Edible Evergreen Shrubbery

To establish where we are talking about from the get, these are evergreen shrubs that will happily grow in temperate climates as we have in the United States. Some of these will grow throughout the USA. Others will work better in different, typically warmer USDA Growing Zones. All of them have edible attributes.

Edible evergreens are great additions to the garden plan. Of course, they provide something to eat which is always useful. And, they keep the garden colorful even in the drab days of winter when deciduous trees are bare. Furthermore, they are perennial plants which put stability into the garden ecosystem.

Evergreen shrubs are great to use for hedges, i.e. live fencing, because they will create a permanent visual boundary as well as a great habitat for garden-friendly animals. They also add color throughout the landscape when all the leaves have fallen and a flash of green can be a mood enhancer.

There are lots of plants to choose from:

Tea plants (Camellia sinensis)

Tea doesn’t seem like something we can realistically grow at home, but it is for many of us. The young leaves of the plant are used to create black tea, green tea, and oolong tea. It’s just a matter of how the leaves are dried as to which tea one gets.

Tea plants have glossy, green leaves and delicate white flowers with yellow middles. They can reach up to 15 feet tall but are generally pruned to be a good deal shorter. Tea will grow from USDA Zone 6 through 9.

Pineapple Guava (Feijoa sellowiana)

Though guava isn’t a fruit often associated with temperate climates, pineapple guavas are a hardier variety than most. They grow willingly in environments as cool as USDA Zone 8. USDA Zone 8 moves from the Virginia and Maryland coast, down through south Memphis, over to Las Cruces NM, and back up into Washington state.

They are deer-resistant, about six feet tall, and fruits in autumn. The fruit has green skin, is about the size of a chicken egg, and has a sweet-tart flavor reminiscent of tropical fruits.

Bay Laurel (Laurus nobilis)

Bay leaf is a favorite herb for adding to soups, stews, pots of beans, and sauces. It adds an almost indefinable flavor but that is noticeable. Bay laurels will happily grow into USDA Zone 8 and are known to survive in slightly cooler places, too.

The foliage of the bay laurel, which is the edible part, is a beautiful glossy green that brightens the garden year-round.

Lavender (Lavandula spp.)

Lavender is beautiful, with dusty green-gray leaves and stunning purple flowers. It’s also useful as an aromatic wonder with the power to keep us cool and calm. That same aroma is an effective tool for deterring pests like fleas and ticks while also attracting beneficial insects. And, lavender is sometimes used in desserts and herbal teas.

Lavender can grow up to three feet tall and equally as wide. The hardiest variety (English lavender) is hardy to USDA Zone 5.

Giant Gray Bamboo (Phyllostachus nigra)

Okay, okay, bamboo is technically a grass, not a shrub, but this variety grows more like a tree (up to 60 feet tall). This makes it a great evergreen visual barrier when neighboring or nearby properties are so attractive. It’s also considered one of the tastiest and most productive varieties of bamboo.

This bamboo is a clumping variety, so it is less of a danger for becoming invasive. Still, it should only be planted if the owner has placed it carefully so as to be easily controlled.

Sage (Salvia officinalis)

An undersung herb, sage is amazing for winter dishes like stuffing and stew. It also helps to make meatless “meats” have a more suggestive flavor. Sage also works wonderfully as a tea or a flavor added to normal black tea.

The sage plant can get to be about 30 inches tall. It has gray-green leaves that are fuzzy and full. It puts up a beautiful spike of flowers in the spring. It can be hardy up to USDA Zone 4.

Rosemary (Salvia rosmarinus)

Rosemary is not a big mystery for most of us. The plants look kind of like small pine trees, with aromatic needles stretching down the length of their branches. Rosemary is a Mediterranean plant and does well from USDA 7 and warmer. It can turn many-a-meal into something that much better.

Evergreen huckleberry (Vaccinium ovatum)

A close relative to blueberries and very similar in appearance, evergreen huckleberry will grow as far north as Alaska and down into the California sunshine. The berries, too, are delicious and full of nutrients that’ll do a body good.

It thrives in the sun and can tolerate shade. It is native to the West Coast of the US, but it can be cultivated on the East Coast as well.

In short, evergreen shrubs can be edible, and they can provide great greenery to enjoy throughout the year. They are fun to grow and cover a huge range of flavors and uses.

Related Content:

• Self-Seeding Edible and Medicinal Plants
• 10 Edible Flowers to Beautify Your Plate
• 8 Edible and Medicinal ‘Weeds’
• Wine Cap Mushrooms: One of the Easiest Edible Fungi to Grow at Home
• 7 Hedge Shrubs That Can Provide Privacy and Sustenance

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