Evergreen shrubs for a small garden: how big each gets in ten years
A small garden needs evergreen shrubs that grow no bigger than 2 metres in ten years, or ones you clip every year. For low ones, mountain pine; for medium ones, blue holly, Oregon grape and wintergreen barberry; for a narrow column, the Irish yew. Instead of thuja and box, yew is the safest choice, and on acid or neutral soil Japanese holly too. The tables show the hardy evergreens sold in your country, with their ten-year size and today's price.
Updated: November 13, 2026 · Prices checked: November 9, 2026 · Data and prices from our plant database, worked out for your country. How our data is made
How big will it be in ten years?
In the shop every shrub is small, standing in a 30-60 cm pot. A cherry laurel gets 3 m tall and 2.5 m wide in ten years, a Leyland cypress 8 m tall. In a small garden these either outgrow their place or need cutting back twice a year. So before buying, look at the ten-year size, not the plant in the pot.
- Set the centre of the shrub at least half its ten-year width from the fence, the wall and the path. A shrub that grows 1.5 m wide therefore goes 75 cm away.
- Plant fewer than seems needed at first: the gaps can be filled with mulch or perennials for a few years, while evergreens planted too densely have to be cut out later.
- In a small garden, evergreens give the structure, not the whole bed: a third evergreen is enough to keep it from looking bare in winter.
Instead of thuja and box
Emerald Green arborvitae and common box were long the two staples of small gardens; today both are best avoided. Thuja is killed by the cypress jewel beetle, whose larvae under the bark are noticed only late and are hard to reach with sprays, and it also browns in hot, dry summers. Box is stripped bare in one summer by box tree moth caterpillars and attacked by box blight too.
For balls and low edging, clipped common yew is the safest. Japanese holly does well only in slightly acid or neutral, moist soil; on limy soil and in a dry summer it struggles. For a slender column, Irish yew replaces thuja. The jewel beetle attacks the whole cypress family, juniper and false cypress too; the tables mark these.
Low evergreens, up to 1 metre
For the front of a bed, beside a path, in a rock garden and in front of larger shrubs. In sun, mountain pine, and if you accept the jewel beetle risk, flaky juniper; in part shade and acid soil, Japanese azalea and coast leucothoe.
- In 10 years
- 0.9 m tall, 1.2 m wide
- Light
- full sun
- Price per plant
- €19
- In 10 years
- 1 m tall, 1.5 m wide
- Light
- part shade, shade
- Price per plant
- €14
- In 10 years
- 0.5 m tall, 1 m wide
- Light
- full sun
- Price per plant
- €18
- In 10 years
- 0.6 m tall, 0.8 m wide
- Light
- part shade
- Price per plant
- €42
- In 10 years
- 0.4 m tall, 0.5 m wide
- Light
- full sun, part shade
- Price per plant
- €19
|
Plant
|
In 10 years
|
Light
|
Price per plant
|
|---|---|---|---|
|
Mountain pine
Evergreen
|
0.9 m tall, 1.2 m wide | full sun | €19 |
|
Drooping leucothoe
Evergreen
acid soil only · toxic to dogs, cats, children if eaten · suckers strongly, needs a root barrier
|
1 m tall, 1.5 m wide | part shade, shade | €14 |
|
|
0.5 m tall, 1 m wide | full sun | €18 |
|
|
0.6 m tall, 0.8 m wide | part shade | €42 |
|
Danica arborvitae
Evergreen
cypress family, attacked by the jewel beetle · toxic to dogs, cats, children if eaten
|
0.4 m tall, 0.5 m wide | full sun, part shade | €19 |
The tables show the hardy evergreen shrubs (taking an average winter of -20 °C) sold most widely in your country, one of each genus, with their ten-year size without clipping. The price is the typical current price of a plant of the usual size. Under the name we mark whether it needs acid soil, belongs to the cypress family, is poisonous, thorny, or counts as invasive in a neighbouring country.
Medium evergreens, 1-2 metres
These give a small garden its structure: one or two plants at the back of the bed, in a corner, beside the terrace. Blue holly has glossy, dark leaves, and female plants bear red berries if a male plant grows nearby. The leaves of heavenly bamboo turn red in winter, but it only takes about -18 °C: in colder regions it belongs in a sheltered spot or a pot, so it is not in the table. Oregon grape does well in shade too and flowers yellow in spring. Birds spread its berries and it can go wild along woodland edges: do not plant it near woods or natural areas. Rhododendron and Japanese pieris only thrive in acid soil: in a limy garden, plant them in tubs of acid compost.
- In 10 years
- 1.5 m tall, 1.5 m wide
- Light
- part shade
- Price per plant
- €27
- In 10 years
- 2 m tall, 1.5 m wide
- Light
- full sun, part shade
- Price per plant
- €25
- In 10 years
- 1.3 m tall, 0.9 m wide
- Light
- full sun, part shade
- Price per plant
- €28
- In 10 years
- 1.8 m tall, 1.2 m wide
- Light
- full sun
- Price per plant
- €20
- In 10 years
- 2 m tall, 1 m wide
- Light
- full sun, part shade
- Price per plant
- €18
- In 10 years
- 2 m tall, 1.5 m wide
- Light
- full sun, part shade
- Price per plant
- €11
- In 10 years
- 1.2 m tall, 1.2 m wide
- Light
- part shade, shade
- Price per plant
- €23
- In 10 years
- 1.5 m tall, 1.5 m wide
- Light
- full sun, part shade
- Price per plant
- €18
- In 10 years
- 1.5 m tall, 1.5 m wide
- Light
- part shade, shade
- Price per plant
- €18
- In 10 years
- 2 m tall, 1.5 m wide
- Light
- full sun
- Price per plant
- €31
|
Plant
|
In 10 years
|
Light
|
Price per plant
|
|---|---|---|---|
|
|
1.5 m tall, 1.5 m wide | part shade | €27 |
|
|
2 m tall, 1.5 m wide | full sun, part shade | €25 |
|
Dwarf Alberta spruce
Evergreen
|
1.3 m tall, 0.9 m wide | full sun, part shade | €28 |
|
|
1.8 m tall, 1.2 m wide | full sun | €20 |
|
|
2 m tall, 1 m wide | full sun, part shade | €18 |
|
|
2 m tall, 1.5 m wide | full sun, part shade | €11 |
|
|
1.2 m tall, 1.2 m wide | part shade, shade | €23 |
|
|
1.5 m tall, 1.5 m wide | full sun, part shade | €18 |
|
|
1.5 m tall, 1.5 m wide | part shade, shade | €18 |
|
Tanyosho pine
Evergreen
|
2 m tall, 1.5 m wide | full sun | €31 |
Narrow, columnar evergreens
Where room is short but height is wanted (either side of an entrance, the back of a bed, in front of a fence), a columnar evergreen helps: 2.5-3.5 m tall in ten years, but barely 1 m wide. The safest is Irish yew: it stays dense even in shade, and the jewel beetle does not attack it. Columnar junipers suit sunny, dry spots, but the jewel beetle attacks them too.
- In 10 years
- 3 m tall, 0.9 m wide
- Light
- full sun, part shade, shade
- Price per plant
- €32
- In 10 years
- 2.5 m tall, 0.8 m wide
- Light
- full sun, part shade
- Price per plant
- €20
- In 10 years
- 3.5 m tall, 1 m wide
- Light
- full sun, part shade
- Price per plant
- €17
|
Plant
|
In 10 years
|
Light
|
Price per plant
|
|---|---|---|---|
|
|
3 m tall, 0.9 m wide | full sun, part shade, shade | €32 |
|
|
2.5 m tall, 0.8 m wide | full sun, part shade | €20 |
|
Columnar Lawson cypress
Evergreen
cypress family, attacked by the jewel beetle · toxic to children if eaten
|
3.5 m tall, 1 m wide | full sun, part shade | €17 |
Heavy snow can push a columnar evergreen apart: gently brush wet snow off with a broom, working upwards from below (let ice melt on its own), or tie it round loosely with soft twine.
Clipped, it can stay any size
If you want a larger-growing evergreen, clip it. Common and Anglo-Japanese yew, as well as Japanese holly, stay a ball, a block or a low hedge for decades with one or two clips a year, and shoot again from old wood. Cherry laurel can be clipped too, but it needs it twice a year, with secateurs because of its large leaves. Thuja and juniper do not stay small forever even when clipped: they do not shoot again from brown, bare wood, so only their green part may be cut. The details are in the hedge trimming guide.
Planting and winter care
- Plant in early autumn, in September or October, while the soil is still warm, or in spring. Container plants can go in in summer too, but then need regular watering.
- Evergreens lose water in winter too, but cannot take it up from frozen ground, so in a dry winter they dry out and turn brown. Water them thoroughly in autumn before the frosts, and in a dry winter water them on mild days too, when the ground is not frozen, ideally around midday.
- Spread 5 cm of bark mulch around the base: it keeps the soil moist in summer and protects the roots in winter.
- You find all evergreens in the evergreen plants list, with filters; garden trees and how far to keep them from the house and fence are covered in the small tree guide.
Sources
The advice rests on these expert pages and laws, adapted to Central European winters and soils. The tables come from our own plant database.
- Sächsische Gartenakademie: Wenn die Buchsbaumhecke ersetzt werden muss
- Natur im Garten: Immergrüne Laubgehölze
- AGES: Lamprodila festiva
- Naturschutzbund Österreich: 2026: Kirschlorbeer
- RHS: Box tree caterpillar
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