12 Popular Evergreen Plants for a Balcony Garden

Ever feel like your balcony looks a little bit lifeless in winter? As the flowers of summer fade away and your vertical vegetable plants have been harvested, it can leave a garden looking empty.

What to grow on your balcony in the winter…

To add life and color to a mini garden space in the depths of winter, we’ve gathered together a list of popular, evergreen plants for your balcony.

As evergreens, these plants will all keep their leaves throughout the year. Adding interest, texture, and color when other plants have dropped their leaves. There are even some unexpected benefits to having evergreens in your garden — including positive health effects!

Best evergreen plants for a balcony

I’ve included a varied mix of evergreen plants to suit a variety of tastes and small garden styles. From beautiful flowering climbers to unique, low-growing shrubs.

Whether you’re looking to provide year-round privacy or color, here are some of the best evergreen plants to grow on your balcony!

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1. Heaths and Heathers (Ericaceae)

With evergreen foliage and brightly colored flowers, Heaths and Heathers are a lovely group of evergreens that provide color in your garden through winter.

Heather (Calluna)

Heathers keep their scale-like, green foliage year-round. But as summer rolls around, you’ll be treated to an intense display of flowers that last well into autumn.

• More cold hardy
• Most varieties flower in Summer and Autumn (some into Winter too)

Heaths (Erica)

The thin needle-like leaves also stay throughout the year, but they usually begin to flower as winter approaches. Unlike many other plants, winter is spring is the time when Heaths really shine. Available in a range of pinks, oranges, yellows, and purples.

• More heat tolerant
• Most varieties flower in Winter and Spring

In cooler climates, Calluna heathers are much more hardy than the Erica species. So if you have a balcony garden in Northern Michigan, a Calluna vulgaris ‘Firefly’ or ‘Gold Mist’ would be perfect. It may even be a nice reminder of Irish road trips or Scottish holidays in the highlands!

2. California Lilac (Ceanothus)

Full of color throughout the seasons, a California lilac will provide color and foliage throughout the year. In summer you’re treated with a mass of blue flowers that are loved by bees and pollinators.

And as they fade away, you’re left with luscious, deep green foliage until the flowers return again the following year.

You can train ceanothus to grow against a wall, fence, or trellis in a container (like this combined planter and trellis from Amazon). And as vigorous evergreens, they’re easy to prune and maintain at a manageable size.

If you’re looking for a little extra color, there are also some beautiful variegated Ceanothus varieties. Ceanothus ‘Lemon and Lime’ and ‘Silver Surprise’ are two very popular varieties that add an additional splash of color in winter.

3. Dwarf Conifers

There’s an amazing variety of dwarf conifers for a small garden that you can add to your balcony. Their mini size makes them ideal for balconies and small gardens in general. You’ll still get the amazing shapes, colors, and textures of a conifer, but in miniature!

There are so many beautiful varieties to choose from. Including the blue-grey, low-growing Blue Star conifer and the Snow White conifer with 1m high blue-green foliage topped with cream in spring and autumn.

Dwarf conifers generally have good drought resistance, and won’t typically need pruning, making them a great group of low maintenance plants for a balcony.

They really are one of the best plants to grow on your balcony in the winter!

4. Ivy 

Ivy is a perfect evergreen option that provides coverage and color throughout winter. They’re also a great shade loving plant for a garden that doesn’t receive much sunlight.

As a climbing plant, you can train ivy to grow across a trellis for screening. This expandable wooden trellis is a great option. You can also use different ivy varieties as evergreen trailing plants in hanging baskets.

The flowers can also provide pollinators with a late autumn source of nectar. Ivy plants can be pretty vigorous, so keeping them within a container is ideal for managing their spreading roots.

5. Box Tree (Buxus)

Dense and easy to maintain, box trees are a perfect option for a minimalist balcony garden. You can easily shape their dense green foliage, or even buy them already clipped into spheres or other unique shapes.

Its small shiny, oval leaves will stay throughout the year, and you’ll even have small white flowers in summer. If you fancy trying out topiary, they’re definitely an evergreen to pick up from your local garden center!

For the ultimate minimalist garden look, a box tree in one of these minimalist lightweight concrete planters from Amazon would create a simple yet refined look.

6. Dwarf Rhododendrons 

Usually considered way too large for a small garden, with dwarf varieties you can now bring the amazing summer blooms of rhododendron into the tiniest balcony garden!

As summer fades away, the leaves definitely won’t. So you’ll be left with a neat arrangement of leaf clusters, providing a bit of life on the darkest winter day.

Popular varieties include ‘Blue Tit’ or ‘Moerheim’, with pretty lavender flowers, and ‘Dwarf Red’ with warm, red blooms.

7. Sweet Box (Sarcococca) 

With sweetly scented winter flowers, sarcococca can provide both a visual and fragrant treat if you only have limited balcony space.

It’ll bear leaves all year round, however, in summer you’ll also see those subtle white flowers develop into deep purple berries.

8. Hebe 

A beautiful little shrub that has dense foliage year-round, and beautiful flower clusters in summer.  There’s a huge variety of hebe shrubs to choose from, so you’re bound to find a hebe to suit your taste!

There are some incredibly vibrant cultivars, including some with purple foliage and even bright pink leaves. Some of the classic hebe varieties include Heartbreaker, which has incredible pink variegated new leaves. And also the variety Margaret, which has beautiful spires of light purple flowers in summer and soft green foliage year round.

9. Carex Grass 

Carex grass is hardy and resistant to a range of growing conditions, from shady balconies to icy conditions.

You could add it into hanging containers for a cascade of silvery leaves. Or simply enjoy it in planters for a highly textured interest all year round! Lovely varieties include Feather Falls and Ice Dance, which would be perfect for brightening up a shady spot on your balcony.

10. Spindle Tree (Euonymus)

For clusters of dense evergreen foliage on a balcony garden, there’s nothing more reliable and lush than Euonymus, otherwise known as the spindle tree.

It’s a perennial evergreen, so its tightly packed leaves will make sure your balcony is full of texture and color year-round. They’re also a group of plants that work well as low growing hedges to block the view through glass balconies or railings.

There’s a beautiful collection of cultivars to choose from. From the striking white and green variegated ‘White Spire’ to the warming yellow glow of Euonymus ‘Emerald ‘n’ Gold’.

11. Bamboo

Bamboo is a beautiful evergreen that can bring height, movement, and architectural appeal to a balcony or small garden. Plus listening to the wind rustle bamboo leaves is really relaxing. Definitely great for creating a zen-style garden!

Bamboo is also one of the best narrow evergreen plants for screening. Its mass of stems and delicate foliage are ideal for creating a more private space on a balcony.

Not all species are evergreen, so double-check plant labels before buying and check the minimum temperature they can endure. Cold hardy bamboo varieties generally only survive down to -20F.

12. Eucalyptus

With its signature dusky blue/green tones and unique leaf structure, eucalyptus is a really beautiful plant. It’s also a popular plant to add foliage to bouquets. Ideal if you’re looking to grow your own cut flowers.

Like bamboo, eucalyptus can be fairly vigorous, so you may need to prune off a few long branches to keep it in check. But it’s a lovely, unique evergreen for a balcony garden. These budget-friendly clipping shears can help you tame any straying branches.

In a small garden space, every plant counts. So on a balcony, a good mix of perennial evergreens mixed with annual flowers ensures your garden bursts with color and life all year.

Been inspired by some of the dwarf plant varieties in this list? There are lots of other dwarfing plants that are ideal for small gardens. From dwarf tomato plants to dwarf sunflowers!

Other posts that can help you create a perfect balcony garden…

• Choosing containers for a balcony garden
• A guide to balcony vegetable gardening
• Top 10 ways to provide privacy on a balcony garden
• Evergreen climbers for a balcony garden

Featured image by Mathias_Beckmann from Pixabay