8 Types of Evergreen Trees & How to Pick the Best One

Of course, I love evergreens and plant quite a few every year. While covering every evergreen you might choose for your yard would require a book, below are a few suggestions based on common desires for growth, privacy, and property.

What Makes a Tree Evergreen?

Evergreen is a term for trees or shrubs that don’t lose their leaves yearly. It’s the opposite of a deciduous tree like a maple, which will drop leaves every fall and grow new foliage in spring. When we think of evergreens, we commonly picture trees with needles, like pines, spruces, or firs. But evergreens can have leaves, too, like a holly or a live oak.

To differentiate further, we use the word conifer. While that technically means organisms that reproduce using seeds born in cones, in our common language, conifer means evergreen trees with needles, not leaves. To make it worse, some conifers, like tamaracks and the dawn redwood, are actually deciduous and shed their needles every year. We’ll be talking about evergreen conifers today.

While an evergreen tree or conifer doesn’t lose its needles yearly like a maple or birch, it does shed its needles eventually. If it didn’t, a fifty-year-old pine tree would have fifty-year-old needles. Instead, most conifers shed some portion of their needles every year, dumping the oldest and retaining the youngest. For example, a white pine replaces its needles in a cycle lasting about three years. It’s why you see a carpet of golden brown needles on a forest floor or in your yard, but the tree still has needles on the branches. Some were due for replacement.

Types of Evergreen Trees

We can break down the more common evergreen conifers–at least those we plant as yard trees–into a few categories: pines, spruces, firs, and a broad category of others, including conifers with scale-like foliage instead of the traditional needle. Cedars, arborvitaes, and cypress are a few examples. However, for utility, we can look at their function and form instead.

We also encourage you to consider trees that are both native and tough enough to withstand the rigors of climate change. Native white, black, or red oaks have deep roots to survive weather calamities and not fall on your house. White pines are natural carbon sinks. See more examples of trees predicted to be resilient to a changing climate.

Fast-Growing Evergreen Trees

1. White Pine (Pinus strobus)

A rapid grower with a stately shape both as a juvenile and when mature, white pines make gorgeous landscape trees. They’re hardy in USDA zones 3 to 8 and grow over 80 feet tall. They’re characterized by long, slender needles and a soft look.

White pines are native to much of the United States and won’t need more than a bit of watering their first year. However, young trees are browsed by deer, which can cause stunted growth and form problems when the terminal leader gets nibbled off. Cage them until they are past the deer’s reach if you have a problem with hoofed critters.

Did you know that white pine needles also have wonderful medicinal benefits? You can make a fizzy white pine soda (like a natural sprite) or a white pine tea.

2. Norway Spruce (Picea abies)

If a stately, tall tree with graceful drooping branches and large cones is what you desire, a Norway spruce might be the thing for you. These fast-growing conifers can grow up to three feet in a year once they get established and are hardy in USDA zones 3 to 7. 

Their pyramidal shape and low branches make them an excellent choice for windbreaks or blocking unsightly views, and even better yet, deer pass them by to eat something else–they’re prickly!

Perfect Picks for Adding Privacy

3. Arborvitaes

Native arborvitae cultivars are hugely popular for creating green privacy fences. Thuja ‘Green Giant’ (Thuja plicata x standishii ‘Green Giant’) is a rapidly growing pyramidal-shaped cultivar hardy in USDA zones 5 to 8. 

It typically reaches 30 to 40 feet tall and 15 feet wide, sometimes growing 2 to 2 feet per year in optimal conditions. Plant them in a staggered double row so you won’t have a large gap if one dies or gets damaged by a storm. See the Almanac’s Guide on Growing Arborvitae.

4. Leyland Cypress (x Cupressocyparis leylandii)

These rapid-growing evergreens are popular across the southern half of the US for their availability and quick results when privacy is needed. Most garden centers will carry them in sizes from foot-tall seedlings to 5 to 6-foot tall ready-made privacy trees.

Planting them a little closer together and keeping them weed—and grass-free will maximize the speed with which a green screen pops up. They tolerate a wide variety of soil types and retain good color throughout the year. They can be sheared into a well-kept form or left wild and free.

Also, see shrubs that make great privacy hedges.

Smaller Evergreens for Tight Spaces

Dwarf conifers are en vogue right now for everything from growing in pots on a deck to creating miniaturized conifer gardens. While slower growing than their full-sized counterparts, that’s an advantage in a small space. Dwarf conifers are easy to maintain and prune. Look for dwarf spruces, small firs, and junipers. Many of these smaller trees are available with narrow, columnar shapes to fit in tight spaces.

5. ‘Blue Arrow’ Juniper (Juniperus scopulorum)

This upright conifer will be only 3 to 4 feet wide at maturity and 15 to 20 feet tall. It’s hardy in USDA zones 4 to 9 and grows at a modest 6 to 18 inches yearly. Junipers are known for their deep blue-green foliage, and many produce berries that are attractive to songbirds in winter. 

6. ‘Tannenbaum’ Mungo Pine (Pinus mugo)

A shorter, almost bush-like pine, these trees are hardy in USDA zones 2 to 7 and are perfect for adding the conifer look without taking up the whole yard. They look amazing as part of a rock garden or well-landscaped area around a deck or patio. 

The standard Mungo pine grows to about 12 to 15 feet tall, but dwarf varieties, which grow to 3 to 5 feet, are also available. Slower-growing, these trees won’t take over a space.

Standing Tall

7. Douglas Fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii)

We know these trees, natives to the Pacific Northwest, get huge, but they’ll likely be a bit less imposing in your yard (unless you live where they call home). Even so, they still become a large, stately tree even in less-than-perfect conditions and will dominate the skyline years from now. 

I must confess, I’ve always thought of planting a grove of these, knowing that someone years after I’m gone will wonder what those huge trees are doing here! 

8. Eastern Hemlock (Tsuga canadensis)

Also known as Canadian hemlock, this long-lived tree can achieve truly impressive size. If you’ve seen a grove of old hemlocks, you’ll understand why it’s my favorite tree. And no, it isn’t poisonous; that’s the aptly named poison hemlock (Conium maculatum), a biennial herbaceous plant that doesn’t look even remotely like a tree.

Eastern hemlock is a moderate grower, at about 1 to 2 feet per year, and can reach over 100 feet tall with trunks five feet in diameter. They typically live for hundreds of years and don’t reach full maturity for 250-300 years.  These stately beauties will grow well in shade and love a little moisture if the soil drains well. 

How to Pick an Evergreen Tree for Your Yard

Not every tree is suitable for all locations. When choosing a new evergreen tree, strive to match the right tree to the right location. 

Sun vs Shade, Dry vs. Moist
Planting a sun-loving pine in the shade or moisture-needing hemlock in an arid, dusty spot is a recipe for disappointment. Trees planted in locations appropriate to their needs grow faster and stronger and suffer fewer pest problems.

Hardiness zones
All trees have temperature limitations. Some like it hot, some like it cold. Know your USDA Hardiness zone (you can check it here) and choose a tree that will do well in your location. For instance, if you live in an area rated hardiness zone 5, a tree suitable for USDA zones 3 to 8 will do well. One rated for zones 6-9 will struggle and possibly die due to the colder winter temperatures. 

Drainage 
The moisture level of the spot where your new evergreen tree will be planted is an often overlooked but crucial factor when picking a tree. Most conifers need a site with good drainage that doesn’t flood. Planting an upland-loving species in a wet corner of your yard will result in a slow-growing (or dead) and unhappy tree.  Match the species to the location, and you’ll have a healthier, better-growing tree and fewer problems.

Growth Rate
Growth rate is always a consideration when people talk about planting a new tree. For me, I’m an impatient person. I want that tree to stop looking like a seedling and start doing tree stuff right now. Especially when planting for privacy, people often want a rapidly growing tree. After all, who wants to wait fifteen years for their privacy hedge to block the neighbor’s junkyard out? 

If you want a larger tree or trees sooner, look at growth rates, but take them with a grain of salt as they’re often exaggerated. Remember that a newly transplanted tree is a perennial, and it will take a few years to settle in. Don’t expect the advertised growth rate in year one. 

Few trees, especially conifers, grow more than a couple of feet per year. While that may sound interminably slow, they’ll surprise you. One day, you’ll look out the window and think, hey, that thing is getting big!

Also, it’s important to consider caring of our trees. See our winter pruning guide for trees and shrubs.