The bones of any successful garden are its woody plants. And the key to any successful four-season garden is evergreens. Conifers are great, but they can be pricey and slow to bulk up. Broadleaf evergreens, on the other hand, bulk up quickly and are generally affordable. The only drawback is they can be boring. In fact, most gardeners think only of rhodies and hollies when it comes to this classification of plants. The options in this episode prove that this category of plants is anything but boring.

Expert testimony: Richie Steffen, director/curator for the Elisabeth C. Miller Botanical Garden in Seattle.

A great choice for dry shade is drooping laurel (Leucothoe fontanesiana, Zones 5-8). The long branches eventually form a dense thicket, blanketing the bare legs of mature trees or larger shrubs.

One of Danielle’s favorite broadleaf evergreens, leatherleaf viburnum (Viburnum rhytidophyllum, Zones 5-8) was suggested to her by West Coast garden designer Stacie Crooks. The foliage texture is unmatched, while the red and purple fall berries are a favorite of song birds.

Steve has experimented with several different varieties of mountain laurel including the dwarf, ‘Minuet’. He attributes much of his success with the genus to Dr. Dick Jaynes of Broken Arrow Nursery telling him to plant them in the sun—not partial shade as many texts suggest.

Expert Richie Steffen loves a lot of different broadleaf evergreens, but one of the most unique is cliff green (Paxistima canbyi, Zones 3-7), a low-growing, emerald-hued spreader. It’s also known by the unfortunate common name “rat-stripper” due to native wood rats sometimes stripping the leaves and bark off in winter in a desperate search for food. Ew.

Fine Gardening Recommended Products

Berry & Bird Rabbiting Spade, Trenching Shovel

Fine Gardening receives a commission for items purchased through links on this site, including Amazon Associates and other affiliate advertising programs.

Ideal Tool for All Gardeners Use: Our heavy duty trenching shovel is designed by a professional gardening tool designer. Lifetime Durability: This heavy duty drain spade is made of high-quality stainless steel, it is very strong and durable, even if it is used for high-strength work, it will not bend. Ergonomic Wood Handle: The handle of this planting spade is made of ash hardwood harvested from FSC-certified forests and has an ergonomically streamlined design, making it very suitable for everyone's hands. Multi-Use: This digging shovel is generally used for digging trenches, digging holes, transplanting, edging, moving compost, cutting thick turf and furrowing. The sharp blade allows you to cut, scoop, dig, lift and dice in hard soil.

Buy at Amazon

Planting in a Post-Wild World: Designing Plant Communities for Resilient Landscapes

Fine Gardening receives a commission for items purchased through links on this site, including Amazon Associates and other affiliate advertising programs.

Featuring gorgeous photography and advice for landscapers, Planting in a Post-Wild World by Thomas Rainer and Claudia West is dedicated to the idea of a new nature—a hybrid of both the wild and the cultivated—that can nourish in our cities and suburbs.

Buy at Amazon

Gardener's Log Book from NYBG

Fine Gardening receives a commission for items purchased through links on this site, including Amazon Associates and other affiliate advertising programs.

This weatherproof five-year log book includes the following features: · Sturdy waterproof cover to protect pages from rain and muddy soil · Lined pages and gridded paper for plotting beds · Five years of 12-month bloom and harvest grids for recording what you planted and when · Authoritative appendices on composting, pruning, pest and disease control, and container gardening · Useful reminders by season on fertilizing, mulching, and transplanting · Space for listing your favorite sources and suppliers.

Buy at Amazon