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There are endless possibilities when it comes to landscaping plants, but what about having a beautiful yard for the entire year? Year round plants for landscaping offer beauty even during winter. The most obvious plants that offer winter interest are evergreens. But there are some other great landscape additions that add color or unique flair in winter that you may not have considered.
Standard evergreen plants offer an attractive and easy to grow landscape that lasts all year long.
For a soft touch evergreen, Arborvitae are a top pick. Trees like the fast growing Thuja Green Giant, Emerald Green Arborvitae, and Leyland Cypress are perfect for privacy. Thuja bushes like Fire Chief Arborvitae, Mr. Bowling Ball Arborvitae, and Hetz Midget Arborvitae are low maintenance landscape shrubs that work well in mixed beds, hedges, and foundation plantings.
Boxwoods offer a clean look and lovely lines and curves. Newer varieties like Baby Gem, Wintergreen, Green Mountain, Winter Gem, and Green Velvet Boxwood are resistant to disease and winter browning. Most boxwoods can grow in zones 5 to 9.
Cypress plants and trees have feathery foliage and come in a wide variety of shapes and sizes. For brilliant yellow color check out the Gold Mop Cypress. This Hinoki Cypress is absolutely gorgeous. A formal landscape isn’t complete without some Italian Cypress trees. The Leyland Cypress is a classy privacy hedge tree with a pretty look.
Try a traditional screening Holly or a softer touch variety. Check out our Holly Trees and our Holly Bushes for sale and find the perfect plant for your landscape. Hollies come in a huge variety of sizes and looks.
Add a cool blue hue with a Juniper or two! We have a large selection of Juniper bushes and Juniper trees to fit your yard. From groundcovers to trees, you can’t go wrong with a Juniper. These evergreens grow throughout the United States.
Add pops of yellow in the summer with plants like the Golden Euonymus. This evergreen shrub grows in zones 6, 7, 8 and 9.
For a bit more excitement and color check out these evergreen plants that bloom!
You may think of Azaleas as southern plants, but they can actually grow in many regions of the US. In fact there are varieties that can grow in USDA growing zones 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, and 10! Our favorite azaleas are Encore Azaleas. They bloom in spring and re-bloom in summer and fall!
Camellias are primarily a southern beauty, they are also well suited to other warm regions of the US. A few varieties can even grow in zone 6. These year round plants have large colorful flowers that bloom in fall to winter or winter to spring depending on the type.
I love Loropetalum for their amazing purple color and pink fringe flowers. Browse our selection of Loropetalum bushes for sale from dwarf to standard sizes! Loropetalum plants grow in zones 7, 8, 9, and 10.
I love these plants for a showy pop of color in winter. Brilliantly colored bark makes these amazing plants stand out all year long!
I have two Coral Bark Japanese Maple trees and I could not be more in love. I am usually a lace leaf weeping Japanese Maple kind of girl, but upright Coral Barks are truly unique and striking. The bark is a dark coral-pink to almost red color and the leaves are light chartreuse green with hints of red. This tree is one of the few trees that may be even more stunning leaf-less!
Red Twig Dogwoods are easy to grow shrubs that look amazing in winter with true red bark. The Arctic Fire Dogwood also grows in a stunning red. Snap some photos of these beauties after it snows for some wall-worthy art!
Yellow Twig Dogwoods are simply the yellow version of the Red Twig. If you like yellow this is the year-round plant for you!
Consider something different than the everyday idea of a year round landscape!
Japanese Maples are fantastic trees with exciting forms and habits. I love weeping Japanese Maples for year-round interest.
Few people consider ornamental grasses year-round plants. But the reason I love them as a low maintenance plant for year-round beauty and texture is because they maintain their pretty form throughout the winter. They die and lose the green color, but the straw colored grass and plumes stay erect and add some rich texture. My favorites include Pink Muhly Grass, Shenandoah Switch Grass, Cassian Fountain Grass, and Maiden Grass. Liriope (monkey grass, lilyturf) is a semi-evergreen border grass. You must check out our latest addition Liriope muscari ‘Okina’! It is an amazing white monkey grass!
Consider a Willow Tree! The Weeping Willow looks beautiful in winter because of its pretty cascading branches. The Corkscrew Willow tree has incredibly unique curly branches that truly shine when this tree is dormant.
As you can see year round landscaping isn’t just everyday evergreen plants. Look outside the box at things like weeping trees that even though they may be bare in winter still stand out and add curb appeal. Look at plants that still offer color during winter. This can be berries, bark, and even flowers. Consider plants like ornamental grasses that still add rich texture. Hopefully my year round plants for landscaping give you some great ideas and spark your imagination to create a fabulous year round landscape of your own. Happy planting!
For landscaping under oak trees, choose plants that enjoy shade and are drought tolerant. Most grasses will not be suitable for this task. Creating an understory bed of perennials or small shrubs is your best bet. Avoid planting too close to your oak tree’s trunk unless you are using very small or shallow rooted plants. Even with smaller plants, be sure that you dig gently to ensure you aren't hitting your tree’s roots. Let’s beautify gently! Be sure not damage any roots when planting.
