10 Best Evergreen Trees for Privacy and Year-Round Greenery

For the noble, spirelike shape that evergreen lovers admire so much, plant douglas fir. Though it's often featured as a lone tree, it also looks great massed as a screen in evergreen landscaping. Douglas fir doesn't like hot, dry winds but will do excellent where there's moisture in the soil and in the atmosphere. The soft-textured tree has variable color, depending on seed source, with the blue-green types being the most attractive and hardy.

Light: Full sun

Water: Plant in consistently moist, well-drained soil

Size: Up to 80 feet tall

Zones: 5-7

Buy It: Douglas Fir Tree, $79.95, Nature Hills

So adaptable you'll find it growing on dry, rocky slopes and at the edges of swamps, eastern red cedars also thrive as urban screens and rural windbreaks. This densely branched juniper has rich green summer foliage turning ruddy brown-green in winter.

Light: Full sun

Water: Plant in well-drained soil

Size: Up to 50 feet tall

Zones: 2-9

Buy It: Eastern Red Cedar Tree, $46.95, Nature Hills

Some varieties of white pine can grow 50 to 80 feet tall and 20 to 40 feet wide, so this evergreen needs plenty of room. But for smaller yards, you can also find columnar varieties that max out at 20 feet in height and 14 feet in width, a perfect size for screens. White pine is a fast-growing tree with soft, billowy texture that's a welcome departure from the rigid look of many other evergreens. The blue-green needles are attractive year-round, and a portion of them drop to the ground periodically, so the trees are self-mulching.

Light: Full sun or part shade

Water: Plant in well-drained soil

Size: Up to 80 feet tall

Zones: 3-8

Buy It: Eastern White Pine, $55.50, Arbor Day Foundation

Like white pine, concolor fir can adapt to a variety of growing conditions. Also known as white fir, it's a good choice for hot, dry conditions and winter cold, but it grows best with an evenly moist soil that has good drainage. The blue-gray needles have a white luster, which explains the common name. In addition to its unique needles, concolor fir has an attractive conical shape with tiered branches, so it works as a specimen to block a view or partnered with other trees in evergreen landscaping.

Light: Full sun or part shade

Water: Plant in well-drained soil

Size: Up to 70 feet tall

Zones: 3-7

Buy It: Concolor Fir, $14.60, Cold Stream Farm

Easy to spot among other evergreens, Norway spruce has the pyramidal shape typical of many conifers, but the horizontal branches reach upward, allowing the stems to hang down gracefully. The effect is both beautiful and distinctive. Norway spruce grows 50 to 60 feet tall and 25 to 30 feet wide, but popular varieties tend to be on the smaller side.

Light: Full sun

Water: Plant in well-drained soil

Size: Up to 60 feet tall

Zones: 2-7

Buy It: Norway Spruce, $24.50, The Tree Center

One of the only true cedars, deodar cedar is very adaptable, grows fast, and has dense branching in youth. It's perfect for a screen or as part of evergreen landscaping, but it also makes a striking solo tree with blue-green needles and graceful, gently weeping branches that become more artistic with age.

Light: Full sun

Water: Plant in well-drained soil

Size: Up to 50 feet tall

Zones: 7-8

Buy It: Deodar Cedar Seedling, $16.99, Walmart

A valuable addition to your winter garden, false cypress has plenty of varieties with different shapes and colors. Not surprisingly, it's also wonderful for adding privacy. Some false cypress cultivars can be trimmed like a hedge; others can be allowed to reach their fluffy, twisted, or contorted potential. Colors range from blue-gray to golden-green.

Light: Sun or part sun

Water: Plant in well-drained soil

Size: Up to 75 feet tall

Zones: 4-8

Buy It: Soft Serve False Cypress, $19.99, Proven Winners

Another warm-climate evergreen tree for privacy, leyland cypress is a natural for screens thanks to its columnar shape and year-round color. If the feathery, blue-green foliage doesn't grab you, there are cultivars with yellow, gray, or bright green foliage.

Light: Full sun or part shade

Water: Plant in consistently moist, well-drained soil

Size: Up to 70 feet tall

Zones: 6-9

Buy It: Leyland Cypress, $14.50, The Tree Center

The go-to evergreen for lining a fence, American arborvitae, also known as eastern arborvitae, can live for several hundred years. Most popular varieties mature at 10 to 15 feet, much smaller than in the wild, making them perfect for year-round privacy in evergreen landscaping. American arborvitae is durable and adaptable, its biggest problem being deer browsing (wrap in burlap in the winter or spray with a deer repellent).

Light: Full sun or part sun

Water: Plant in consistently moist soil

Size: Up to 70 feet tall

Zones: 2-7

Buy It: American Arborvitae, $6.00, Arbor Day Foundation

The tree of immortality, some ancient specimens of yew have lived for thousands of years. In evergreen landscaping, yews are often used as hedges and foundation plantings. The dark green foliage and colorful red berries are a welcome sight in winter, and birds love the shelter of yews, too.

Light: Full sun, part sun, or shade

Water: Plant in well-drained or dry soil (yew trees can't tolerate soggy soil)

Size: Up to 50 feet tall

Zones: 4-7

Buy It: Columnar English Yew, $44.50, The Tree Center