8 Best Fast Growing Evergreen Shrubs For Shade 2021

Fast Growing Evergreen Shrubs For Shade. If you want to add an aesthetic value to your house, you could count gardens for one of the essential aspects.

Your backyard or garden should be vibrant. If you are going to make other people see the landscape and to make an excellent impression of your house.

To add the beauty of your garden with brilliant colors, you can plant flowering shrubs that can be utilized for shade.

Evergreen shrubs are defined as plants or trees that never shed their leaves in the winter. They stay green all year. A Christmas tree is an example of an evergreen tree.


The beauty of evergreen shrubs

Planting evergreen shrubs can add a beautiful touch to your garden or landscape. While evergreen shrubs are worthwhile in numerous different ways, flowering shrubs tend to have a short blooming period, and the nursery or view will be left with foliage.

Pick a shrub with foliage that fits your overall color theme. If you happen to live in a seasonal area, then you should go with a flowering shrub because you do not have to enjoy it all year long.

Evergreens shrubs are for the region with temperate all year long.

If you would like to keep an area shaded or green all year long, then planting evergreens shrubs would be the best choice. Evergreen shrubs, whether needled or broadleaf, will be valuable for a longer time.

They also will have a consistent green color with a denser-growing profile compare to seasonal shrubs.

Numerous evergreen shrubs do well in full sun areas, while some of them can not withstand the heat. Other evergreen shrubs thrive well in light shade or complete shade coverage.

Shade can be defined as a section in your garden that does not get sunlight starting from in the morning to the evening, meaning daily. A shaded area is fit for relaxing or sitting with little sound.

Many types of flowering shrubs, do not thrive well when planted in the deep shade. It would help if you decided whether to choose light shade or deep shade and then can plant the correct shrub.


How to choose evergreens shrubs

Caring and planting for evergreen shrubs may take money, effort, and time. It would be wise to make the right decisions when selecting these evergreen plants for your garden or yard.

To pick the right evergreen shrubs and trees, you have to be familiar with the growing conditions. Consider about — hardiness zone, light, soil type, space for planting, and what kind and form of evergreen shrub you would like to plant.

The evergreen shrub can be cone-bearing or needle-like foliage like spruce, pine, arborvitae or juniper. They can also be leaf-like foliage like boxwood and rhododendron.

Nursery grown evergreen shrub can be expensive and are slow-growing. This matter can be happening due to many years of care needed to ample root systems and produce well-shaped tops before they are sold.

More years of care will be needed after the evergreen shrub is transplanted to a garden or landscape. If you purchase the right choice at the start, you will save money and time. Your landscape evergreen shrubs will give years of satisfaction and pleasure.


List of Fast Growing Evergreen Shrubs For Shade

1. Blue Hydrangea

Fast Growing Evergreen Shrubs For Shade

 These shrubs are blooming in spring and summer. Even though they need proper maintenance, they grow quickly and fast. In just one summer, the dark blue or light blue Hydrangea can reach up to 15 feet or 4.5 meters. With this height, they have the ability to shade in your yard or garden. These shrubs can grow in hardiness zones 3 to 7 as perennials. 

 You do not have to be an expert in caring for Blue Hydrangea. All you need to do is to water them once a week. In order to keep the soil fresh and moist, apply an organic mulch to add nutrients to improving soil texture. The application of fertilizer will be enough if you use it once or twice the whole year. 

There are several types of Hydrangea that can be grown in the United States. Oakleaf hydrangeas can thrive in warmer zones. If you live in California or Texas, they are a great choice because they can withstand the heat of summer. Bigleaf hydrangeas can be seen all over because they often found growing in Zones 5 through 9. Panicle hydrangeas are hardy to Zone 3. Very easy to grow and can reach up to 15 feet tall. If you live in colder climates, Smooth hydrangeas are large white clusters of blooms to choose from.


2. Kerria Japonica

Fast Growing Evergreen Shrubs For Shade

 These shrubs grew on average to medium moisture and recommended in well-drained soil. It thrives in part shade or even full shade or full sun. But flowers will get pale if it gets too much sun. Flowers will bloom between April to May. 

 It prefers soils that are moderately fertile, including loam, chalk, clay, and sand. But heavy clay soils must be avoided. It can reach up to 8′ – 10′ (240 cm – 3 meters) with the spread of up to 3 meters. 

Generally pest and disease-free. Great for shrub borders, foundation plantings, informal flowering hedge, woodland gardens, naturalized areas. Promptly remove unwanted suckers.


3. Mountain Laurel (Kalmia Latifolia)

Fast Growing Evergreen Shrubs For Shade

 Kalmia latifolia, is usually called mountain laurel. It is a broadleaf green and multi-stemmed shrub or small tree that is native to Eastern North America (New England south to southern Indiana, Louisiana and the Florida panhandle). 

 They are found in open rocky or sandy woods, serene meadows, balds, mountain slopes, and woodland margins. The plant grows excellent during spring. 

It commonly grows as a dense rounded shrub. It reaches up to 15’ tall. Flowers appear covering the bush in late May-June for several weeks. The bloom is exceptional. The shape of the flower is like a cup with a width of 1” across. The flower color ranges from rose to white with purple markings inside. Kalmia latifolia is known for the state flower of Connecticut.


4. Witch Hazel (Hamamelis spp.)

Fast Growing Evergreen Shrubs For Shade

 These shrubs can grow as tall as between 15 to 20 feet and can grow fast and easy. The recommended soils are average to medium soil and well-drained in full sun or part shade. It would be best if the plant is grown in full sun. Only a little pruning is required and only in early spring if necessary. 

 Known as witch hazel, is a native to stream banks, woodlands, and forest margins in eastern North America. 

Even if they can grow to 20′ tall on many soils, it actually can reach 30′ tall in its native habitat. All of its features appear along the branches from October to December. Shrubs of this species are usually the last native flowering plants to bloom in the state of Missouri every year.


5. Pieris Japonica ‘Katsura’

Fast Growing Evergreen Shrubs For Shade

 Covered in snow-white blossoms, Pieris japonica ‘White Cascade’ is an anchor of the spring. During the full blossom, one can scarcely see the evergreen foliage covered up underneath the supports of nimbly falling chains of sprouts. During the cold weather, Pieris japonica ‘White Cascade’ has a high resistance to the low temperature. Different than other Pieris, this shrub will drop blossoms that turned to brown, making new sprouts to grow. 

 The mason bee rely on this Pieris because it is their favorite and important food source. It grows continuously through spring and summer. First, the leaves are wine-red color, then turn to green after a while. The flowers are commonly rose-colored flowers. 

The growth can reach up to 4’ to 5’ high. Pieris ‘Katsura’ thrives in lime-free soil, humus-rich, well-drained, to its native mountain forest habitat in light shade or full sun. These shrubs make a stunning decoration to a Japanese themed garden.


6. Sweetshrub (Calycanthus floridus)

Fast Growing Evergreen Shrubs For Shade

 You can enjoy this Eastern Sweetshrub by planting it for shade in or outdoor sitting area or garden or near your door. People will smell the fragrance from the tree, and it gets stronger as it aged. You can also utilize the dried bark, the leaves, and the flowers for potpourri. With its fragrance, the deep red flower that comes out in the spring and early summer makes this a highly desirable garden plant. 

 These shrubs can reach from 1.8 meters (6 feet) to 2.74 meters (9 feet) in height. The urn-shaped fruits are shaped when the summer comes, and during the fall, you will delight the beautiful bright foliage. The shrubs demanded very little pruning. You can plant this shrub in partial shade to sun. 

Can adapt to various soils, it can thrive in moist and well-drained soils. Do not allow them to completely dry out. You must schedule routine watering.


7. Aucuba Japonica

Fast Growing Evergreen Shrubs For Shade

 They are usually known as spotted laurel is an evergreen rounded, shade-loving, shrub, or Aucuba Japonica. It would be recommended if the soils are evenly moist in full shade or just partially. The soil prefers to be high in organic matter. It will also tolerate air pollution and poor soils. 

 The plant can grow to six to ten feet and can sometimes to 15 feet tall. It is different than another plant where they are in genus male and female flowers on separate plants. The female plant will produce red fruits if planted near the male plant the winter, providing year-round interest. 

You can propagate or transplant from stem cuttings or seeds because it would overgrow just by doing that. It can be planted as a houseplant in temperate climates or cold room temperatures between 50-65 degrees Fahrenheit.  


8. Needle Palm

Fast Growing Evergreen Shrubs For Shade

 Usually known as needle palm, is a shrubby, clumping, trunkless, fan palm. It may grow for shade to up to 3 feet (1 meter) to 6 feet (1.8 meters) tall and as wide. It can thrive in moist to wet woodlands. Also in slopes, streams, or ravines. They commonly found in southeastern U. S. including South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Alabama, and Mississippi. 

 It is known for its glossy green, large and palmate leaves. Leaves are evergreen. Flowers are usually hidden by the foliage. The fruit has a reddish-brown drupe color. The name comes from the Greek rhaphis meaning needle and phyllon meaning leaf. 


Frequently ask question

How can I tell what kind of evergreen shrub I have?

Spot evergreen shrubs have “scale-like” needle leaves. Fan-like flattened branchlets that sprout from a single stem. While Hinoki cypress or false cypress or Arborvitae, are the most popular evergreen shrubs with the shape of scale-like leaves.


Can a brown evergreen come back?

Whether broad-leafed or needled, both evergreen shrubs and trees can have the appearance of brown and sickly in the spring months. It could happen after a dry and cold winter. There may be some branch loss, but most brown evergreens will be back as spring progresses.


When should I trim my evergreen bushes?

Prune evergreen shrubs, like yew and juniper, in early April or late March before their new growth begins. A slight pruning can be done in early July or late June. Do not prune evergreen shrubs in the fall. The prune practice in the fall may cause winter injury.


Can evergreen trees shape?

Avoid over-shaping these evergreen trees. It will be much help if you shape the tree, not too fast. Over a few years would be nice. Pines, fir, and spruce should be pruned less frequently than hemlocks and yews because of their delicacy.


Henry Kaswandi, SS, M.Kom.

I had been doing gardening for the last 18 years. I enjoy writing reviews of many products and about gardening to give better experiences and accurate information.