GIVE YOURSELF SOME PRIVACY: This dense, upright evergreen offers vibrant reddish new growth, black berries, and petite leaves, making it an ideal boxwood replacement. (National Garden Bureau)

“Patriotism consists not in waving the flag, but striving that our country shall be righteous as well as strong.” – James Bryce. 

“I think patriotism is like charity—it begins at home.” – Henry James. 

“The essence of America, that which really unites us, is not ethnicity or nationality or religion. It is an idea, and what an idea it is—that you can come from humble circumstances and do great things.” – Condoleezza Rice.

“I think of a hero as someone who understands the degree of responsibility that comes with his freedom.” – Bob Dylan.

“True heroism is remarkably sober, very undramatic. It is not the urge to surpass all others at whatever cost, but the urge to serve others at whatever cost.” – Arthur Ashe.

“Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country.” – John F. Kennedy.

Are you looking to add a bit of privacy to your backyard? Maybe you’d like to block the view of a neighbor’s unsightly shed, or perhaps you’re hoping to create a buffer from a noisy street. A living privacy fence can help.

Creating a privacy hedge not only adds beauty to your garden and eliminates prying eyes, but evergreen shrubs provide shelter for wildlife as well. And, depending on what shrubs you choose, you might delight in watching nesting birds raise their young in the spring, then feeding on berries throughout the winter. Evergreen privacy fences can also serve as windbreaks, helping protect your garden from harsh, cold gusts.

Before you create a living privacy fence with shrubs, consider the location. Make sure you’re planting within your property lines, and avoid planting shrubs near power lines or over underground utilities. Always read the plant tag for the mature size of the shrubs to ensure they’ll fit the space as they grow.

Check your shrubs often for any signs of pests or diseases to keep your privacy fence healthy and looking lush and lovely. Prune only lightly the first year. As the hedge grows, prune to shape the hedge to your aesthetic preference, while also cutting out any dead wood to keep the hedge looking its best.

Six newer evergreen cultivars to consider for privacy hedges include:

Fragrant Olive Misty River™ – With emerald green, cream, and rouge-pink variegated foliage, Misty River offers fragrant flowers and matures to an 8-12 foot tall by 4-8 foot wide shrub, perfect as a specimen plant or fragrant hedge in USDA Zones 7-10.

Holly Red Sky™ – This dense, upright evergreen offers vibrant reddish new growth, black berries, and petite leaves, making it an ideal boxwood replacement, thriving in full sun to partial shade and maturing to 8 feet tall and 3 feet wide in USDA Zones 6-9.

Big Beauty® Gardenia – This stately gardenia, ideal for privacy hedges, boasts fabulous fragrance and gorgeous double white blooms in summer, growing 6-7 feet tall and wide in USDA Zones 7-9 while remaining naturally round and low-maintenance.

Arborvitae Private Jet™ – This fast-growing, columnar evergreen quickly forms a perfect privacy hedge or year-round focal point, reaching 15-20 feet tall and 4-5 feet wide in USDA Zones 3-9.

Distylium Linebacker™ – With its naturally upright, whiskey barrel shape in youth, Linebacker™ is a disease and pest-free evergreen that matures into an excellent, dense screen with lustrous dark green foliage, growing 8-10 feet tall and 6-8 feet wide in USDA Zones 7-9.

Schipka Cherry Laurel – This handsome, upright shrub forms a dense, vase-shaped privacy screen with glossy, medium-green foliage and fragrant white flowers in spring, does best in filtered sun or dappled shade, reaching 6-10 feet tall and wide in USDA Zones 6-9.

Are you ready to add excellent evergreen color and interest to your garden? Whether you choose evergreen shrubs for foundation plants, hedges, living privacy fences, or knot gardens, you’ll love the four seasons of interest evergreens add to your garden.

“Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.” Matthew 7:13-14. “I have brought You glory on earth by completing the work You gave Me to do.” John 17:4. “My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one.” John 17:15. “As You sent Me into the world, I have sent them into the world.” John 17:18. But now, this is what the Lord says — He who created you, O Jacob, He who formed you, O Israel: “Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have summoned you by name; you are mine.” Isaiah 43:1.