A young holly ‘Red Beauty’ in early winter.
Q: I am trying to design a garden that is approximately 6 feet by 12 feet. I want something that will mature to 5 feet wide and 6 to 8 feet tall. It’s in light to moderate shade. I was thinking some kind of broadleaf evergreen, maybe a holly. I am attempting to provide some kind of privacy as we walk out our back door.
A: Hmmmm… broadleaf evergreen… light shade… 6-8 feet tall, 5 feet wide… that rings up to ‘Red Beauty’ holly in my mind first.
This fairly new upright is a slow grower with large red fruits that are held on the tips of the branches. It’s one of the most attractive fruiters but needs a male (‘Blue Prince’ is good) somewhere within 100 yards or so to fruit.
‘Dragon Lady’ and ‘Castle Spire’ are two other similar upright hollies that grow faster and get bigger (maybe 12 feet by 5 or 6 feet in 10-12 years without pruning). You’ll need to start trimming them a little sooner to maintain 8 by 5. It may take ‘Red Beauty’ a dozen years to reach that point. Both ‘Dragon Lady’ and ‘Castle Spire’ also need a male to produce fruit.
I also like the variegated falseholly ‘Goshiki’ (Osmanthus heterophyllus), but it’s even slightly slower than ‘Red Beauty’ and a tad “fatter,” although still somewhat pyramidal in habit. Pruning also can keep it as pyramidal as you look. This one looks like a holly but instead of red fruits it has variegated leaves of cream, green and for part of the year, splashes of burgundy.
A third option is the narrow upright boxwood ‘Dee Runk.’ This beauty is dense, nicely formed and a moderate grower up to about 10 feet tall but only 3 feet around in about 10 years. It’s fine in light shade and can be trimmed to 8 feet or less once it hits that height. That’s a little skinnier than you mention, but you could plant two or even three (in a triangle) for a grouping that adds up to the total size you’d like.
Boxwood ‘Elegantissima’ is a variegated boxwood that’s very attractive (about 5 feet tall and 3 feet wide in 10 years), and ‘Green Mountain’ is a tight, green, upright boxwood that eventually will work its way up to near your goal (also about 5 feet tall and 3 feet wide in 10 years).
Keep in mind that plants never really stop growing until they die, so any size guideline is just that — a guideline for a given point in time. Some things are going to hit given sizes faster than others, so a key consideration here is how fast you want your plant to reach the desired size vs. how much ultimate trimming you’re willing to do once it hits that size.
I’ve got photos and more descriptions of most of these evergreens on my web site at this address: http://georgeweigel.net/plant-of-the-week-profiles/evergreens.
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