8 Narrow Evergreen Plants to Provide Screening

Feel like your balcony or garden is overlooked by neighbors? In smaller garden spaces, being overlooked by windows or apartments is a common issue.

However, with a certain selection of plants, you can block out the world and create your own mini sanctuary.

We’ve gathered together a selection of narrow, evergreen plants. With a small depth and/or width, these plants can create screening without taking up too much space. Important in a mini garden space! Using narrow plants is a great way to bring texture and color while still saving space in a small garden.

Plus as evergreens, you’ll have privacy and screening throughout the year. So say goodbye to nosy neighbors!

Narrow Evergreen Plants to Provide Screening

These trees and plants naturally form a very upright, columnar (fastigiate) shape. Or they can create a slim screen of dense evergreen foliage. Perfect for adding year-round privacy to a balcony or small garden space.

1. Italian Cypress

An incredibly narrow conifer that is the signature tree of the Tuscany region in Italy. With its dense foliage and upright growing habit, it’s a perfect plant to provide screening. It’s one of the narrowest conifer species making it ideal for even the tightest of spaces.

When planted in a row, Italian Cypress can create a really elegant statement. Especially if you’re trying to emulate a Mediterranean-style garden.

Because of its narrow shape, it’s ideal for small gardens, from balconies to tiny urban courtyards.

Height: maximum of 26ft (however it’s very slow-growing, and can be pruned)

Spread: 1.5-3ft

2. Juniperus scopulorum ‘Blue Arrow’

This conifer species is known for its silvery-blue foliage and narrow columnar growth. The name ‘Blue Arrow’ is incredibly fitting!

It’ll keep its distinctive blue coloring right through the year, adding texture, color, and interest. The foliage is very dense, so by placing a few in a row you’ll have an impressive yet narrow screening hedge.

Height: maximum of 13ft (however it’s very slow-growing, and can be pruned)

Spread: 1-2ft

3. Japanese Holly (Ilex crenata)

Another great low-maintenance evergreen option to provide screening is Japanese Holly. Look for varieties that belong to the Fastigata group as these are generally the tallest and most narrow. Some varieties like ‘Compacta’ or ‘Jenny’ are low-growing and are plants that are best for shorter hedges. So you’ll want to avoid those if you’re looking to create a taller screen.

Slow-growing and covered in dense evergreen foliage, Japanese Holly is ideal for urban courtyard gardens or balconies.

Some of the most narrow varieties include:

• ‘Sky Pencil’ | It’s all in the name! This variety of Japanese Holly is known for its slender and columnar shape
• ‘Carolina Upright’
• ‘Mariesii’

Height: 6ft

Spread: 3ft

4. Bamboo 

Possibly one of the most elegant, narrow plants for privacy! The soft, dense foliage of bamboo is great for providing privacy without looking too bold or harsh.

Some of the best bamboo varieties for screening in a small garden include Fountain Bamboo (Fargesia nitida) and Fargesia murieliae ‘Lava’.

You may be able to find bamboo that has already been trained into a fanned ‘screening’ shape. Otherwise, a few containers placed together can give the same effect as a ‘natural wall’.

Height: 6-8ft+

Spread: 4-5ft (but can be narrower with pruning)

5. Ivy

Ivy is probably one of the cheapest narrow evergreen screening plants. You’ll usually always be able to find some lovely varieties in your local nursery.

It’s fast-growing, which could be both a pro and con! If you plant some at the bottom of a trellis it’ll soon begin to climb and provide cover. The roots are pretty ruthless though, so it’s definitely best kept in a container or long planter.

Other evergreen climbers to consider could be Star Jasmine or Clematis Armandii.

Height: Can reach heights of over 26ft! So will need pruning to your desired height.

Spread: 1-2ft (but can be narrower with regular pruning)

6. Eucalyptus gunnii ‘Azura’

If you’re looking for something unique then eucalyptus is definitely a beautiful evergreen screening plant to consider. With its circular, greyish-blue/green leaves and long stems, it has an amazing ornamental impact.

Like bamboo, eucalyptus can be fairly vigorous, so you may need to prune it to keep it in check. The stems are popular in bouquets, so you could even save the stems that you prune and add them to a mix of other cut garden flowers.

Height: 19ft maximum (can be pruned)

Spread: 8ft maximum (can be pruned to maintain narrow shape)

7. California Lilac (Ceanothus)

The dense foliage of ceanothus shrubs is perfect for screening. Plus, in late spring, you’ll have an incredible display of blue flowers to enjoy.

Some ceanothus varieties can become quite bushy and tall very quickly, so you may need to keep on top of pruning each year.

A lovely, naturally upright, ceanothus variety that’s easier to train vertically is ‘Lemon and Lime’. It has beautiful variegated lime green and dark green foliage that stays evergreen all year.

Some ceanothus varieties can be deciduous, so check the plant label and your USDA hardiness zone before buying.

Height: 6ft

Spread: 4-5ft (but can be narrower with pruning)

8. Irish Yew

Simple yet effective, Irish Yew (Taxus ‘Fastigiata’) can provide an incredibly dense and dependable screening effect. The foliage is a bright green, yet it becomes green and golden if placed in a sunny spot.

Height: Maximum height of 10-13ft (but can be shorter with pruning)

Spread: Maximum width of 3-6ft (but can be narrower with pruning)

Pleached trees

Another option is to look for ‘pleached’ trees. These are trees with branches that have been trained to fan outwards. They still sit on a long trunk, so they’ll only provide screening up high.

They’re a popular choice for extending the screening above a wall or fence, while still letting you grow plants around the trunk.

Some shrubs or trees that are too bushy to provide narrow screening can be found as pleached trees. Pleached Photinia and Ligustrum Japonicum trees can sometimes be found like this in more specialist nurseries.

Looking for other naturally upright plants? Check out our list of tall and thin plants for narrow garden spaces.