Evergreen Shrubs

Evergreen shrubs are the working backbone of a garden: they hold their foliage through winter, hide fences, fill borders and give the showier seasonal plants something to stand against. If you want a garden that still looks dressed in July, this is the collection to start with.

Buying evergreen shrubs comes down to three questions. First, mature size: check the height and width on each listing and match it to the job, because a shrub that wants to be 3 metres will never be happy clipped at 1 metre. Second, growth rate: fast growers give quick cover but need trimming two to four times a year, while slower varieties hold a tidy shape with a single annual prune. Third, position: most hedging and border shrubs want at least half a day of sun, though there are reliable options for shaded south facing beds too. For hedges, 200mm pots planted at 3 to 4 plants per metre knit together within a couple of seasons, while 300mm and 45L stock closes the gap much faster.

• Water new shrubs deeply twice a week for the first 8 to 10 weeks, then taper off
• Tip prune young plants early and often to build density from the base
• Feed hedges in early spring and again in late summer to hold deep leaf colour
• Mulch borders 50mm deep, keeping mulch clear of stems to prevent collar rot

Two of Australia's favourite evergreen hedgers have dedicated guides worth reading before you order: the lilly pilly care guide and the murraya care guide both cover spacing, feeding and common problems. Planning a hedge and not sure how many plants you need? The hedge calculator works it out from your run length in seconds. And if you are after shrubs chosen for shape and texture rather than hedging, our structured foliage collection approaches the same job from a design angle.