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Knowing your needs will help you select the right types for your property.
Be aware that while formal varieties require pruning on a regular basis, even informal ones may benefit from occasional clipping.
Let’s look at the highlights of each.
1. Blue Arrow Juniper
Evergreen Juniperus scopulorum ‘Blue Arrow’ juniper is a fast-growing cultivar for Zones 4 to 9. It has distinctive blue-green foliage and a trim, formal profile.
The branches of this upright juniper curve slightly from the base, spreading one to two feet and coming to a graceful point at a height of 10 to 15 feet.
It’s the perfect small space solution where privacy is desired.
Disease- and pest-resistant, ‘Blue Arrow’ adapts to various soils provided they drain well. It does best in full sun but tolerates part shade.
‘Blue Arrow’ Juniper is available from Fast Growing Trees.
Find tips for growing junipers here.
2. Common Lilac
Common lilac (Syringa vulgaris) has deciduous leaves and robust panicles of lavender to purple spring blossoms for a flouncy, informal appearance. It is well-suited to Zones 3 to 7.
Mature heights are an imposing 12 to 16 feet tall with a spread of eight to 12 feet.
Allow it to achieve its full stature unimpeded for a low-maintenance, wildlife-friendly perimeter barrier.
Lilacs do best with organically-rich, moist soil and full sun.
Common purple lilac is available from Fast Growing Trees.
Our guide to growing lilac bushes has planting and care instructions.
3. Double Take Quince
Passersby are sure to turn for a second look when they see Double Take™ scarlet quince (Chaenomeles speciosa ‘Scarlet Storm’) lighting up your early spring landscape with bright red double-petaled, camellia-like flowers.
It is suited to full sun placements in Zones 5 to 9.
This ornamental, fruitless cultivar is thornless for easy pruning post-bloom. It has a branching growth habit and foliage to the ground for no unsightly “bare legs.”
Mature dimensions are a modest three to four feet tall and four to five feet wide, making it a substantial yet friendly property divider.
Double Take™ scarlet quince is available from Nature Hills Nursery.
See our guide to growing flowering quince for tips on cultivation.
4. Emerald Green Arborvitae
For a fast-growing, column-shaped shrub that creates privacy and blocks wind, consider Thuja occidentalis ‘Emerald Green’ arborvitae.
Suitable for Zones 4 to 9, this soft-needled, fragrant evergreen thrives in full sun in a variety of soils.
Mature dimensions are 10 to 15 feet tall and three to four feet wide, for a substantial privacy screen, even in narrow spaces.
Once established, it requires no watering, and is cold and heat tolerant.
‘Emerald Green’ arborvitae is available from Fast Growing Trees.
Our guide to growing arborvitae has more information.
5. Funshine Abelia
Proven Winners® ColorChoice® Funshine® abelia (Abelia x grandiflora ‘Minacara1’) brings color and fragrance to Zone 6 to 9 landscapes in full sun or partially shaded locations.
Yellow-orange spring foliage deepens to yellow green in the summer, and flames orange and red in the fall.
From summer into fall, sweetly fragrant, trumpet-shaped, lavender blossoms attract a host of pollinating bees, butterflies, and hummingbirds.
Mature dimensions are a modest two to three feet tall and wide with dense, compact, leafy branching to the ground, so no bare legs.
Prune minimally for an informal, naturalistic appearance where a friendly divider is desired.
Funshine® Abelia is available from Nature Hills Nursery.
6. Green Spire Euonymus
Cold-hardy, evergreen Euonymus japonicus ‘Green Spire’ has a columnar form with uniform, upright branches densely packed with small glossy green leaves well-suited to formal pruning.
Tiny greenish blossoms subtly accent the foliage in late spring to early summer.
Mature dimensions are six to eight feet tall and one to two feet wide, perfect for shielding small or large-scale living spaces from unwanted visibility.
‘Green Spire’ tolerates road salt and pollution making it a practical choice for streetside urban plantings.
‘Green Spire’ euonymus is available from Nature Hills Nursery.
See our guide to growing euonymus for care instructions.
7. Lemon Hedge Sunflower
You may be surprised to find an annual flower in a best hedges round-up. Okay, this isn’t a shrub, but it’s a fun option to consider.
Unlike more permanent options, Lemon Hedge sunflowers (Helianthus annuus ‘Lemon Queen’) offer growers the unique opportunity to mass plant for a temporary midsummer to fall botanical divider for separating garden spaces, creating privacy around patios, and edging walkways.
Plants have a dense, multi-stemmed growth habit, heights of 36 to 48 inches, and a spread of 14 to 18 inches.
The yellow blossoms reach an eye-catching four to six inches across. When they run to seed in the fall, they attract a range of large songbirds.
Lemon Hedge sunflowers are available from Burpee.
Our sunflower growing guide has cultivation tips.
8. Little Missy Boxwood
Buxus ‘Little Missy’ is a dwarf boxwood cultivar prized for its high resistance to boxwood blight.
It has the signature small leaves and rounded form of larger boxwoods, but does not suffer from bare legs as it is compact and dense to the ground.
Mature dimensions are a diminutive two-and-a-half to three-and-a-half feet tall and wide for a low-profile formal border around specimen plantings or beside sidewalks.
It does best in Zones 5 to 9 with full sun to part shade. Minimal pruning is required.
‘Little Missy’ dwarf boxwood is available from New Life Nursery and Garden via Amazon.
Our guide to growing boxwood has more information.
9. Maki Yew Pine
The ‘Maki’ yew pine, aka Japanese yew pine or bigleaf podocarp, is a small, slow-growing cultivated variety of Podocarpus macrophyllus.
It is a soft-needled evergreen for Zones 7 to 11 with dense foliage to the ground that is easy to prune for a structured, formal hedge.
Despite the common name, this shrub is neither a yew nor a pine.
‘Maki’ is a non-flowering shrub that grows best in full sun to part shade. It reaches a height of eight to 12 feet with a spread of four to five feet, perfect for a wind or privacy screen.
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Nan Schiller
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