“In the truest sense, freedom cannot be bestowed; it must be achieved.” Franklin D. Roosevelt. “We must be free not because we claim freedom, but because we practice it.” William Faulkner. “Freedom is nothing but a chance to be better.” Albert Camus. “With freedom comes responsibility.” Eleanor Roosevelt. “From every mountainside, let freedom ring.” Martin Luther King Jr. “Freedom is one of the deepest and noblest aspirations of the human spirit.” Ronald Reagan. “May we think of freedom, not as the right to do as we please, but as the opportunity to do what is right.” Peter Marshall. “This nation will remain the land of the free only so long as it is the home of the brave.” Elmer Davis. “With freedom, books, flowers, and the moon, who could not be happy?” Oscar Wilde.

Today’s evergreens not only offer practical solutions to garden challenges—but they look fabulous in the landscape, too. With hundreds of brilliant new varieties of evergreen shrubs available in all sizes, shapes, and colors—you’ll find the perfect plants to dress up your garden. From pencil-thin holly to adorn a front entrance to vibrantly variegated purple loropetalum that adds foundation interest to blight-resistant boxwoods that create sculptural boundaries, you’ll discover an amazing array of new evergreen shrubs for all your garden projects.

Whether you’re looking for foundation plants to complement your home, mid-sized evergreen shrubs to define property lines, towering evergreens to provide privacy, or compact, petite shrubs to create an adorable knot garden, you’ll find a wide selection of varieties from which to choose.

If you’re looking for evergreen specimens for your garden, make sure to check the plant tag or online description. While many gardeners think of evergreens as trees or shrubs with needlelike foliage, you’ll find a large selection of broadleaf evergreen shrubs available as well.

Creating curb appeal rates high on the garden project list for many homeowners, particularly with new construction. But when left to the designs of a builder, cookie-cutter foundation plantings may leave you feeling uninspired at best—and battling poorly chosen shrubs in worst-case scenarios. After all, with hundreds of rapidly rising new subdivisions, most builders add foundation plants as an afterthought, without much emphasis on design and curb appeal.

Whether you’re selecting plants for a newly-built home or renovating a garden, foundation plantings should frame the house, compliment the architecture, and anchor the home into the landscape. By choosing evergreen shrubs to add color and texture, foundation plantings can enhance the architectural style of the home—without overwhelming it.

Select evergreen shrubs that enhance your home’s design. For a layered look, add taller plants in the back, closest to the house, or as anchors in the outer corners of the foundation. Place a focal point, narrow evergreen shrubs to frame the entrance, drawing the eye to the front door. But always check plant tags or online specifications for the mature size of the plants to ensure your shrubs won’t overwhelm the space.

Evergreen varieties to consider for foundation planting include: Leucothoe Lucky Leu™, a low-maintenance nativar, offers peach-orange new growth, white spring flowers, and medium green leaves, reaching 3-5 feet tall and wide while maintaining its shape with minimal pruning in USDA Zones 6-9; and Arborvitae Golden Child™, a compact globe arborvitae that features finely cut foliage that glows in the garden, tolerates summer heat, takes on bronze hues in winter, and reaches 18-24 inches tall and wide, perfect for front foundation plantings in USDA Zones 5-9.

Also, Gardenia Steady As She Goes®, a perfect gardenia, offering heat tolerance, continuous double blooms until frost, a compact habit, glossy evergreen foliage, and cold hardiness in USDA Zones 7-10. And, Daphne Moonlight Parfait® Winter, an exceptional variegated selection, showcasing leaves with a wide creamy yellow edge, fragrant white flowers from rose-pink buds, and a compact 3-4 foot size, perfect for dappled shade in USDA Zones 6-9.

Also, Japanese Pieris Mountain Fire, a showy, hardy evergreen shrub (USDA Zones 5-9) featuring bright red new foliage and long-lasting white flowers, thriving at 6-8 feet tall and 4-6 feet wide in acidic soil. And, Rhododendron Dandy Man Pink, an exceptional garden plant due to its unique combination of hardiness, heat tolerance, and root-rot resistance, featuring pink flowers in mid-spring and growing 4 to 8 feet tall and wide in USDA Zones 5-9.

Remember: “evergreen” doesn’t mean that you’re limited to green foliage. While many shrubs sport green foliage, you’ll also find beautiful specimens that look lovely all year in a wide range of colors, such as chartreuse, maroon, red, variegated, and more.

This fact sheet is provided as an education/inspirational service of the National Garden Bureau (https://ngb.org/evergreen-shrubs-foundation-hedges-privacy-knot-gardens/).

“But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.” Matthew 6:33. “Unless the Lord builds the house, its builders labor in vain. Unless the Lord watches over the city, the watchmen stand guard in vain.” Psalm 127:1. After Jesus said this, He looked toward heaven and prayed: “Father, the time has come. Glorify your Son, that your Son may glorify you.” John 17:1. “The lips of the righteous nourish many, but fools die for lack of judgment.” Proverbs 10:21. “It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.” Galatians 5:1. “Now this is eternal life: that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom You have sent.” John 17:3.

Eddie Seagle is a Sustainability Verifier, Golf Environment Organization (Scotland), Agronomist and Horticulturalist, CSI: Seagle (Consulting Services International) LLC, Professor Emeritus and Honorary Alumnus (Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College), Distinguished Professor for Teaching and Learning (University System of Georgia) and Short Term Missionary (Heritage Church, Moultrie). Direct inquiries to csi_seagle@yahoo.com.