The Best Evergreen Shrubs for Front of House

The best evergreen shrubs for front of house can provide visual enjoyment 365 days a year. Depending on the species, these shrubs feature broadleaf-like leaves or needle-like leaves.

They also come in varying heights that you can mix to create a landscape that is more attractive. To make it even better, you should consider planting a couple of shrubs that bloom during the spring and produce fruits during the summer.

But getting the best evergreen shrubs can be a daunting task when you consider the many types found on the market today. That’s why we have reviewed the top 21 evergreen shrubs on the market today.

What makes the best evergreen shrub for homes? Well, that depends on several factors since they vary in species. Our best evergreen scrub is one that provides long-lasting enjoyment and beauty in your home.

Since buying can be a daunting task, we have come up with top evergreen scrubs to buy in the market today.

At a Glance: Our Choices for Best Evergreen Shrubs for Front of House to Feature in This Article:

• Shrub Frostproof Gardenia 2.5 Qt, White Blooms (Top Pick)
• New Life Nursery and Garden Fragrant Tea Olive (Osmanthus) (Top Rated)
• Miss Molly Butterfly Bush Live Shrub, Deep Pink Flowers (Editor Choice)
• Southern Living Plant Collection Jubilation Gardenia
• AMRICAN PLANT EXCHANGE Foxtail Fern Live Plant

Reviews of Top 21 Evergreen Shrubs for Front of House

Here are the top 21 evergreen shrubs that will make the front of your house beautiful and more attractive.

1. Shrub Frostproof Gardenia 2.5 Qt, White Blooms

This perennial gardenia grows in USDA plant zones 7-11. It is ideal to fit in your front house and enhance the beauty of your home.

 The shrub is topped with a nice fragrance white flow that attracts butterflies. And the shiny green foliage creates a uniqueness that adds beauty.

The blossom flower grows throughout the year and continuously produces an intoxicating scent, making every corner and street minty. The scrubs can be planted in the ground or place in a flower pot. 

With the incredible amount of aromatic scent produced by this flower, it is highly recommended its planted in an open place where it can be perceived by all.

It performs best in sunlight and is enhanced for cold tolerance, pest resistance, and adaptation to a different soil.

2. New Life Nursery and Garden Fragrant Tea Olive (Osmanthus) Live Plant

 Blossoms of this shrub are almost inconsequential, but their effect cannot be ignored. Its strong aroma can be smelled from a hundred feet away, making it one of the most aromatic plants around.

The shrubs provide small white flowers that bloom in clusters and even along the stems. This makes it look more beautiful when compared to other shrubs on the market today. Its leaves are dark, glossy green and are arranged oppositely on its stem.

One thing that makes it a great shrub is that you can easily fine tooth or smooth the shrub. With this plant, your front of the house will have a sweet olive bloom that will make you want to hang around for a while.

You should expect the shrub to bloom in late fall as well as early spring. Its mature height is 10-15 feet while its width is 8-10 feet.

3. Miss Molly Butterfly Bush Live Shrub, Deep Pink Flowers

Miss Molly is butterfly bush live flowers that are naturally diluted with nice fragrant and blessed with a rich pink color. 

This species is smaller than most plants of its variety, and its beautiful, deepened color makes it suitable for late summer garden pop.

This flower’s strong scent is irresistible to butterflies and hummingbirds, thus adding to the plant reproduction. Interestingly, not friendly to deer, and it is also heat tolerant.

The shrub can be 4-5ft tall and wide when matured and requires 8 hours of full sun.

Most importantly, be sure to check your USDA zone before purchase as this plant’s success depends on the zone. Well, it is hardy in zones 5-9.

4. Southern Living Plant Collection Jubilation Gardenia

This Jubilation Gardenia is a beautify blossom from southern classic. It has this airy and aromatic perfume that blooms fragrantly through the summer and fall. Winter does not hinder it from producing its evergreen leaves. 

Gardenias are known for the exquisite scent they produce, and their delicate nature makes it rich and reproductive throughout the year. The aromas they produce leaves a long-lasting effect in every nook and crannies where they are found. 

This particular species is very easy to maintain when planted in your garden or front yard. Also, and they have a remarkable feature that is disease and deer resistant. Well, it is hardy in zones 7-10 USDA zones.

5. AMRICAN PLANT EXCHANGE Foxtail Fern Live Plant

This is yet another live plant from AMERICAN PLANT EXCHANGE that will beautify your front area. It has upright, emerald plumes that seem delicate, feathery and its crimson berries and white flowers are visually attractive.

Foxtail Ferns are hardy and rough specimens that do well even in harsh conditions. This means that they require little care when compared to other shrubs out there. Actually, these plants will resist drought once they have developed sufficient roots.

Besides, they are great accent plants for container groupings, as a single specimen plant, or staging among tropical. No matter how you choose to place them, they will provide the beauty you have always desired.

Another thing that you might like about these plants is their cost. They are one of the most affordable shrubs on the market today and they don’t have a strong aroma that can irritate some people.

6. Bushel and Berry – Vaccinium cor. Blueberry Glaze Edible-Shrub

The Vaccinium grows differently from other blueberry varieties with a small stature and an amazing glossing evergreen leaf. This 3-inch shrub is blessed naturally with incredible sweet-tasting fruits between June and July. 

Since it does not spread widely on the ground, it is suitable for home decoration that can be planted on containers. Or even on deck for easy plugging of your sweet raspberries. Their small berries produced has an intense flavor, just like the ones in the wild. And are good for health due to their antioxidant properties.

It is easy to maintain and care for. However, before bringing one home, you would need to check if it is suited for your region. Raspberries have a hardiness zone of 3-9 while blueberries are 9-10

7. Encore Azalea Autumn Bonfire – Red Multi-Season Blooming Evergreen Shrub

If you have a great spot in your garden with a sunny condition or want to add some nice eye-catching fall color, consider this shrub

The Autumn bonfire is rich with true red blazing color that blooms and stands boldly against the dark green evergreen foliage. It is perfect for your garden and to enrich your landscape.

This species changes color in the winter to deep purple-green bronze, giving your garden a beautiful look. 

It is very easy to maintain and prune due to its size. Just pick a place in your garden that can receive 4-6 direct sunlight and make your beautiful shrub grow blossomly all summer.

8. Orange Flowering Fragrant Tea Olive (Osmanthus) – Live Plant

This evergreen Asian shrub can be as tall as a tree in a mild climate. The leaves are long and pointed, stretching over 3 inches long with tiny marginal teeth.

 It is a well-sort after flower and highly liked by many because of its sweet fragrance and color, light to bright orange.

The shrub is exceptional among its species, colder hardy. It can tolerate temperature as low as -8⁰F with little or no damage. 

It blooms in the fall and can nicely fit on your doorways, corridors, or as a specimen plant in the landscape. The nice fragrance released enlightens every mood as you walk by to your house. have a hardiness zone of 6-9.

9. AMERICAN PLANT EXCHANGE Sansevieria Trifasciata Snake Laurentii XL Live Plant

The sansevieria, often called the snake plant, is a known to be a truly amazing and attractive plant for the front house. It is one of those hard-to-destruct house plants that seem not to need water or fertilizer or even die.

In addition to being an air purifier as stated by NASA, the plant is known to remove over 107 known air pollutants such as nitrogen monoxide, carbon monoxide, benzene, chloroform, formaldehyde, trichloroethylene, and xylene.

Hence, it is a plant that will bring beauty to your house and even purify the air around to leave your home free of contaminants. Moreover, the plant has a higher efficiency of taking in carbon dioxide.

To make it even more interesting, it is one of the few plants that release oxygen during the night. This means that it is even safe for use inside your house.

10. Proven Winners 1 Gallon Bloomerang Dark Purple Reblooming Lilac (Syringa) Live Shrub

Looking for a shrub that has been proven to be a winner? Look no further than the Proven Winner 1 gallon Bloomerang Dark Purple Live Shrub. The shrub hits a high height of 6 feet tall when fully grown as well as a width of about 6 feet.

To do well, the shrub needs at least 6 hours of sunlight and is hardy in zones 3-7. So, ensure that you check your USDA zone before you buy this shrub to ensure that it will continue to provide the required beauty.

The plants are often shipped when they are about one year old, meaning that you will get a shrub that has already matured and is ready to add the attraction. Get this plant to transform the front of your house and make it an attractive area.

11. Green Promise Farms Knock Out Roses

The Green promise Farms Knock Out Roses comes fully rooted in the soil. Hence, you can plant it immediately you receive it if the weather allows that. What’s more, planting and caring instructions are provided when buying it.

For the utmost results, plants the shrub in USDA zones 4-8 and reaches a height of 3 feet when fully mature. Also, it can spread about 3-4 feet to cover a wide area that will make your front house look more beautiful.

As the original member of the Knock Out collection, this shrub bloom to produce red/hot pink cherries. And there is no time for blooming since it is an all season plant. It is also a very popular shrub that does well when under the sun.

Just like most shrubs, the plants might be dormant when they arrive but they will soon pick up.

12. Florida Foliage Ligustrum Waxleaf Privet Qty 15 Live Plants Evergreen Privacy Hedge 

It is a shrub that can provide you with creamy-white and fragrant flowers to make the front of your home attractive. The plant also boasts of bright green and dark green glossy foliage on the leaves.

Another thing about the plant is the ability to grow up to 10 feet within a short period and is quite dense and bushy. You don’t need to take a lot of time or waste your energy when maintaining the shrub as it is a low-maintenance shrub.

13. Green Promise Farms Thuja Occidentalis ‘Fire Chief” (Globe Arborvitae) Evergreen

Here is a plant that comes rooted in the soil to ensure that you plant it at your home immediately you receive it. You get the planting instructions as well as how to maintain the shrub once it is up and running.

The shrub provides you with a slow-growing evergreen that makes your home more attractive and new foliage develop during the spring. That means you can enjoy golden-yellow foliage before it matures to orange-red color.

The plant is not affected by the sun.

14. New Life Nursery & Garden Frost Proof Gardenia (Cape Jasmine) -Live Plant – 3 Gallon Pot 

The next shrub on the list comes from New Life Nursery and Garden and is a plant that does well in cold climates. What more, it is a shrub that will continue to develop even if you don’t take care of it. 

It is also a plant that you can plant in different types of soil and can grow in full or partial sunny places. Another thing about this plant is the ability to resist disease, and most animals don’t feed on them.

15. Japanese Boxwood Qty 60 Live Plants Buxus Fast Growing Cold Hardy Evergreen

Japanese Boxwood Buxus Fast Growing is a plant that can do well in a cold climate and will give you an evergreen area. It also provides you with white flowers during the spring that can make your home even more attractive.

The plant only grows up to 6 feet when it matures, and you can easily shape it into screens, pyramids, or gloves. You need to provide regular water schedule to ensure that the shrub continues to develop in the right way.

16. Proven Winners 1 Gallon Blue Chiffon Rose of Sharon (Hibiscus) Live Shrub

This shrub comes at a reasonable height of around 8-12 feet and is 4-6 feet wide when it gets mature. The plant requires at least 6 hours of sunlight per day to remain in top condition and continue beautifying your front house.

It is hardy in zones of 5 – 9 and you should always check your USDA zone to guarantee its success. Every gallon is 6-18 inches tall and they usually come when they are one year old. This means that you get mature plants that cannot die easily.

However, shrubs that are bought from November to March might be dormant. The shrub is very affordable and will keep your front house looking more beautiful than ever.

17. New Life Nursery and Garden/ Fudingzhu Fragrant Tea Olive (Osmanthus)

The name fudingzhu translates to “pearls on buddha’s head”. This has been one of the best woody shrubs for the deep South for over 2 decades. Profuse white flowers completely cover the shrub from early fall all the way to winter and even early spring.

The plant flowers quite heavily such that its booms encircle its branches to form a beautiful sight. Its flowers can be spotted from a 1oo feet away and you can easily smell its sweet aroma within the same feet.

It provides lustrous dark green oblong leaves above and lighter leaves just below them. When mature, the shrub rises up t0 10 feet and its width can vary from 6-8 feet. It is a good shrub that will cost you less money and still provide you with the beauty of more expensive plants.

18. New Life Nursery and Garden President Grevy blue French Lilac (Syringa) Live Plant

President Grevy comes with showy panicles of aromatic powder blue flowers that rise above the foliage during the mid-spring.  The flowers are ideal for cutting and it offers foliage throughout the season.

The shrub can be planted as a small specimen, grouped, or even massed and still provide the attraction you want at your door front. The plant is perfect as foundation plantings, shrub borders, rock gardens, or peripheries of borders.

Its mature height is about 8-12 feet while the mature width is only 4-8 feet wide. It also requires sunlight to continue to provide partial shade at your front house. The plant might come when dormant but this doesn’t mean that it won’t pick up within a short time to provide the beauty you want.

19. New life Nursery and Garden Eastern Snowball Bush (Viburnum)

The viburnum is a hardy deciduous plant that grows to about 8-12 feet high and spread up to 10-15 feet wide. It provides endless clusters of huge pure white, snowball flowers that color your front area.

Another feature of the shrub is the bring green-foliage that has reddish overtones during fall and it looks more like an oak leaf (making it unique from most viburnums).  Actually, you get a showy bloomer from this shrub.

Besides, you can use the shrub as a shrub border, screens, hedges, or foundation plant. If you want to prune the bush, prune it soon after flowering. What’s more, its flowers attract beautiful butterflies that will color your home area.

20. Cottage Hill 1 Piece Golden Euonymus Evergreen Plant, 3 Quart Trade Gallon Pot

Golden Euonymus by Cottage Hill is an evergreen shrub that is known for the high-impact foliage it provides around your home. It is one of the best plants to plant as a colorful accent plant, privacy screen, or hedge.

One thing you should note is that it is easy to grow this plant, and you won’t waste your time maintaining it. It gives you years of an attractive backyard and is sold in a 3-quart trade gallon pot.

You only need to plant the shrub when you receive the package, and your home will never be the same again.

21. New Life Nursery and Garden Vanilla Strawberry Hydrangea Live Plant

 Vanilla strawberry is a piece of shrub that appears differently every time you look at it, all summer. Its flowers start when they are green, swiftly turns into a creamy shade of white. Later they turn into blushing pink and finally settle into a rich shade of rose.

It is a large, well-balanced, and vibrant shrub that reaches up to 7 feet high and 5 feet wide within a few years. Its flowering period continues into later fall and will keep the area looking more beautiful.

Moreover, they require little maintenance, proving you with more time to do other things.

Choosing the Right Evergreen Shrubs for Front of House

Know the following things when buying your evergreen shrubs for the front of your house:

• The location – Some will require exposure to the sun while others will require partial exposure.
• Height – Consider the height and width of the shrub and know what you want to achieve.
• Attributes – Do you want your shrub to have fruits, flower or lush foliage?
• Growth habits – Every plant has its unique growth habit.

Evergreen Shrubs fro Front of House FAQs

Q: What Are Evergreen Shrubs?

A: Evergreen shrubs are trees or plants that do not shed their leaves in the winter and stay green and fresh throughout the year.

Q: How far should I plant my shrub from my house?

A: This will depend on how far the plant will spread once it grows. For instance, if it reaches 10 feet, plants it at least 5 feet from a tall window.

Q: Which is the most appropriate color to plant?

A: The color solely depends on your taste and preferences. However, prior research is important to determine which colors match perfectly.

Q: How much time do they take to mature?

A: The shrubs are of different types. Some take as little as one month to mature, while others can take several years before sprouting their first flower.

Q: How big are the shrubs during purchase?

A: Like many other tree species, the shrubs are bought in a gallon container and are about 1 foot tall. However, some may be slightly longer or shorter depending on the supplier.

Q: Are the shrubs affected by too much sunlight?

A: Evergreen shrubs are hardy plants that can survive even in arid areas. However, too much sunlight or heat may deter the growth rate on some species. Some of the best sun-variety species include phlomis and bat-faced cuphea.

Q: When to Trim Evergreen Shrubs?

A: You should prune your evergreen shrubs in late March or early April when new growth is starting. Also, you can do light pruning in late June or early July. 

You should not prune your evergreen plant during the fall because they can get ill during the winter.

Q: When is the Best Time to Plant Evergreen Shrubs?

A: The best time to plant your evergreen shrub is at the start of spring when the frost is out, and the soil has thawed. Evergreen shrubs enjoy cooler weather and rain.

Q: When to Plant Evergreen Shrubs?

A: The best time to plant evergreen shrubs is in the early spring, where the soil is moist. Evergreen grows well in cool weather with lots of spring rain. You can also continue planting your evergreen shrubs in late spring as long as there is plenty of water.

Q: What Evergreen Shrubs Grow Well in Shade?

A: Lots of evergreen shrubs grow well in the shade. Some include Gold Dust Aucuba, Green Mountain Boxwood, Japanese Plum Yew, Hicks Yew

Q: When to Fertilize Evergreen Shrubs?

A: Fertilizer application is suitable before the new growth of the shrub. It can be applied in early April in Minnesota. Mid-June.

Q: Are Evergreen Shrubs Safe for Dogs?

A: Not all evergreen shrubs are poisonous. Some are safe for dogs, but sometimes it depends on which part of the shrub is ingested.

Q: How Fast Do Evergreen Shrubs Grow?

A: On average, fasting shrubs grow about 3 inches per year. However, this depends on the type of shrub and the growing condition

In Conclusion

The best evergreen shrubs for front house will add the beauty your need to your front house. Choose a shrub that will be friendly to your environment and be effective.