Evergreen Trees: The Complete Guide to Trees That Stay Green All Year

Evergreen trees keep their leaves year-round. That’s the whole definition. While your neighbor’s maple goes bare in November and stays that way until April, your evergreens are still blocking the wind, screening the neighbors, and keeping your yard from looking like an abandoned lot.

But “evergreen” covers a huge range of trees. A 100-foot Eastern white pine and a 15-foot holly are both evergreens. A soft-needled arborvitae and a glossy-leaved Southern magnolia are both evergreens. Picking the right one depends on what you need the tree to do, how much space you have, and which USDA zone you’re in.

Here’s the honest guide to the evergreen trees worth planting, organized by the three main types you’ll find at any nursery.

Needled evergreens (conifers)

These are the classic “Christmas tree” shape trees. Pines, spruces, and firs all fall into this category. They have needles instead of broad leaves, produce cones, and most grow into large pyramidal trees. If you want a big, stately specimen tree or a windbreak along the back property line, this is your category.

Eastern white pine (Pinus strobus)

White pine is the fastest-growing native conifer in eastern North America. It puts on 2-3 feet per year when young and matures at 50-80 feet tall with a 20-40 foot spread. Zones 3-8. It transplants easily and establishes fast, which is why nurseries sell more white pine than any other large conifer.

The needles are soft, blue-green, and grow in bundles of five. That’s how you tell a white pine from other pines at the nursery. If the needles come off in bundles of five, it’s a white pine (or one of its close relatives).

Two warnings. First, white pine is sensitive to road salt and air pollution. Keep it 50 feet or more from salted roads. Second, the lower branches self-prune as the tree matures, leaving bare trunks at eye level after 10-15 years. Don’t plant a single row as a privacy screen expecting a solid wall. For that, you want arborvitae or a columnar evergreen.

Colorado blue spruce (Picea pungens)

Blue spruce is the classic front-yard specimen tree. That silvery-blue color looks stunning against a red brick house. Grows 30-60 feet tall, 10-20 feet wide. Zones 2-7. Full sun, moist well-drained soil.

Here’s what the nursery won’t tell you: blue spruce is overplanted and struggling east of the Rockies. Rhizosphaera needle cast and Cytospora canker are hammering blue spruce plantings across the Midwest and Northeast. These fungal diseases cause the tree to lose needles from the inside out, starting at the bottom. After 15-20 years, you’re left with a blue top on a brown skeleton.

If you’re in Colorado or the Mountain West where it’s native, blue spruce is fine. East of the Mississippi? Plant a Norway spruce instead.

Norway spruce (Picea abies)

Norway spruce is the workhorse conifer for cold climates. Grows 40-60 feet tall with graceful weeping branches that give it more character than the rigid Christmas-tree shape of blue spruce. Zones 2-7. Growth rate of 2-3 feet per year when young.

Norway spruce handles the humidity and diseases that kill blue spruces in the eastern U.S. It’s faster growing, more disease resistant, and in my opinion, a better-looking tree once it matures. The weeping secondary branches give it a layered, almost cascading appearance that you don’t get from any other large conifer.

It does need space. This tree gets wide. Plan for a 25-30 foot spread at maturity.

Eastern red cedar (Juniperus virginiana)

Eastern red cedar is technically a juniper, not a cedar. It’s one of the most adaptable native evergreens in North America, handling drought, clay soil, rocky soil, urban pollution, and zones 2-9. Grows 30-65 feet tall and 8-25 feet wide.

Red cedar is the tree you see growing wild along fencerows and highway medians. That adaptability makes it a great choice for tough sites where nothing else wants to grow. The blue-gray berries feed birds all winter. The wood is naturally rot-resistant (it’s what cedar closets are made from).

The downside: cedar-apple rust. If you have apple trees nearby, red cedar hosts the alternate stage of this fungal disease. Keep them at least 500 feet apart.

Scale-leaf evergreens (the privacy trees)

Arborvitae, cypress, and some junipers have flat, scale-like leaves instead of needles. These are the trees most people buy for privacy screens and hedges. They grow dense from top to bottom, which is exactly what you want between your patio and the neighbor’s kitchen window.

Green Giant arborvitae (Thuja ‘Green Giant’)

The most popular privacy tree in America and the best Leyland Cypress replacement. Grows 3-5 feet per year, matures at 40-60 feet tall and 12-20 feet wide. Zones 5-8. Deer resistant, disease resistant, and it stays green through winter when most other arborvitae bronze out.

Green Giant is big. If you have less than 20 feet of depth along your property line, this tree will overwhelm the space within a decade. We wrote a complete Green Giant arborvitae guide covering spacing mistakes, planting depth, and how to maintain a manageable size.

Emerald Green arborvitae (Thuja occidentalis ‘Smaragd’)

If Green Giant is too big for your lot, Emerald Green tops out at 12-14 feet tall and stays just 3-4 feet wide. Zones 3-7. Perfect for tight property lines and smaller yards. Grows 6-9 inches per year, so patience is required.

The biggest problem with Emerald Green is deer. They eat it like popcorn. In deer-heavy areas, you’ll need fencing or repellent spray through winter. Our Emerald Green arborvitae guide covers deer protection strategies and the planting mistakes that kill more Emerald Greens than anything else.

Leyland Cypress (x Cupressocyparis leylandii)

I’ll be blunt: don’t plant Leyland Cypress unless you’re prepared for heartbreak. It grows fast (3-4 feet per year), looks great for 10-15 years, and then the diseases come. The three killers are Seiridium canker, Botryosphaeria canker, and Phytophthora root rot. All three are incurable once established.

Across the Southeast, millions of Leylands have died or are dying from canker diseases. Plant Green Giant arborvitae instead. It grows just as fast, gets just as big, and resists the diseases that killed the Leylands.

Broadleaf evergreens

Most people think “evergreen” means “conifer with needles.” But some of the best year-round trees have broad, flat leaves that they keep through winter. These broadleaf evergreens add texture and variety that a yard full of conifers can’t match.

Southern magnolia (Magnolia grandiflora)

Southern magnolia is the showpiece broadleaf evergreen. Those glossy, dark green leaves stay on the tree year-round, and the dinner-plate-sized white flowers in late spring are unforgettable. Grows 60-80 feet tall in zones 7-9. It needs moist, acidic, well-drained soil and full sun to partial shade.

The catch: magnolia is messy. It drops leaves, seed pods, flower petals, and spent blooms throughout the entire year. You’re not raking once in fall. You’re raking constantly. The root system is shallow and aggressive, so nothing grows underneath a mature magnolia. Give it space and accept the mess, or choose something else.

Compact cultivars like ‘Little Gem’ (15-20 feet) and ‘Teddy Bear’ (16-20 feet) work for smaller properties. They bloom younger and take up less space.

American holly (Ilex opaca)

American holly is the classic Christmas holly with spiny, dark green leaves and bright red berries. Grows 15-30 feet tall and 10-20 feet wide. Zones 5-9. You need both male and female trees to get berries, so plant at least one male within 200 feet of your females.

Holly is slow-growing (6-12 inches per year) but worth the wait. A mature American holly with a full crop of red berries in December is one of the most beautiful things in any winter landscape.

Foster holly (Ilex x attenuata ‘Fosteri’)

Foster holly is a hybrid that fixes some of American holly’s shortcomings. It grows faster (12-24 inches per year), reaches 20-30 feet tall, and produces berries heavily without the leaf-spine problem that makes American holly painful to prune. Zones 6-9. The dense, pyramidal form holds its shape without pruning.

Foster holly makes an excellent evergreen screen that doubles as winter bird habitat. The bright red berries attract cedar waxwings, mockingbirds, and robins all winter.

Wax myrtle (Morella cerifera)

Wax myrtle is the broadleaf evergreen for problem sites. Wet soil? Fine. Dry soil? Fine. Salt spray? Fine. Drought? Fine. Zones 7-10. It grows 20-25 feet tall and 8-10 feet wide, and tolerates flooding, drought, salt, and urban conditions.

Wax myrtle grows fast (12-18 inches per year), which makes it a great alternative to arborvitae in the Southeast where deer and humidity are problems. The aromatic foliage repels deer, and the waxy gray berries attract birds. It works beautifully as a native screen or hedge plant.

The one concern: wax myrtle leaves and stems contain flammable aromatic compounds. Don’t plant it within the defensible space of your home in fire-prone areas.

How to choose the right evergreen

Don’t start at the nursery and pick the prettiest tree. Start with what you need the tree to do, then match the species to the job.

Need a privacy screen? Start with our privacy shrubs and hedges guide. For tall screening, Green Giant arborvitae (big lots) or Emerald Green (small lots). For a broadleaf option, Foster holly or wax myrtle.

Need a windbreak? Norway spruce or Eastern white pine planted in staggered double rows. These trees get wide enough to create a solid wind barrier and handle heavy snow loads.

Need a specimen tree? Colorado blue spruce (dry climates only) or a mature Southern magnolia. For a small yard, consider a dwarf evergreen variety.

Need year-round color? Mix needled and broadleaf evergreens. A Norway spruce behind a grouping of Foster hollies gives you green texture plus red winter berries.

Need something for a tough site? Eastern red cedar for dry, rocky, or alkaline soil. Wax myrtle for wet, salty, or coastal conditions.

For a broader look at all tree categories, our types of trees guide covers deciduous, ornamental, and fruit trees alongside evergreens. And if speed matters, our guide to fast-growing trees ranks the quickest options.

Evergreen planting and care basics

Evergreens are low-maintenance compared to fruit trees or roses, but they’re not zero-maintenance. Get these fundamentals right and your trees will thrive for decades.

When to plant: Fall (September through November) is ideal for most evergreens. The roots establish through winter while the top growth is dormant. Spring planting (March through May) is the second-best option. Avoid summer planting. Hot weather stresses newly planted evergreens, especially those that haven’t developed their root system. If you want seasonal planting tips, our spring tree care checklist covers fertilizing and watering schedules.

Watering: New evergreens need 1-2 inches of water per week for the first two growing seasons. After that, most established evergreens are reasonably drought tolerant. The exception is arborvitae, which always wants consistent moisture.

Mulching: 2-3 inches of wood chip mulch in a ring around the base, keeping it 3-4 inches from the trunk. Mulch retains moisture, moderates soil temperature, and suppresses weeds. Don’t volcano-mulch (piling mulch against the trunk causes bark rot).

Pruning: Most evergreens need minimal pruning. Shape them in late spring after new growth appears. Never cut back into bare wood on conifers. Unlike deciduous trees, most conifers can’t regrow from old wood. If you need trimming guidance, our tree trimming tips covers the techniques. For details on hedging, see our guide to how and when to trim trees.

Fertilizing: Most mature evergreens in decent soil don’t need fertilizer. Young arborvitae and cedar planted as hedges benefit from a spring application. Our tree fertilizer guide covers the right NPK ratios and timing for pines, spruces, arborvitae, and broadleaf evergreens.

Winter damage prevention: Evergreens lose moisture through their needles all winter. Water them deeply before the ground freezes in late fall. Wrap susceptible varieties (especially Emerald Green arborvitae) in burlap if you get heavy wet snow. For frost protection strategies, see our frost protection guide.

For guidance on adding trees to your landscape design, these landscaping fundamentals cover the practical side of integrating trees into your yard.

Frequently asked questions

What is the best all-around evergreen tree for a residential yard?

Green Giant arborvitae is the best all-around evergreen for most homeowners. It grows fast (3-5 feet per year), resists deer and diseases, stays green through winter, and works as both a privacy screen and specimen tree. Zones 5-8. If you’re in zones 2-4, Emerald Green arborvitae is the better choice for its superior cold hardiness.

What’s the difference between a conifer and an evergreen?

Most conifers are evergreen, but not all evergreens are conifers. Conifers produce cones and have needles or scales (pines, spruces, arborvitae). Broadleaf evergreens like holly and magnolia have flat leaves and produce flowers instead of cones. And a few conifers are actually deciduous. Bald cypress and larch both drop their needles every fall.

Do evergreen trees grow faster or slower than deciduous trees?

It depends on the species. Green Giant arborvitae grows 3-5 feet per year, which is faster than most deciduous trees. But many evergreens are slow growers. American holly adds just 6-12 inches per year. In general, fast-growing evergreens (pines, arborvitae) reach a useful size in 5-7 years, while slow growers (holly, yew) take 15-20 years.

Should I plant evergreen or deciduous trees on the south side of my house?

Plant deciduous trees on the south and west sides. Their leaves shade the roof in summer, reducing cooling costs by up to 35%. When they drop leaves in fall, sunlight warms the house in winter. Plant evergreens on the north and northwest sides as windbreaks to block cold winter winds. For more shade tree recommendations, see our shade trees guide.

How far from the house should I plant an evergreen tree?

At minimum, half the tree’s mature spread. A Norway spruce with a 30-foot spread needs at least 15 feet from the foundation. A narrow arborvitae with a 4-foot spread can go as close as 3-4 feet. Always check the mature size on your specific species before planting. The foundation clearance prevents root damage and keeps branches off the roof.