Need zone or location to get specific. My "standard" reply: In the front of a home I am always going to recommend conifers and broadleaved evergreens- you want the front of your home to look nice 12 months a year, not just in the growing season. I do not use deciduous shrubs as my main plants in the front of a home. I use them in stadium style plantings- rows of short things in front of rows of medium things in front of rows of tall things- but not at focal points like doorways or corners. Keep everything below the bottom of each window- dwarf varieties work well for this. You want larger things to frame the home at each outside corner. On walkways and entries you need to choose those shrubs that will not overgrow their space and crowd the room needed for walking. Dwarf and columnar varieties are best there- you want something that will stay neat and contained without monthly pruning. Then use colorful annuals in pots to set around for visual interest. As far as specific shrubs, conifers, broadleaved evergreen varieties your best bet is to go to the closest botanical garden or large park near you and see what is growing there. If you see a lot of something that means it is very well suited to your area and is easy to keep happy. Answer from gooberfaced on reddit.com
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Proven Winners
provenwinnerscolorchoice.com › home › 14 low-maintenance shrubs for the front yard
14 Low-Maintenance Shrubs for the Front Yard - Proven Winners ColorChoice Flowering Shrubs
May 21, 2025 - A neat, tidy habit and handsome dark evergreen foliage. Holds its deep green color even in the winter. As far as spring flowering shrubs go, forsythia is an absolute front-runner!
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Proven Winners
provenwinners.com › learn › evergreen-shrubs
21 Best Evergreen Shrubs for Year-Round Garden Color
Add lasting structure and color to your garden with 21 evergreen shrubs that stay lush all year. Perfect for borders, hedges, and low-maintenance landscapes.
Discussions

Just bought a house. What type of shrubs should I plant in front of my house?
Need zone or location to get specific. My "standard" reply: In the front of a home I am always going to recommend conifers and broadleaved evergreens- you want the front of your home to look nice 12 months a year, not just in the growing season. I do not use deciduous shrubs as my main plants in the front of a home. I use them in stadium style plantings- rows of short things in front of rows of medium things in front of rows of tall things- but not at focal points like doorways or corners. Keep everything below the bottom of each window- dwarf varieties work well for this. You want larger things to frame the home at each outside corner. On walkways and entries you need to choose those shrubs that will not overgrow their space and crowd the room needed for walking. Dwarf and columnar varieties are best there- you want something that will stay neat and contained without monthly pruning. Then use colorful annuals in pots to set around for visual interest. As far as specific shrubs, conifers, broadleaved evergreen varieties your best bet is to go to the closest botanical garden or large park near you and see what is growing there. If you see a lot of something that means it is very well suited to your area and is easy to keep happy. More on reddit.com
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April 10, 2020
plant recommendations - What are some low maintenance evergreens for an east facing partly-shaded bed? - Gardening & Landscaping Stack Exchange
I've just had a bunch of shrubs taken out from an east-facing partly-shaded bed against a house wall -- Viburnum Tinus and Aucuba Japonica. The situation suited them perfectly, to the extent that t... More on gardening.stackexchange.com
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Looking for suggestions on low maintenance evergreen shrubs and plants for SW Pennsylvania

I like schip laurel. Though a broadleaf, they’re evergreen. In the spring they have white bottle brush-shaped flowers that smell great and attract pollinators. They’re also dense enough to create privacy or block unattractive views.

Mahonia are another great plant. They’re in the ilex family with holly, so the leaves get a bit prickly. They have bright yellow flowers in winter/early spring and then purple fruits.

If you have a protected spot, consider also camellia. There are late fall/winter varieties that have colorful blooms just when everything else is going dormant.

On a smaller scale, you might like hellebore. They thrive in shade and bloom in February/March.

More on reddit.com
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November 13, 2019
Any suggestions for low maintenance evergreen shrub/perennial in zone 7a? Partial sun
Too bad you’re going to lose this—it’s lovely. Zone 7 is cool and damp aka Seattle, right? Any of the shrubs you mention would be great (lavender likes more sun/heat and takes awhile to attain height), but all will tend to get leggy without periodic pruning. Rhododendron impeditum stays low and compact, but other rhodies don’t. Azaleas except Exbury types stay pretty compact and thrive in the Pacific NW. You can get fantastic colors, too. Half-height blueberries have lovely foliage and berries, but you need a couple varieties to cross-pollinate. Personally, if I didn’t want to worry about care and have it just look good year-round, I’d go for azaleas. More on reddit.com
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June 17, 2023
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Reddit
reddit.com › r/landscaping › looking for suggestions on low maintenance evergreen shrubs and plants for sw pennsylvania
r/landscaping on Reddit: Looking for suggestions on low maintenance evergreen shrubs and plants for SW Pennsylvania
November 13, 2019 - I like schip laurel. Though a broadleaf, they’re evergreen. In the spring they have white bottle brush-shaped flowers that smell great and attract pollinators.
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TN Nursery
tnnursery.net › collections › evergreen-shrubs
Evergreen Shrubs for Sale | Landscaping Evergreen Shrubs – TN Nursery
They’re easy to grow, versatile for hedges or borders, and add timeless beauty to any landscape. Good evergreen, low-maintenance shrubs include boxwood, juniper, and wintergreen.
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Start at Home Decor
startathomedecor.com › 15+ low-maintenance bushes for the front of your house
15+ Low-Maintenance Bushes for the Front of Your House - Start at Home Decor
April 15, 2025 - Why it’s great: Colorful foliage, pest-resistant, super low-maintenance. With trumpet-shaped blooms in spring and sometimes again in late summer, weigela offers color and structure. It's carefree and can be pruned to shape after blooming. Zones: 4–8 Care: Full sun, water moderately, prune after flowering. Why it’s great: Easy-growing shrub with trumpet blooms loved by hummingbirds. A great alternative to boxwood, inkberry is an evergreen with glossy leaves and small black berries.
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Southern Idaho Landscape Center
southernidaholandscapecenter.com › collections › evergreen-shrubs
Evergreen Shrubs – Southern Idaho Landscape Center
Brining nonstop color to the landscape, evergreen shrubs don't disappoint. They providing year-around color, interest and structure. Whether your space is large or small, there is an evergreen shrub to fit your situation.
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PlantingTree
plantingtree.com › collections › evergreen shrubs
Evergreen Shrubs for a Dynamic Landscape | Collection | PlantingTree™ - PlantingTree
June 1, 2017 - These plants provide year-round interest and are ideal for hedges and privacy screening. Browse our collection and order your Evergreen shrub online today for FAST delivery to your doorstep!
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Pinterest
pinterest.com › pin › 12-best-low-maintenance-evergreen-shrubs-for-your-front-yard--119063983892026783
12 Best Low Maintenance Evergreen Shrubs For Front Of ...
October 31, 2019 - Without dragging it further, here is a list of the best evergreen shrub for the front of the house.
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Reddit
reddit.com › r/landscaping › just bought a house. what type of shrubs should i plant in front of my house?
r/landscaping on Reddit: Just bought a house. What type of shrubs should I plant in front of my house?
April 10, 2020 - broadleaved evergreens- you want the front of your home to look nice 12 months a year, not just in the growing season. I do not use deciduous shrubs as my main plants in the front of a home. I use them in stadium style plantings- rows of short things in front of rows of medium things in front of rows of tall things- but not at focal points like doorways or corners.
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Gardening Know How
gardeningknowhow.com › home › ornamental gardens › shrubs
8 Low-Maintenance Evergreen Shrubs That Look Good All Year | Gardening Know How
September 27, 2024 - American holly (Ilex opaca) looks a lot like English holly, used to deck the halls, with its lobed leaves and red berries. But they come in all sizes, from 15 feet (5m) to 60 feet (12m) tall. One towering holly might make a perfect low-maintenance evergreen shrub for the front of the house, but smaller versions work better as foundation plants.
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Plant and Bloom Design Studio
plantandbloomdesign.com › home › front-house-bushes
10 Tidy Bushes for the Front of the House
March 11, 2025 - * Buy Double Play Doozie Spirea from Fast Growing Trees* ... Attributes: Evergreen; maintains tight, rounded globe shape with no pruning required; native to North America; soft, bright yellow foliage; small size is easy to fit into urban gardens.
Address   9466 Georgia Avenue #520 Silver Spring, MD, 20910 United States
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Monrovia
monrovia.com › home › 22 of the best evergreen shrubs for privacy (all zones)
22 of the Best Evergreen Shrubs for Privacy (All Zones) | Be Inspired
September 9, 2025 - Heat-loving and highly drought tolerant when established, Slim™ is also a frost-hardy evergreen and is not prone to leaf burn. High resistance to myrtle rust disease. Full sun. Up to 10' tall, 4' wide. Zones 8-11. Perfect for a quick privacy screen. This handsome, pest- and disease-resistant shrub offers fantastic color to any low-maintenance landscape.
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My Perfect Plants
myperfectplants.com › collections › low-maintenance-shrubs
Low Maintenance Shrubs for Sale Online | Perfect Plants
These shrubs combine ease and impact—perfect for a polished front yard with minimal effort. Brighten shady areas of your yard with the best low maintenance shrubs for shade, perfect for adding color and texture where sunlight is limited. These easy-care plants thrive in partial sun and require minimal upkeep. Soft Touch Holly is a compact evergreen with soft, glossy leaves and a tidy shape—great for borders or under trees.
Price   $$$
Address   262 Willie Rd., 32344, Monticello
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Eartheasy
learn.eartheasy.com › home › 12 best shrubs for the front of your house
12 Best Shrubs for the Front of Your House – Eartheasy | Eartheasy
May 2, 2025 - For year-round foliage, native evergreen viburnums to consider include Viburnum obovatum for the south, and the non-native Viburnum tinus. These low-maintenance shrubs bring multi-season interest and ecological benefits to a wide range of garden ...
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Eureka Farms
eureka-farms.com › collections › low-maintenance-shrubs
Shop Our Collection of Low Maintenance Shrubs | Eureka Farms
Boxwoods can be pruned into various shapes, making them a great choice for formal gardens. Privet (Ligustrum), Privet garden bushes are fast-growing, deciduous or evergreen shrubs that can be used for hedging or as individual specimens.
Top answer
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I just want to pick up a couple of points you mention, the first regarding your intention to use membrane and pebbles; you appear to be saying you want evergreen shrubs to avoid the need to pick up dead leaves from the pebbles, but I'm sorry to say that's not what's going to happen. Evergreen shrubs do not keep the same leaves all their lives, they lose leaves too, the difference is, they lose them year round in small amounts and replace them immediately, whereas deciduous plants drop the lot at once in autumn. A quick glance under any holly tree growing in the wild (or possibly in someone's garden) reveals the truth, because there's always a carpet of leaves beneath, so you may want to reconsider using pebbles.

Second, you've mentioned lavender and rosemary - both these are mediterranean type plants and prefer that type of climate, so that means full sun and relatively dry soil conditions, neither of which will be provided by this planting area. I should also point out (it might make you feel better!) that neither of these plants is fragrant UNLESS you bruise them in some way, so you won't be smelling lavender as you walk up your path unless you brush against it. If the front of the bed along the path is in a lot of sun, then you can certainly try lavender, but their useful life span is really only 5 years before they become woody and gawky looking.

If its east facing, it only receives sun up to lunchtime most of the year; if part of it is further shaded by a solid obstacle like your hedge, then basically you're looking at shade planting. Shrubs to consider are Skimmia varieties, Sarcococca varieties (fragrant flowers in winter), Prunus 'Otto Luyken', Euonymus fortunei varieties, Buxus and Mahonia aquifolium, which slowly reaches about 7 feet with a spread of about 5 feet over time. With the Buxus (Box) you'd need to keep it trimmed back to prevent it getting as large as it wants. All the other plants mentioned don't get higher than 3-5 feet.

Given the problem with dirty pebbles, it's probably better to forget the membrane and stones and plant low growing ground cover as well as the shrubs; over time, they will spread and prevent weed growth. Candidates for ground cover include Lamium varieties ('White Nancy'; 'Beacon Silver' for instance, there are yellow leaved varieties too), Ajuga reptans, Pachysandra terminalis, Campanula muralis (now called C.portenschlagiana, don't buy C. carpatica instead, its a messy grower) and a low growing Euonymus called E. fortunei 'Harlequin', which doesn't get higher than about 4 to 6 inches. For sunnier areas, Arabis procurrens variegata, Iberis sempervirens, possibly Helianthemums, though they really prefer as much sun as possible.

All plants mentioned are evergreen, including the ground covers. One other plant that flowers well in shade and which might therefore be useful is Liriope 'Munro White'. If you aren't going to have pebbles,and some of the bed gets half a day's sun, then Berberis atropurpureum 'nana', with reddish purple leaves and/or Berberis 'Golden Nugget' with bright yellow leaves will liven it up a bit, but they do need half a day's sun or they'll just be green; they are deciduous and neither gets taller than around 18 inches.

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I believe a very close match to your idea is Abelia x grandiflora.

  • It is less known, less used than viburnum, aucuba, yew, etc., but this may be considered as an advantage.

  • Some web sites say that east-facing position is fine for them, even though they are sun-loving creatures.

  • It is almost evergreen. The leaves are smallish, the wind takes care of most of fallen ones.

  • The flower fragrance is mild from the distance, but absolutely mind-blowing close to those little flowers. Btw, flowering season is loooong.

  • The base species grows to 4 m, but most of the cultivar are around 1 m, have a nice natural habit, and do not require almost any pruning. 'Kaleidoscope' is one such cultivar, and features an interesting changing leaf color on top of that.

(I have no idea why the name is "grandiflora" - the flowers are tiny; but don't let this deceive you, their fragrance is powerful, abelia is a magnet for bees and butteflies)

(images from WaitroseGarden web site)

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Birds and Blooms
birdsandblooms.com › home › gardening › top 10 lists for gardeners
10 Small Evergreen Shrubs to Grow for Year-Round Curb Appeal
November 24, 2024 - Too often gardeners are frustrated that their “dwarf” plant covered a front window or overshadowed their house. According to the American Conifer Society, dwarf evergreen varieties can grow 1 to 6 inches per year, but make sure to check the tags on your specific variety for growth and mature size.Check out more dwarf conifers for small spaces. ... Plant this small low-maintenance evergreen in full sun.
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Preen
preen.com › learn › lawn-garden-tips › plants-trees-shrubs › trees-shrubs › the-best-compact-shrubs-for-front-yard-gardens
The Best Compact Shrubs for Front-Yard Gardens
These dwarf varieties of favorite evergreen and flowering shrubs are perfect for beautiful, low-maintenance curb appeal. - Preen