List of Evergreen Shrubs for Pacific Northwest Gardens

Evergreens are the backbone of a Pacific Northwest garden. They carry the design through wet gray winters, frame the front door, hide the hose reel, and give birds somewhere to overwinter when most of the perennial garden has gone underground. A landscape that holds together in February is almost always a landscape with the right evergreens in the right places.

From our nursery on the Southern Oregon coast (USDA zone 9a, marine climate, plenty of wind and salt to test things against), we plant a lot of evergreens. Some are workhorse hedges. Some are winter-blooming shrubs that smell like spring in January. Some are native shrubs that ask for almost nothing once they settle in. The list below is the one we actually use, organized by how each plant tends to earn its place.

This is the practical list. For each shrub you will get common name and botanical name, mature size, sun preference, hardiness, the feature that earns it a spot, and the role it tends to play in a PNW garden. If you want to skip straight to plants we have available, browse our evergreen shrubs collection or the broader shrubs selection.

Broadleaf evergreens versus needled evergreens

Two big families show up in this list, and it helps to know the difference before you start choosing.

Broadleaf evergreens have wide, flat leaves that stay on the plant year-round. Rhododendron, camellia, daphne, viburnum, escallonia, and mahonia all sit here. Most broadleaf evergreens flower at some point in the year, sometimes spectacularly. They tend to want decent soil, even moisture in their first summer, and protection from the worst desiccating winds.

Needled evergreens have needles or small scale-like leaves. The dwarf conifers, junipers, yew, hinoki cypress, mugo pine, and cedars belong here. Needled evergreens tend to bring architecture and texture rather than flowers, and many handle dry conditions, exposed sites, and cold better than broadleaves.

Most PNW gardens want a mix of both. Broadleaves give you bloom and lush green foliage; needled evergreens give you the bones, the formal shapes, and the winter texture. A garden built only of broadleaves can feel soft and unstructured; a garden built only of conifers can feel flat in summer when nothing flowers.

What evergreens do in the garden

Before picking specific shrubs, it helps to know what jobs you are actually hiring them for. Most evergreens do at least one of these well, and the best of them do several.

• Year-round structure. When the hostas have melted and the dahlias are cut back, the evergreens are what hold the design together. They are the punctuation marks in winter.
• Privacy and screening. Hedges, windbreaks, and foundation plantings that block sightlines and soften property edges.
• Winter wildlife habitat. Dense evergreen branches give songbirds shelter on cold nights and nest sites in spring. They matter more to local birds than most ornamental flowers do.
• Cold-weather color. Camellia, mahonia, sarcococca, and daphne all bloom in winter or very early spring. They give you flowers and fragrance when little else is willing.
• Foundation plants. Softening hard architecture along the base of a house, year-round. The right evergreen makes a new build look like it has been there for a decade.
• Coastal salt and wind buffers. A handful of evergreens can take the full force of marine wind and salt spray and keep going. They are the front line that protects the rest of the garden.

Broadleaf evergreen shrubs for PNW gardens

These are the broadleaf evergreens we keep coming back to. None of these are obscure. They have all earned their place in PNW gardens because they do their job year after year.

Rhododendron and azalea (Rhododendron spp.)

Size: 3 to 15 feet, varies enormously by cultivar. Sun: Part shade to dappled shade. Hardiness: Zone 5 to 9 depending on variety. Why we plant it: Rhododendrons define PNW gardens. Acidic soil, cool summers, and reliable winter rain are exactly what they want. Spring bloom can be lavender, white, pink, red, yellow, or orange, and the foliage stays good all year. Best use: Woodland edges, north sides of houses, mixed shrub borders.

Camellia (Camellia japonica and C. sasanqua)

Size: 6 to 12 feet (smaller with pruning). Sun: Part shade; morning sun, afternoon shade is ideal. Hardiness: Zone 7 to 9. Why we plant it: Glossy green foliage year-round and flowers in the dead of winter or earliest spring. Sasanquas bloom in fall and early winter; japonicas bloom from late winter into spring. Best use: Specimen near an entry where the winter bloom gets noticed, or trained against a sheltered wall.

Daphne (Daphne odora)

Size: 3 to 4 feet tall and wide. Sun: Part shade. Hardiness: Zone 7 to 9. Why we plant it: The fragrance. Daphne odora blooms in late winter and the scent carries fifteen feet on a still day. Variegated forms also add cream-edged foliage. Best use: Near a door, path, or window you walk past in February. Wants sharp drainage and tends to resent root disturbance once planted.

Sarcococca (Sarcococca confusa and S. ruscifolia, sweet box)

Size: 2 to 4 feet, slowly spreading. Sun: Full to part shade. Hardiness: Zone 6 to 9. Why we plant it: Small white winter flowers with outsized fragrance, glossy dark green leaves, and a willingness to live in the dry shade under conifers and house eaves that defeats most other shrubs. Best use: Shade groundcover, north-side foundation planting, edges of woodland paths.

Mahonia (Mahonia x media 'Charity' and 'Winter Sun')

Size: 6 to 10 feet. Sun: Part shade to shade. Hardiness: Zone 7 to 9. Why we plant it: Tall yellow flower spikes in late fall and winter, when Anna's hummingbirds and the few active pollinators on warm days have very little else to visit. Bold, architectural foliage. Best use: Back of shade borders, dramatic specimen, winter pollinator support.

Escallonia (Escallonia rubra and cultivars)

Size: 4 to 10 feet. Sun: Full sun to part sun. Hardiness: Zone 8 to 10. Why we plant it: Coastal-tough, glossy green leaves, pink to red summer flowers that bees and hummingbirds love. Shears well into a hedge. Best use: Coastal hedges, sunny mixed borders, windward screens.

Pieris (Pieris japonica, lily-of-the-valley shrub)

Size: 4 to 8 feet. Sun: Part shade. Hardiness: Zone 5 to 8. Why we plant it: Cascading clusters of small bell-shaped flowers in early spring, and reddish-bronze new growth that brightens shaded corners. Pairs naturally with rhododendrons (same soil, same exposure). Best use: Woodland borders, foundation plantings on the shady side.

Skimmia (Skimmia japonica)

Size: 3 to 4 feet. Sun: Part shade to shade. Hardiness: Zone 7 to 9. Why we plant it: A low, mounding evergreen that takes deep shade. Female plants carry bright red berries through winter if a male is nearby. Quietly attractive twelve months a year. Best use: Shade borders, foundation planting under house eaves.

Manzanita (Arctostaphylos spp.)

Size: 2 to 12 feet depending on species. Sun: Full sun. Hardiness: Zone 7 to 10 depending on species. Why we plant it: Smooth mahogany bark, blue-green to gray-green leaves, pink to white urn-shaped flowers in late winter for early pollinators. Drought-tolerant once established. Many are PNW or West Coast native. Best use: Sunny dry slopes, rock gardens, water-wise landscapes. See our manzanita collection for the varieties we carry.

Boxwood (Buxus sempervirens, B. microphylla)

Size: 1 to 6 feet, depending on cultivar and pruning. Sun: Full to part sun. Hardiness: Zone 5 to 8. Why we plant it: The classic clipped hedge and topiary plant. Small evergreen leaves take shearing beautifully. Worth being aware of boxwood blight in our region, so check a plant before buying and avoid overhead watering. Best use: Formal low hedges, parterre, structured borders.

Hebe (Hebe spp.)

Size: 1 to 5 feet. Sun: Full sun to part sun. Hardiness: Zone 8 to 10. Why we plant it: Compact mounds of fine evergreen foliage and summer flower spikes in purple, blue, pink, or white. Hebes handle coastal conditions and salt better than most. Best use: Coastal beds, mixed borders, sunny foundation plantings.

Pittosporum (Pittosporum tenuifolium and P. tobira)

Size: 6 to 15 feet. Sun: Full sun to part sun. Hardiness: Zone 8 to 10 (varies by species). Why we plant it: Wavy or rounded evergreen leaves, often with dark stems or variegated foliage, and small fragrant flowers in spring. Elegant in the garden and willing to be a screen or a specimen. Best use: Evergreen screens, mixed borders, coastal gardens with some shelter.

Choisya ternata (Mexican orange)

Size: 4 to 6 feet. Sun: Full sun to part shade. Hardiness: Zone 7 to 10. Why we plant it: Glossy, aromatic palmate leaves and white star-shaped flowers in late spring (often again in late summer) that smell faintly of citrus. Tidy rounded habit. Best use: Foundation plantings, mixed borders, near patios where the fragrance lands.

Needled evergreen shrubs for PNW gardens

These are the architecture plants. Many are technically dwarf conifers (slow-growing forms of larger trees), and a well-chosen needled shrub will hold its shape for decades with very little intervention.

Dwarf Hinoki cypress (Chamaecyparis obtusa 'Nana Gracilis' and similar)

Size: 4 to 8 feet over many years. Sun: Full sun to part sun. Hardiness: Zone 4 to 8. Why we plant it: Sculptural fans of dark green foliage that look hand-arranged. Slow, dense, and never needs shearing. Best use: Specimen near an entry, Japanese-style gardens, sculptural focal points.

Boulevard cypress (Chamaecyparis pisifera 'Boulevard')

Size: 6 to 10 feet. Sun: Full sun to part sun. Hardiness: Zone 4 to 8. Why we plant it: Soft, blue-silver foliage that lights up dark green plantings. Naturally pyramidal. Best use: Color contrast in conifer beds, mixed evergreen screens.

Globe blue spruce (Picea pungens 'Globosa')

Size: 3 to 5 feet, very slowly. Sun: Full sun. Hardiness: Zone 2 to 8. Why we plant it: Blue needles in a dense ball-shaped habit. Cold-tolerant and stable. Best use: Front-of-border accent in sunny mixed plantings.

Juniper (Juniperus horizontalis and cultivars)

Size: 6 inches to 2 feet tall, spreading 4 to 8 feet wide. Sun: Full sun. Hardiness: Zone 3 to 9. Why we plant it: Low, spreading evergreen that covers difficult ground. Tolerates poor soil, slopes, and reflected heat. Best use: Slopes, parking strips, mass plantings where you want a tough evergreen carpet.

Yew (Taxus baccata, T. x media)

Size: 3 to 15 feet depending on cultivar. Sun: Full sun to shade (one of the few evergreens that handles deep shade). Hardiness: Zone 5 to 8. Why we plant it: Dark green needles, takes shearing into formal hedges, deer-resistant, lives essentially forever. Best use: Formal hedges, foundation plantings, shaded borders. Note that all parts are toxic if ingested, so site accordingly around grazing animals and young children.

Mugo pine (Pinus mugo and dwarf cultivars)

Size: 2 to 8 feet (look for named dwarf cultivars for predictable size). Sun: Full sun. Hardiness: Zone 2 to 8. Why we plant it: Compact, slow-growing pine that needs almost nothing once it is established. Dark green needles, sturdy character. Best use: Rock gardens, mixed conifer beds, low-care sunny corners.

Dwarf western red cedar and arborvitae (Thuja plicata and T. occidentalis cultivars)

Size: 4 to 15 feet depending on cultivar. Sun: Full sun to part sun. Hardiness: Zone 4 to 8. Why we plant it: Soft, scaly evergreen foliage in green or gold forms, narrow upright cultivars make excellent narrow hedges, dwarf globe forms make tidy round shrubs. Best use: Hedges, screens, foundation plantings.

Podocarpus (Podocarpus macrophyllus)

Size: 6 to 15 feet as a shrub (more as a small tree). Sun: Full sun to part shade. Hardiness: Zone 7 to 10. Why we plant it: Long, fine, ribbon-like evergreen leaves give a soft texture that reads more elegant than most conifers. Takes shearing into a screen. Best use: Tall narrow screens, elegant evergreen specimen.

Native PNW evergreen shrubs

Native evergreen shrubs are tuned to local rainfall, local soils, and local pollinators. Once established, most of them need very little water, no fertilizer, and no fuss. They also tend to do real work for the birds, native bees, and other insects that already live on your property. For a deeper read on this, see our companion guide to Oregon native shrubs, and browse native plants we currently have available.

Salal (Gaultheria shallon)

Size: 1 to 4 feet (occasionally taller in deep shade). Sun: Part shade to full shade. Hardiness: Zone 7 to 9. Why we plant it: Glossy leathery leaves, white urn-shaped spring flowers, edible dark blue-purple berries in summer. The signature evergreen groundcover of PNW coastal forests. Best use: Shade groundcover under conifers, woodland edges, restoration plantings.

Tall Oregon grape (Mahonia aquifolium) and creeping Oregon grape (Mahonia repens)

Size: Tall form 4 to 6 feet, creeping form under 1 foot. Sun: Full sun to part shade. Hardiness: Zone 5 to 9. Why we plant it: Spiny holly-like evergreen leaves, bright yellow spring flowers (a key early-pollinator plant), and blue-purple berries that feed birds. The state flower of Oregon. Best use: Mixed native borders, dry shade, naturalistic plantings.

Coast manzanita (Arctostaphylos columbiana)

Size: 6 to 12 feet. Sun: Full sun. Hardiness: Zone 7 to 10. Why we plant it: Smooth, peeling mahogany bark, gray-green leaves, white to pink flowers that hummingbirds and early bees rely on. Native to the immediate Oregon coast and very drought-tolerant once established. Best use: Sunny coastal slopes, water-wise gardens, naturalistic specimen.

Pacific wax myrtle (Morella californica, syn. Myrica californica)

Size: 8 to 15 feet (often hedged shorter). Sun: Full sun to part shade. Hardiness: Zone 7 to 10. Why we plant it: Dense aromatic evergreen leaves and the toughness to take coastal salt wind. Fixes its own nitrogen, so it does well in lean soils. Quietly excellent. Best use: Coastal screens, windbreaks, native hedges.

Evergreen huckleberry (Vaccinium ovatum)

Size: 2 to 6 feet (taller in shade, shorter in sun). Sun: Part shade to full shade. Hardiness: Zone 7 to 9. Why we plant it: Small glossy evergreen leaves with bronzy new growth, pink-tinged spring flowers, and edible black berries in fall. A native that works equally well in a woodland border and a foundation planting. Best use: Shade borders, edible native plantings, mixed under-conifer beds.

Coastal-tough evergreen shrubs

If your garden takes the brunt of marine wind and salt spray, the list narrows. Most broadleaf evergreens want some shelter; the ones below tolerate the full coastal exposure, at least once they are established. We see all of these doing well in unprotected coastal plantings around Langlois and the Southern Oregon coast.

• Escallonia. Glossy leaves, summer bloom, takes salt and wind.
• Hebe. Small, neat, willing to live in exposed beds.
• Pittosporum tenuifolium. Wavy-leaved screen plant that handles wind once rooted in.
• Pacific wax myrtle. Native coastal screen.
• Manzanita. Especially coast manzanita on bluffs and exposed slopes.
• Salal. Evergreen groundcover that already grows wild in coastal forests.
• Griselinia littoralis. Bright apple-green leaves, very salt-tolerant, popular hedge plant in seaside gardens.
• Sea buckthorn (Hippophae rhamnoides). Silvery foliage, orange berries, fixes nitrogen, classic dune and bluff stabilizer (technically semi-evergreen in our climate but holds enough leaf to count for screening).

Not every evergreen handles salt. Camellia, daphne, and most rhododendrons will burn at the edges in unprotected coastal wind. Use the tough plants above as the outer line and tuck the more delicate broadleaves in behind them.

Evergreen shrubs for hedges and screens

If the job is privacy, the choice depends on whether you want formal (sheared and tidy) or informal (relaxed and a little wider). Our top picks for living walls in PNW gardens:

• Boxwood. Classic low formal hedge to 3 feet. Watch for boxwood blight in our humid climate.
• Pittosporum tenuifolium. Excellent medium-height screen (6 to 10 feet) with elegant foliage.
• English laurel (Prunus laurocerasus) and Portuguese laurel (Prunus lusitanica). Fast, big, glossy evergreen screens that take heavy shearing.
• Podocarpus. Tall narrow evergreen screen with fine texture.
• Escallonia. Informal hedge that flowers in summer and feeds pollinators while it screens.
• Griselinia. Bright green coastal hedge.
• Yew. The classic dark green formal hedge for shadier sites.
• Arborvitae (Thuja). Fast, dense, very common for property-line screens.

Browse our hedge plants collection for current availability. For spacing (which matters more than people think, because hedges that are jammed too tight end up bare at the bottom), our Plant Spacing Calculator will give you the right number of plants for a given run.

Planting and care basics

Evergreens are not difficult to plant, but they reward a few specific habits in our climate.

• Plant in fall when possible. Winter rains do most of the watering for you, and the plant goes into spring already rooting out.
• Dig wide, not deep. The hole should be two to three times the diameter of the rootball but only as deep as the rootball itself. The top of the rootball should sit level with, or very slightly above, the surrounding soil.
• Do not amend the backfill heavily. Mixing in lots of compost creates a soft pocket the roots never want to leave. Use the native soil with at most a light amendment, and let the roots learn to live in the ground they will actually live in.
• Mulch, but keep mulch off the trunk. Two to three inches of bark or wood chips over the root zone, with a clear inch around the stem.
• Water deeply once a week the first summer. One slow, soaking watering does more than three quick sprinkles. By the second summer most established evergreens need much less, and many natives need none.
• Check drainage before planting. Most evergreens hate wet feet in summer. If the planting hole holds water for hours after a fill test, choose a different spot or build a low berm to lift the rootball above the saturated layer.

Coastal note: if your site catches the worst salt spray, give new broadleaf evergreens a year of shelter from a windbreak (a temporary burlap screen or an existing tough plant) while they establish. Once the root system is in, most of the coastal-tolerant species above can be exposed to full wind.

Where to start

If you are planning a new bed, start by deciding what jobs the evergreens have to do: structure, screen, foundation softening, winter bloom, wildlife shelter, or coastal buffer. Then pick from the section above that matches the job. A well-planted bed usually has two or three needled evergreens for bones, four to six broadleaf evergreens for fullness and bloom, and at least one or two native shrubs doing quiet work for the local wildlife.

To browse what we have growing right now, start with our evergreen shrubs collection, or look through the wider native plants list if you are leaning toward a PNW-native palette. Our Garden Planner can help you map a bed before you buy, and if you want hands-on help laying out a full landscape, we offer a one-on-one landscape consultation.

Plant the right evergreens in the right places once, and the garden will hold together every February from now on.