The evergreen shrubs to plant now to avoid a bare winter garden

As plants die back and leaves fall, gardeners will often rely on evergreen shrubs to provide attractive leaves, shelter, flowers and berries, privacy and foliage to cut for flower arrangers. They take a few years to grow and it is worth splashing out on a bigger plant, rather than economising on ones in 9-10cm pots. Good suppliers offer long-term guarantees on woody plants. Pyracantha is tall – growing to 2m after 10 years – and tolerates almost any garden soil and situation. It carries abundant berries and happily sprawls against walls and fences, where its thorns add to security. It tolerates pruning to keep it within its allotted space. Consider Pyracantha rogersiana “Flava” for yellow berries, P. “Saphyr Rouge” for red and P. “Teton” for orange. Viburnum tinus is also very popular, with scentless white winter flowers and blue-black spring berries, and showed strong drought resistance this year. Its neat, deep-green leaves make a dense bush or hedge, and it can be clipped to keep it compact. It grows at half the rate of pyracantha, needing about 20 years to reach its full 2.5m height. The slightly compact “Eve Price” is popular. Equally easy are V. rhytidophyllum and V. davidii, with corrugated leaves and red-black and (if female and male plants present) turquoise berries respectively. Arguably the star winter evergreen is Garrya elliptica “James Roof”, a male clone noted for its abundant drooping 20-35cm green catkins. It is usually grown where the wind cannot scorch its dark-green leaves and looks particularly neat against walls. It takes 10 years to reach 2.5m.Daphne bholua “Jacqueline Postill” is another prized winter evergreen, carrying scented purple-white flowers in late winter on plants about 1.5m tall. Soil that is well-drained but never very dry, in full sun or light shade, is ideal for daphnes. Pot cultivation is challenging and best avoided. Winter-flowering camellia thrive in pots, which is fortunate, as they need an acid soil to thrive, which is easy to provide in a pot. Their flowers, sometimes scented, are less abundant and produced over a longer period than spring-flowering camellia. Flowering begins in autumn and continues until February. Growing them beneath trees and against walls can limit frost damage to their flowers. They make good winter potted patio plants, before consigning them to shadier spots for summer. Their leaves are deep green and they tolerate partial shade. Camellia sasanqua “Narumigata” with single pale pink flowers, red-flowered “Crimson King” and “Hugh Evans”, with pink flowers, grow reliably. Pyracantha Saphyr Rouge is a pretty evergreen shrub with abundant orange-red berries (Photo: RHS/Anthony Masi) Mahonia, with its dramatic spiky leaves, grows to about 2m in 10 years, tolerates partial shade and is happy on any reasonable garden soil. Although some flower from November, they mostly flower in the gap between winter and spring flowers, with long spikes of insect-friendly yellow flowers followed by blue-black spring berries. Mahonia x media “Charity” and “Lionel Fortescue” often flower in early to mid-winter, while the closely related “Buckland” and “Winter Sun” flower a little later. Variegated evergreens come into their own in winter, bringing white or coloured leaves to lighten the gloom. Rhamnus alaternus “Argenteovariegata” has a neat pyramidal shape reaching 3m in about 10 years, with dainty grey-white edged leaves growing in any reasonable garden soil in all but the most exposed gardens. Plant variegated elaeagnus in a sunny spot where the sun brings out their colours, although they suit shade, too, retaining their markings. Yellow-edged leaves are provided by “Gilt Edge” while yellow-splashed leaves are produced by “Limelight”. Guy Barter is the Royal Horticultural Society’s (RHS) chief horticulturist @GuyBarter The RHS is a charity inspiring everyone to grow via its research, advisory, outreach, shows and gardens. For more information, visit: rhs.org.uk