michigan Native) and Austrian Pine
  •  Key Features: Dense foliage that support wildlife, contribute to soil stability, and create privacy screens.
  • Perfect against walls or fences, or as a standalone tree

Design Tips that Maximize Evergreens

We love using evergreen trees and shrubs in our landscape designs as they add gorgeous curb appeal to any home or building. Evergreens can be used in many ways in a landscape, so here a few design tips when thinking of your next project:

  • Use evergreens to disguise or cover outdoor appliances, vents, and utilities that you do not want to see.
  • Layer evergreens using different heights, textures, and shapes for an interesting visual.
  • Use tall evergreens as backdrops, placing mid-sized shrubs in front of them, and groundcovers in the front.
  • Plant an evergreen hedge (using a dense evergreen variety) to create a natural screen or border and provide privacy.
  • Utilize a variety of shapes when trimming your evergreens to create an interesting landscape. 
  • Place evergreen shrub in multiple locations to spread year-round green throughout your landscape.

Add Evergreens to Your Yard with J & J Landscaping

Now is the perfect time to benefit from the privacy, beauty, and ecological benefits of evergreens in your landscape. If you’re looking to add evergreens to your landscape in the Metro Detroit area, we are happy to aid in design and installation.

Ready to upgrade your yard? Contact J & J Landscaping today for a free estimate!