The Easy-To-Maintain Garden Trend Making Yards More Lush & Green In 2026

With the calendar year winding down, gardening experts and hobbyists alike are thinking ahead to 2026. One trend that should be on your radar is landscaping with purposeful evergreens. "Year-round blooms are fun, but equally as interesting are [plantings in] shades of green with various leaf-textures," landscape designer Adam Millhouse told Southern Living.

We love this gardening trend because it's appealing for aesthetic and utilitarian reasons. Since they last all year, evergreen plants are hardier and easier to maintain than, say, flowering perennials. Evergreens tend to be pretty slow growing, but your patience will be rewarded with year-round visual appeal and shelter for local wildlife. With so many varieties of evergreens out there — from small trees to ground cover plants — you truly have your pick of different vibes, textures, and shades of green. You can even grow an evergreen shade container for a lush, green look in your garden. Here's how to execute this gardening trend and make your yard look more verdant than ever in the new year.

With this trend, the aim is to curate a variety of evergreens with different looks. First, you'll need to do your homework and identify which plants you can successfully grow and care for. Yes, evergreens are hardy, but they do have variations in growing preferences, like soil acidity or USDA Hardiness Zones, and maintenance needs. You'll also need to consider your overall landscaping goals. Do you want more height or a secluded feel for your yard? Then an evergreen tree that gives you privacy might be the way to go. On the flip side, if you want your yard to look more lush and densely covered, research evergreen ground covers.

Beyond that, it's a matter of personal preference. Some popular, easy-to-maintain evergreen varieties include false cypress (Chamaecyparis), a U.S.-native conifer that can work as a shrub or small tree in Zones 4 through 8; Tortuga juniper (Juniperus communis 'Tortuga'), a fern-like shrub that's suitable for Zones 2 through 7; and trailing bearberry (Arctostaphylos uva-ursi), which boasts glossy leaves that change colors with the seasons. Also native to the U.S., bearberry is very cold tolerant and can be grown in Zones 2 through 6.

For visual interest, consider planting a few different shrubby evergreens side by side (if they favor similar growing conditions and won't compete for resources, of course) or balancing out their height with a taller variety. Additionally, you could double up on trends next year by ditching your ornamental flower beds for wildlife-friendly flowers. And it's never a bad idea to prioritize native plants. Growing them in your yard is an easy way to promote biodiversity and support your local ecosystem.