Soft & Short Needled Evergreen Shrubs

Fir Shrubs

• Nearly all firs (Abies spp.) bear soft, medium-green, short foliage. A few shrub forms are especially noteworthy, however. "Gable's Weeping" fir (Abies concolor "Gable's Weeping"), hardy in U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) plant hardiness zones 3 through 7, forms a mound of weeping branches while "Klein's Nest" (Abies fraseri "Klein's Nest"), hardy in USDA zones 4 through 7, is an upright, spreading form. Dwarf balsam fir (Abies balsamea "Nana"), hardy in USDA zones 3 through 6, is a globe-shaped shrub with soft, deep-green needles.

Hemlock Shrubs

• Nearly all hemlocks (Tsuga spp.) bear soft, medium-green needles that are even shorter than fir needles. Many shrub forms are cultivars of Canadian hemlock (Tsuga canadensis), which is hardy in USDA zones 3 through 7. Examples include "Stewart's Gem" (Tsuga canadensis "Stewart's Gem"), which has a low, globe form, and "Frosty" (Tsuga canadensis "Frosty"), which bears green foliage frosted white. "Jeddeloh" (Tsuga canadensis "Jeddeloh"), another example, has a mounding, nestlike form. All three cultivars are hardy in USDA zones 3b through 7b.

Cedar Shrubs

• True cedars are in the Cedrus family, and most of them that have soft foliage and short needles are cultivars of Deodar cedar (Cedrus deodara), hardy in USDA zones 7 through 9a. Those cultivars include "Prostrate Beauty" (Cedrus deodara "Prostrate Beauty"), which bears blue foliage and has a spreading habit, and "Blue Snake" (Cedrus deodara "Blue Snake"), which bears blue foliage with twisting, serpentine branches. Another cultivar, "Snow Sprite," grows in a low, upright mound form with light-green foliage and ivory new growth. All of those cultivars are hardy in USDA zones 7 through 9.

Yew Shrubs

• Yews (Taxus spp.) range from bright yellow to deep green. Their needles are soft, pliable and short. Shrub forms include "Bright Gold" (Taxus cuspidata "Bright Gold"), which is hardy in USDA zones 4 through 7, bears bright-gold foliage and has an upright, spreading habit, and spreading English yew (Taxus baccata "Repandens"), which is hardy in USDA zones 5 through 9 and bears deep-forest-green foliage. "Everlow" (Taxus x media "Everlow"), hardy in USDA zones 4 through 7, forms a low, wide mound and bears medium-green foliage.

Other Shrubs

• A few shrub versions of the tall, stately Douglas fir (Pseudotsuga spp.) are "Powell Valley" (Pseudotsuga menziesii "Powell Valley"), a dwarf bearing blue-green needles, and "S.J.I. Weeping" (Pseudotsuga menziesii "S.J.I. Weeping"), a weeping variety. All have small, soft needles and are hardy in USDA zones 5 through 7. Japanese cedars (Cryptomeria spp.) bear needles that are shorter than Douglas fir needles but equally as soft. Shrub forms include "Elegans Nana" (Cryptomeria japonica "Elegans Nana"), a mounding shrub hardy in USDA zones 6 through 9, and "Tansu Sport" (Cryptomeria japonica "Tansu Sport"), a bright-green, mounding variety hardy in USDA zones 5 through 8.