More often than not, my clients ask me for colour in their gardens. Colour all year round, if possible. Whilst this is quite easy during the summer months, it can sometimes be tricky to achieve during the winter months and early spring. Of course you can have pops of colour in the darkest days but unless you have acres of garden then it’s much harder to achieve any kind of impact with colour. At these times of the year, I encourage my clients to really appreciate the fresh hues of evergreen plants instead, which tend to fade into the background during the more colourful months of the year.
Garden trends come and go and for the past few years it’s been all about perennials and wildflower meadows. For those fortunate enough to have larger gardens these trends are entirely possible and look wonderful. For those with smaller gardens however, the prospect of spending the darkest half the year looking out onto either bare earth or brown sludgy stems is not ideal. For many of us, mixed borders provide the perfect balance between having a garden with summer colour as well as winter interest. The perfect mixed border should contain a balanced selection of hardy evergreen shrubs which are easy to look after, unfussy, require little attention and cope with all weathers. Don’t plant anything you don’t like just because it fits the bill but at the same time, be realistic because these suggestions could be just what your border requires. Whilst there is always a place for spiky-leaved evergreens like striking Mahonia or those with vicious thorns such as Pyracantha, I suggest keeping these out of a regularly-maintained mixed border: your gardener won’t thank you for planting these guys where they have to work regularly. My first suggestion is Euphorbia characias subs.wulfenii. I’m always surprised that more people don’t have these in their gardens because they’re superb shrubs. Like many garden plants they have a milky sap which can irritate the skin and eyes, but don’t let that put you off and wear gloves when pruning them. They grow to a heigh of around 6 foot, assuming of course that you don’t prune them to whatever height suits you best. I keep mine at different heights depending on the effect I’m trying to create in each location and they respond well to pruning. Most of the year this Euphorbia will reward you with pretty blueish-green oblong leaves held atop stiff upright stems. From early summer it develops large lime-yellow flowers on the ends of these stems which have small black centres. The plant is very dramatic, particularly at height, and will lend a touch of the exotic to your border. New cultivars are now available with different coloured foliage and shorter heights. They’re lovely and I have used them for clients but for true drama (and for those with larger borders) choose the original.
Above: Euphorbia characias subs.wulfenii
Euonymus japonicus or E. fortunei are my second recommendation. Generally speaking E. japonicas tend to be larger than E.fortunei and are therefore more suitable as evergreen specimens in a border. The variegated cultivars can be very pretty and I certainly appreciate looking at the patterned leaves when there’s not much else going on in the garden. Size-wise, I have no doubt that you could find one that will suit your needs. I have found that mine don’t need any pruning and very little shaping in the border, I really do just leave them to get on with it. They grow slowly so there’s ample time to control their size and shape. The smaller ones are prefect for providing ground cover: I have inter-planted some of my larger shrubs with E.fortunei ‘Emerald Gaiety’ and I have them dotted around my garden in pots, underplanted with bulbs.
Salvia officinalis purpurascens, also known as hardy sage, is an incredibly useful evergreen shrub for any border. Its aromatic leaves are high in vitamins A and C and can be used in a variety of culinary dishes. Plant some by your kitchen door and you’ll be surprised how often you pick some to add flavour to meals. Strictly speaking this plant is classed as a semi-evergreen but in my experience of gardening in the south of England, it’s hardy and holds its leaves all year round. It’s very easy to keep in whatever shape you like and it will reward you by growing back robustly. I love the purply-tinge hue of the foliage and the beautiful woody stems that older shrubs produce. Mine grows in semi-shady conditions without any issues although admittedly it’s not as large as it would be in full sun. Hebes are my fourth recommendation and they are a diverse group, mostly hailing from New Zealand. They perform very well in the UK climate and many flower on and off all year round. H.andersonii is a terrific option and H.Midsummer Beauty is one of my favourites. The narrow leaves are pretty and the new cultivars have a variety of leaf colours including shades of purple, so you don’t have to stick to green. Bees really love the flowers. I find them really easy to prune when required, although I tend to let mine follow their own natural shape. They can be damaged by cold winds but as they’re so easy to prune, you can normally remedy any damage. My final selection is Pachysandra terminalis, a small evergreen shrub native to Japan, Korea and China. I was first introduced to this incredibly useful little plant by a very experienced client of mine who asked me to buy some for her. I was instantly hooked. It forms the most perfect evergreen ground cover in a very civilised, non invasive, manner. Both my client and I have it planted in shade and it’s perfectly happy: it really is the perfect little plant for tricky spots. It does flower but it’s probably not going to wow anyone, unless it’s planted on a large scale. It’s not a fast grower so I recommend planting it in groups of three or five for instant impact. These five evergreen shrubs are my favourite go-to plants when I want to add structure, stability and year-round interest to a border. During the glorious summer months they can happily fade into the background (with the exception perhaps of the pretty flowers of a Hebe), yet in the winter you can admire their leaf colour and textures, marvel at the way they remain resilient in the face of changing weather, and rely on them to help get us through the dark depths of winter. None of them are expensive, difficult to obtain or tricky to look after (unlike some coveted winter plants) and all will reward you for selecting them with year-after-year of dependable greenery.