Best Privacy Shrubs and Hedges: 12 Plants Ranked by a Homeowner Who Tested Them

A solid privacy hedge beats a fence in almost every way. It blocks noise, filters dust, supports wildlife, and looks better every year instead of worse. The trick is picking the right plant for your climate, yard size, and patience level. Plant the wrong species and you’ll spend every weekend with the hedge trimmer or watching your investment turn brown.

I’ve helped neighbors pick privacy plants for years, and the same mistakes keep happening. People plant Leyland Cypress because it’s fast and cheap, then lose the whole row to canker disease. They buy Red Tip Photinia because it was popular in the ’90s and fight Entomosporium leaf spot forever. They install running bamboo and spend the next decade apologizing to the neighbors.

Here are the 12 privacy shrubs that actually work, ranked honestly.

Top 12 privacy shrubs and hedges

1. Green Giant Arborvitae

The speed king. Green Giant Arborvitae grows 3-5 feet per year and resists the canker diseases that wiped out millions of Leyland Cypress plantings. It’s the fastest reliable evergreen screen you can buy.

• Growth rate: 3-5 ft/year
• Mature size: 40-60 ft tall, 12-20 ft wide
• Zones: 5-8
• Spacing: 5-6 ft apart
• Deer resistant: Yes

The catch: it gets enormous. At 40-60 feet tall with a 15-20 foot base spread, this tree overwhelms small yards. Only plant it if you have room.

2. Nellie Stevens Holly

Nellie Stevens is the top Leyland Cypress replacement across the Southeast. It’s self-fruitful (produces berries without a pollinator), grows 2-3 feet per year, and forms a dense pyramidal screen.

• Growth rate: 2-3 ft/year
• Mature size: 15-25 ft tall, 8-12 ft wide
• Zones: 6-9
• Spacing: 5-8 ft apart
• Deer resistant: Moderate

The glossy dark green foliage and red winter berries give it more visual interest than arborvitae. One of the most versatile privacy plants for the eastern half of the country.

3. Skip Laurel (Schip Laurel)

Skip Laurel flies under the radar, but it’s one of the best privacy hedges available. It’s essentially disease and pest free. Glossy, broad evergreen leaves create a dense, elegant screen.

• Growth rate: 1-2 ft/year
• Mature size: 10-18 ft tall, 5-7 ft wide
• Zones: 5-11
• Spacing: 3-5 ft apart
• Deer resistant: Yes (seldom browsed)

That zone range is remarkable. Skip Laurel grows from Vermont to San Diego. It tolerates partial shade (4 hours of sun is enough) and doesn’t need the constant trimming that privet demands. If I could only recommend one hedge plant for most homeowners, this would be it.

4. Wax Myrtle (Southern Bayberry)

The Southeast’s native screening machine. Wax Myrtle grows 3-5 feet per year on native soil without supplemental irrigation once established. It tolerates salt spray, wind, poor soil, and periodic flooding.

• Growth rate: 3-5 ft/year
• Mature size: 10-20 ft tall, 8-15 ft wide
• Zones: 7-11
• Spacing: 5-8 ft apart
• Deer resistant: Yes (aromatic foliage)

The aromatic foliage naturally repels deer and mosquitoes. The waxy berries attract birds all winter. If you garden anywhere from the Carolinas to Texas to Florida, Wax Myrtle deserves a spot on your list.

5. Emerald Green Arborvitae

The narrow-space champion. At just 3-4 feet wide, Emerald Green Arborvitae fits where nothing else will. It holds green color through winter when other arborvitae varieties bronze out, and it stays small enough (12-15 feet) for most residential yards.

• Growth rate: 6-12 in/year
• Mature size: 12-15 ft tall, 3-4 ft wide
• Zones: 3-7
• Spacing: 3-4 ft apart
• Deer resistant: No. Deer eat these like popcorn.

The tradeoff is patience. You’re looking at 5-8 years for a 6-foot nursery tree to form a solid screen. In deer country, you’ll need temporary fencing or repellent spray for the first few years. But for cold climates (Zone 3) and tight spaces, nothing beats it.

6. Hicks Yew

The shade and deer specialist. If you have a north-facing property line or heavy deer pressure, Hicks Yew solves both problems. It tolerates deep shade, deer largely ignore it, and it accepts heavy shearing without complaint.

• Growth rate: 6-12 in/year
• Mature size: 10-12 ft tall, 3-4 ft wide (can reach 18-20 ft)
• Zones: 4-7
• Spacing: 3-4 ft apart
• Deer resistant: Yes

Rich, dark evergreen foliage on a columnar frame. It grows slowly, but Yew is one of the few evergreen hedges that regenerates from hard pruning. Cut it to the ground and it comes back. Try that with arborvitae and you’ll have bare sticks forever.

7. Boxwood

The formal hedge standard for centuries. Boxwood creates the tightest, most precise hedges of any plant. Rutgers rates it an “A” for deer resistance. It takes shearing beautifully and stays compact.

• Growth rate: 3-6 in/year
• Mature size: 3-8 ft tall (depending on variety)
• Zones: 5-8
• Spacing: 2-3 ft apart
• Deer resistant: Yes (Rutgers “A” rating)

The elephant in the room: boxwood blight. This devastating fungal disease (Calonectria pseudonaviculata) caused mass die-offs across the East Coast starting around 2011. The pathogen survives 5+ years in fallen foliage. Buy blight-resistant varieties like ‘NewGen Freedom’ or ‘Green Mountain’ and avoid overhead irrigation.

8. Japanese Privet

Fast, cheap, and tolerant of abuse. Japanese Privet grows 2-3 feet per year and adapts to almost any soil, sun, or pruning schedule. It’s the hedge you see in older neighborhoods across the Southeast.

• Growth rate: 2-3 ft/year
• Mature size: 8-12 ft tall, 6-8 ft wide
• Zones: 7b-10a
• Spacing: 3-5 ft apart
• Deer resistant: Moderate

The problem: privet is invasive in much of the southeastern US. It spreads into natural areas via bird-dispersed berries. If you plant privet, choose sterile cultivars when available, and know that 3-4 trimmings per year are needed to keep it in bounds. Many homeowners are moving away from privet entirely.

9. Manhattan Euonymus

A tough urban hedge that handles pollution, compacted soil, and neglect. Manhattan Euonymus keeps its dark green color through winter and fills in quickly to create a dense 6-8 foot screen.

• Growth rate: 1-2 ft/year
• Mature size: 6-8 ft tall, 4-6 ft wide
• Zones: 5-9
• Spacing: 3-4 ft apart
• Deer resistant: No (frequently browsed)

Deer love Euonymus, so avoid this one in rural areas. Scale insects can also be a problem. But for urban and suburban yards without deer pressure, it’s reliable and easy to maintain.

10. Sweet Viburnum

Sweet Viburnum is one of the best screening plants for Florida and the Deep South. Fragrant white spring flowers, dense evergreen foliage, and tolerance of heat and humidity make it a strong choice for zones 8-10.

• Growth rate: 1-2 ft/year
• Mature size: 15-25 ft tall, 10-15 ft wide
• Zones: 8-10
• Spacing: 6-8 ft apart
• Deer resistant: Moderate

Sweet Viburnum can get large. Give it room and prune once per year after flowering.

11. Inkberry Holly

The native alternative to boxwood. Inkberry Holly (Ilex glabra) offers a similar look to boxwood with none of the blight risk. It’s the best native shrub for an informal hedge, and deer almost never touch it.

• Growth rate: 6-12 in/year
• Mature size: 5-8 ft tall, 5-8 ft wide
• Zones: 5-9
• Spacing: 3-4 ft apart
• Deer resistant: Yes

Compact varieties like ‘Shamrock’ and ‘Gem Box’ stay under 4 feet and work as a direct boxwood substitute. Native to eastern North America, so it supports local ecosystems better than imported species.

12. Italian Cypress

Not technically a hedge plant, but Italian Cypress creates one of the most striking privacy screens in warm climates. Tight columnar form, zero pruning required, and drought tolerance that’s hard to beat.

• Growth rate: 2-3 ft/year
• Mature size: 40-60 ft tall, 3-6 ft wide
• Zones: 7b-11
• Spacing: 3-5 ft apart
• Deer resistant: Yes

For California, Mediterranean, and Southwest landscapes, Italian Cypress delivers privacy in a narrow footprint. See our columnar evergreen trees guide for more narrow options.

The speed comparison

How fast each option reaches a 6-foot privacy screen:

Plant	Growth Rate	Years to 6-ft Screen	Best For
Green Giant Arborvitae	3-5 ft/yr	1-2	Large yards, fast results
Wax Myrtle	3-5 ft/yr	1-2	Southeast, coastal
Nellie Stevens Holly	2-3 ft/yr	2-3	All-around versatility
Japanese Privet	2-3 ft/yr	2-3	Budget-conscious, urban
Italian Cypress	2-3 ft/yr	2-3	Warm/dry climates
Skip Laurel	1-2 ft/yr	3-4	Shade, wide zone range
Manhattan Euonymus	1-2 ft/yr	3-4	Urban, tough conditions
Sweet Viburnum	1-2 ft/yr	3-4	Deep South, fragrance
Emerald Green Arborvitae	6-12 in/yr	5-8	Narrow spaces, cold zones
Hicks Yew	6-12 in/yr	5-8	Shade, deer resistance
Inkberry Holly	6-12 in/yr	5-8	Native, boxwood alternative
Boxwood	3-6 in/yr	8-12+	Formal low hedges

Spacing: the math that matters

Get spacing wrong and you’ll either wait a decade for coverage or fight overcrowding forever.

General rule: Space plants at half to two-thirds of their mature width for privacy screening.

Plant Size	Height	Spacing
Small shrubs (boxwood, inkberry)	Under 5 ft	2-3 ft apart
Medium shrubs (arborvitae, yew, Skip Laurel)	8-12 ft	3-5 ft apart
Large shrubs/trees (Green Giant, holly)	12+ ft	5-8 ft apart

Staggered double-row planting creates faster, thicker coverage. Offset two rows so plants in the back fill gaps between plants in the front. This approach maximizes screening, though it requires 8-12 feet of total width.

Why mixed hedges beat monocultures

Mixed-species screens beat single-species hedges every time. The reasoning is simple: when one disease sweeps through, you lose your whole screen if it’s all one plant. Mix species and you lose 30% instead of 100%.

The Leyland Cypress collapse proved this. Neighborhoods planted solid rows, then watched entire streets go brown from canker. Now extension services see Green Giant being planted in the same monoculture patterns and are raising the same warnings.

A better approach: Plant your primary species (say Green Giant or Nellie Stevens) with a different evergreen every third or fourth spot. Mix in holly, cryptomeria, or Skip Laurel. The slight variety in texture and color actually looks more natural, and you’ve insured against catastrophe.

Hedge vs fence: the honest cost comparison

For a 100-linear-foot property line:

Option	Upfront Cost	Annual Maintenance	20-Year Total
Privacy hedge (4-6 ft plants)	$1,500-$4,500	$200-$500	$5,500-$14,500
Wood fence (cedar)	$2,500-$5,000	$100-$200	$4,500-$9,000*
Vinyl fence	$3,000-$6,000	$50-$100	$4,000-$8,000

*Wood fences need replacement around year 15-20, adding another $2,500-$5,000.

Hedges cost less upfront but more over time in maintenance. Fences provide immediate privacy; hedges take 1-5 years. But hedges get better every year while fences deteriorate. They also reduce noise, filter air, and support birds and pollinators. For most homeowners, the real answer is: plant a hedge on the property lines that matter most and put up a fence where you need instant screening.

Best privacy plants by zone

Zones 3-5 (cold northern climates)

• Top pick: Emerald Green Arborvitae (with deer protection)
• Deer pressure: Hicks Yew
• Low maintenance: Inkberry Holly

Zones 6-7 (Mid-Atlantic, Upper South)

• Top pick: Green Giant Arborvitae or Nellie Stevens Holly
• Shade areas: Skip Laurel or Hicks Yew
• Formal hedge: Boxwood (blight-resistant varieties)

Zones 8-9 (Southeast, Lower South)

• Top pick: Wax Myrtle or Nellie Stevens Holly
• Fast coverage: Green Giant Arborvitae
• Fragrance lovers: Sweet Viburnum

Zones 9-10 (California, Deep South, Southwest)

• Top pick: Italian Cypress or Skip Laurel
• Drought tolerant: Italian Cypress, Wax Myrtle
• California native: Toyon, Ceanothus ‘Ray Hartman’, Coffeeberry

For California specifically, native and Mediterranean-adapted species use far less water than traditional hedge plants. Our trees native to Sacramento guide covers native options in depth.

Deer-resistant privacy picks

If deer are your reality, narrow the list fast. These species are rarely damaged:

1. Boxwood - Rutgers “A” rating
2. Inkberry Holly - native, almost never browsed
3. Skip Laurel - seldom browsed, shade tolerant
4. Hicks Yew - shade and deer tolerant
5. Green Giant Arborvitae - seldom browsed (unlike Emerald Green)

Avoid in deer country: Emerald Green Arborvitae, Euonymus, and most deciduous hedges. Extension services consistently describe Emerald Green as “ice cream for deer.”

Plants to avoid for privacy hedges

Leyland Cypress

Once the gold standard, now a liability. Seiridium canker and Botryosphaeria canker kill these trees across the Southeast. Plant Green Giant or Nellie Stevens instead.

Red Tip Photinia

Entomosporium leaf spot devastated Red Tip plantings so thoroughly that most extension services no longer recommend them for hedging. Dense plantings create perfect conditions for the fungus to spread.

Running Bamboo

Running bamboo (Phyllostachys species) spreads aggressively via underground rhizomes. It can invade neighboring properties and is virtually impossible to fully eradicate. Fairfax County, Virginia enacted a civil penalty ordinance for uncontained running bamboo. If you want the bamboo look, plant clumping varieties (Fargesia species) instead.

Invasive Privet Species

Chinese Privet and Japanese Privet have escaped cultivation across the Southeast. While useful as hedges, they spread into natural areas and displace native plants. Check your state’s invasive species list before planting any privet. See our guide on trees you should never plant for more species to avoid.

HOA hedge tips

Most HOAs cap hedge height at 6-8 feet and require setbacks from property lines. Check your CC&Rs before buying plants. Best species for staying under HOA limits:

• Boxwood (easily maintained at 3-6 ft)
• Inkberry Holly (compact varieties stay under 4 ft)
• Emerald Green Arborvitae (naturally narrow, slow growing)
• Skip Laurel (responds well to size control)

Avoid fast growers like Green Giant and Wax Myrtle in HOA neighborhoods. You’ll fight to keep them within height limits, and the pruning bill adds up. Match the plant to the restriction and save yourself the hassle. Our hedge trimming guide covers species-specific timing and technique for keeping hedges in bounds.

Frequently asked questions

What is the fastest growing privacy hedge? Green Giant Arborvitae and Wax Myrtle both grow 3-5 feet per year. Green Giant works in zones 5-8; Wax Myrtle handles zones 7-11. Both form solid screens within 2-3 years from 5-6 foot nursery stock.

How far apart should I plant a privacy hedge? Space plants at half to two-thirds of their mature width. For most medium-sized shrubs, that’s 3-5 feet apart. For large plants like Green Giant, go 5-8 feet. Too close causes competition and disease; too far means gaps for years.

What privacy hedge is deer proof? No plant is truly deer proof, but Boxwood, Inkberry Holly, and Hicks Yew are rated as rarely browsed by Rutgers and UNH Extension. Green Giant Arborvitae is seldom browsed thanks to its Western Red Cedar parentage. Avoid Emerald Green Arborvitae in deer country.

Are privacy hedges cheaper than fences? Upfront, yes. A 100-foot hedge costs $1,500-$4,500 versus $2,500-$6,000 for a fence. But hedges require ongoing maintenance (pruning, watering, fertilizing) while fences are relatively low-maintenance until replacement at 15-20 years. Over 20 years, total cost of ownership is roughly similar.

What is the best privacy hedge for shade? Skip Laurel and Hicks Yew both tolerate partial shade (4 hours of sun). Yew handles deeper shade than almost any other evergreen hedge plant. For shade under existing trees, see our shade tolerant trees guide for companion planting ideas.

Should I plant one row or two rows for a privacy hedge? A single row is fine for most yards. A staggered double row fills in faster and creates a thicker barrier but needs 8-12 feet of width and twice as many plants. Double rows work best for properties exposed to wind or traffic noise.