| Key Takeaways |
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| • Picks for special needs: Wintergreen boxwood suits small gardens, southern red cedar works as a windbreak, and yew plum pine tolerates drought. • Cherry laurel is poisonous: Schipka cherry laurel resists deer, but every part is poisonous if eaten. • Plan before planting: Aim for a hedge that's at least 6 feet tall, space most shrubs about 3 feet apart, and call 811 before digging. |
The best privacy hedges are dense, fast-growing evergreens like American arborvitae, Leyland cypress, and cherry laurel, along with deciduous shrubs like ninebark for seasonal color.
Commonly called living fences, these shrubs do more than block prying eyes. Below are experts’ 11 top picks for screening, security, and seclusion, plus how to plan and space them.
If you would rather skip the hard work to maintain these hedges, LawnStarter can connect you with bush trimming pros who keep your living fence dense and tidy.
What Makes a Good Privacy Hedge?
A good privacy hedge is dense, hardy in your USDA plant hardiness zone, and tall enough to screen the view you want to block. Evergreens give year-round cover; deciduous shrubs add seasonal flowers and color.
A beautiful living privacy fence made of rows of densely planted bushes offers:
A fast-growing boundary: Quickly define property lines and shield yourself from nosy neighbors.
Noise reduction: A living fence can drastically reduce noise from traffic or neighbors.
A windbreak: It limits wind and blowing snow and helps reduce your heating bill.
Natural habitat: It provides shelter and foraging for birds, mammals, and beneficial insects.
Erosion control: Root systems work together to control erosion in your yard.
Improved curb appeal: It fills space, creates a beautiful screen, and can increase your home’s value.
Evergreen Privacy Hedges
We asked experts to name some of the best hedges for privacy that balance fast growth, hardiness, and beauty. Here’s what they said.
1. American Arborvitae: Best for Year-Round Privacy
American arborvitae ranges from the smaller ‘Emerald Green’ to the towering ‘Green Giant’. Low maintenance and evergreen, these cultivars are among the most popular year-round privacy hedges, with reddish-brown, furrowed bark on the Thuja occidentalis species.
Ideal for: Privacy screens, borders, windbreaks, and foundation plants
Growth rate: Slow
Maintenance: Prune so the top is narrower than the base. Space about 6 feet apart in a single line, or double rows 9 feet apart for a dense hedge.
Hardiness zones: 3-7
Sun: Full sun to partial shade
Mature size: 2-50 feet tall, 4-15 feet wide, depending on variety
2. Chindo Viburnum: Best for a Fast-Growing Hedge
This fast-growing hedge offers four seasons of interest, with fragrant late-spring flowers, glossy evergreen leaves, and vivid red fall berries. J.C. Raulston of the North Carolina State University Arboretum collected the variety on the South Korean island of Chindo in 1985.
Ideal for: Hedges, screens, barriers, foundations, and borders
Growth rate: Fast
Maintenance: Water weekly so the top 3 inches of soil stay moist, prune in late winter or early spring, and plant shrubs half their mature width apart.
Hardiness zone: 7-11
Sun: Full sun, tolerates partial shade
Mature size: Up to 12 feet tall and 8 feet wide
3. American Holly: Best for Wildlife Gardens
American holly works as an ornamental hedge for landscaping for privacy or a wildlife garden, since its red berries attract songbirds. The dense evergreen foliage needs little pruning, and holly comes in dozens of tree and shrub varieties.
Ideal for: An ornamental or privacy hedge; also good for low-maintenance shade landscaping
Growth rate: Slow
Maintenance: Keep the soil moist and shelter it from harsh winter winds. Prune only to shape it, and plant from containers or balled-and-burlapped stock rather than bare roots.
Hardiness zone: 5-9
Sun: Full sun to shade
Mature size: Untrimmed, 40-60 feet tall and up to 20 feet wide
4. Manhattan Euonymus: Best for Partial Shade
‘Manhattan’ euonymus is an evergreen seen in the famous hedges of the Hamptons, and trimming it produces a tight, dense hedge. Its foliage is semi-evergreen to deciduous in cold climates (USDA zones 5 and 6). The ‘Manhattan’ cultivar was developed in Manhattan, Kansas, and resists the euonymus scale that afflicts most species in its genus.
Ideal for: Borders, hedges, privacy screens, topiary, and barriers
Growth rate: Fast
Maintenance: Keep it regularly trimmed; it needs little water once established. Plant about 3 feet apart and add a 2 to 3-inch layer of organic mulch.
Hardiness zone: 5-8
Sun: Full sun to partial shade
Mature size: 4-6 feet tall, 3-5 feet wide
5. Leyland Cypress: Best for Tall Hedges
The popular Leyland cypress makes an excellent tall hedge or tree for privacy and tops the fast-growing wishlist. It’s a coniferous, evergreen tree with a conical shape and a “lighter, lacier” look, says Lisa Mierop, principal of Mierop Design in Montclair, New Jersey. It gives birds winter cover and comes in more than 30 varieties.
Ideal for: Privacy screens, hedges, and windbreaks
Growth rate: Fast
Maintenance: Water new trees several times a week for the first month, then weekly or biweekly. Trim up to three times during the growing season. Plant 3 feet apart for a 12-foot hedge. Mierop says, “They can, however, be kept sheared into a tight hedge, with maintenance pruning essential.”
Hardiness zone: 6-10
Sun: Full sun, tolerates partial shade
Mature size: 10 to 15 feet as a hedge; 60-70 feet tall on its own
6. Schipka Cherry Laurel: Best for Low Maintenance
‘Schipkaensis’ is a popular, low-maintenance laurel cultivar: a goblet-shaped, upright evergreen shrub whose thick foliage gives songbirds cover and resists deer. Glossy leaves back white spring flowers. Its purple-black fruit is not safe to eat, so watch kids and pets, since every part of the plant is poisonous if eaten.
Ideal for: Tall hedges, privacy screens, shady areas, or a backyard wildlife habitat
Growth rate: Medium
Maintenance: Give it rich, moist, well-drained soil and plant shrubs 3 feet apart so branches intertwine into a thick barrier. Prune right after flowering ends in late spring.
Hardiness zone: 5-9
Sun: Full sun, tolerates partial shade
Mature size: 10-15.5 feet tall, 5-7 feet wide
7. Southern Red Cedar: Best for Windbreaks
Southern red cedars aren’t true cedars. They’re easy-care junipers, common along the Southeast coast and often used as windbreaks. Their emerald-green leaves form a thick evergreen canopy, and the berries attract songbirds.
Lloyd Singleton, former director of the New Hanover County Agricultural Extension in North Carolina, says that in addition to repelling deer and insects, the southern red cedar is “tough, totally adapted to regional conditions, and it’s really pretty with great berries that birds love, and flowers that attract bees and butterflies … with a nice aroma to boot.”
Ideal for: Privacy screens, hedges, wildlife habitat, and windbreaks
Growth rate: Medium
Maintenance: Water frequently until established, then let it fend for itself. Space seedlings 8 to 18 inches apart, or larger plants 5 to 7 feet apart. It rarely needs trimming.
Hardiness zone: 7-11
Sun: Full sun
Mature size: 30 to 45 feet tall, up to 30 feet wide
8. Wintergreen Boxwood: Best for Small Gardens
Also known as Korean boxwood, this ‘Wintergreen’ boxwood shrub resists winter yellowing. Its cold hardiness and short height make it a favorite for northern homeowners wanting a low hedge or layered fence, with small leaves and tiny fragrant flowers.
Ideal for: Privacy screens, container gardens, borders, or rock gardens
Growth rate: Moderately slow
Maintenance: Water once or twice a week until established. Space plants 3.5 to 4 feet apart, center to center, and mulch 2 to 3 inches deep, kept away from the stem.
Hardiness zone: 4-9
Sun: Full sun to partial shade
Mature size: 2-4 feet tall, 3-5 feet wide
9. Yew Plum Pine: Best for Drought Tolerance
Yew plum pines are slow-growing, coniferous evergreens that can be pruned into a soft, low-maintenance hedge with dense, dark green foliage. They are very drought-tolerant once established and fit tight spaces well. Singleton says, “Podocarpus macrophyllus, though slower-growing, is well-suited to growing in a narrow space.”
Ideal for: Hedges, windbreaks, privacy screens, and containers
Growth rate: Slow
Maintenance: Avoid shearing the sides so shrubs grow together; prune so the top is slightly smaller than the bottom. Plant 2 feet apart and trim regularly.
Hardiness zone: 7-9
Sun: Full sun to partial shade
Mature size: Up to 50 feet tall untrimmed; keep to 6-7 feet as a hedge
Deciduous Privacy Hedges
Deciduous shrubs drop their leaves in winter and leaf out again in spring, trading year-round cover for flowers and seasonal color.
10. Ninebark: Best for Pollinator Gardens
Ninebark is a tall, fast-growing shrub native to Missouri, named for the bark that peels in layers as it matures. This flowering shrub blooms in spring for bees, birds, and butterflies, and its leaves turn yellow and red in fall. Cultivars like ‘Dart’s Gold’ and ‘Summer Wine’ hold color all season.
Ideal for: Mass plantings, floral privacy hedges, borders, or erosion control on banks
Growth rate: Fast; can mature in one year
Maintenance: Prune after it flowers, or no later than mid-August. Water young shrubs once or twice a week in summer, and space them 3 to 6 feet apart.
Hardiness zone: 2-8
Sun: Full sun to partial shade
Mature size: 5-8 feet tall, 4-6 feet wide
11. Yellow-Twig Dogwoods: Best for Winter Interest
Yellow-twig dogwoods are a native shrub that livens up cold months with vibrant yellow twigs, then leafs out with white spring blooms and berries. Because it grows fast, it adds year-round interest quickly.
Ideal for: Hedge, privacy screen, mass planting, and erosion control
Growth rate: Fast
Maintenance: Prune in late winter to early spring for airflow and shape, and water at least weekly to keep soil moist. Space shrubs 3 feet apart, center to center. A deer-resistant shrub, it prefers cooler climates.
Hardiness zone: 3-8
Sun: Full sun to part shade
Mature size: 6-8 feet tall, 7-8 feet wide
How to Plan and Plant Privacy Hedges
Before you buy, grab a soil test and note your climate, sun, and space so you pick a plant that fits.
For privacy or security, aim for a hedge at least 6 feet tall and follow any local height limits. Space most shrubs about 3 feet apart, or divide the mature width by two, so plants don’t crowd walls or each other.
Water new trees and shrubs until roots establish: daily for the first week or two, every two to three days for up to three months, then weekly. For new trees, the University of Minnesota Extension recommends about 1 to 1.5 gallons per inch of trunk width at each watering; give shrubs about one-quarter to one-third of their pot’s volume.
Pro Tip: Call 811 or visit call811.com at least three business days before digging so utilities can be marked at no charge.
For the full step-by-step on designing your layout, sizing rows, and planting, see our guide to landscaping with evergreen shrubs.
FAQs
Plant at least 18 to 24 inches away for traditional or hybrid hedges. For a very tall living fence, base the spacing on how wide the plants will grow so the mature shrub has room to fill out without crowding the wall.
Clip or prune the young hedge to promote thickening. Pruning methods vary by species; cherry laurel, hollies, and yew plum pine need careful pruning.
For a full walkthrough, see our guide: How to Trim Bushes
Soils in poor condition don’t retain enough nutrients and water for healthy growth. A test gives you the basis for the right soil amendments. Matthew Kiefer, principal of Kiefer Landscapes, says, “It’s really an excellent and inexpensive investment.”
When to Call a Pro
Adding a few hedges can turn your property into a quiet sanctuary or simply block out those noisy neighbors. If planning, planting, and pruning your living fence doesn’t sound like an ideal weekend, reach out to one of LawnStarter’s local landscaping pros today to handle the dirty work.
Main Image: Thuja occidentalis. Photo credit: Agnieszka Kwiecień, Nova / Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA 4.0
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