Growing Shrubs and Evergreens for tough city conditions
Below you will find a list of Evergreens and Shrubs from our plant database that are urban tolerant. If you click on any of the photos, you will see a Virtual Plant Tag that may contain photos, plant descriptions, usage suggestions and a link to where you can buy that plant for your landscaping. The concept of a shrub can be difficult to define since different people might consider the same plant a groundcover, broadleaf evergreen, bush or tree.
Uses for these bushes vary by variety, and may thrive in full shade, partial shade or full sun and a variety of soil conditions including wet soil, moist soil, dry soil or compacted soils.
Europe and Asia have given American gardeners numerous ornamental plants that tolerate or thrive in the challenging urban environmental conditions in the United States. Suggestions include: The Abelias: 'Edward Goucher' with dark pink to purple flowers, Chinese (A. chinensis) and Glossy (A. x grandiflora) attract butterflies; The Spireas: Alpine (Spiraea alpina var. japonica), Bridalwreath (S. prunifolia), Bumald (S. x bumaldi), Japanese (S. japonica), Korean (S. fritschiana) and Nippon (S. nipponica) with numerous interesting cultivars tolerate poor soils and are drought tolerant; Alglojap Yew (Taxus x media) a cross between Japanese and English yews resulting in a sturdy plant for hedges and groupings; Burkwood Viburnums and improved selections; considered invasive in some areas, Butterfly-bush or Summer Lilac (Buddleja or Buddleia davidii) have a variety of bloom colors that attract butterflies; Box-leaved or Japanese Holly (Ilex crenata) and many of compact and variegated selections; Chinese Junipers (J. chinensis) and Sargent Junipers (J. chinensis var. sargentii) with lovely blue, green and yellow needles are tolerant once established; False Holly, Holly Osmanthus or Holly Tea Olive (Osmanthus heterophyllus) are drought and urban tolerant; Forsythias are very tough; considered invasive in some areas, Japanese Barberry (Berberis thunbergii) are extremely durable and have ornamental characteristics including purple leaves; Panicled Hydrangea (H. paniculata) and many heavily white and pink flowering cultivars handle city gardening; The Privets: Amur (Ligustrum amurense), Border (L. obtusifolium), California (L. ovafolium), Chinese (L. sinense), Common (L. vulgare) or Japanese (L. japonicum) can be sheared into hedges or topiaries and thrive on neglect; Spotted Laurel, Japanese Aucuba (Aucuba japonica) tolerates pollution and brightens dark garden areas growing under trees where grass won't grow.
