7 Evergreen Plants to Never Cut Back, According to Gardening Experts

Some plants require pruning to maintain their shape or control their flower or fruit production. Others, including those that are always green throughout the year, never need to be cut back. In fact, doing so could negatively impact their overall health or growth. To keep your plants thriving year-round, we spoke to gardening experts who shared the evergreen plants that should never be pruned and why.

Meet the Experts

Tammy Sons, master gardener and CEO of TN Nursery, a leading tree and plant nursery

Pieter Croes, co-author of Wild Harmony, a new book covering urban gardens designed by authors and landscape designers Pieter Croes and Bart Haverkamp.

Related: 11 Plants You Should Never Divide, According to Gardening Experts

01 of 07

Juniper

Credit: Evgeniia Siiankovskaia / Getty Images

Many junipers (Juniperus) are slow-growing plants, and cutting them back can add many more years to their regrowth. Pruning these plants to clean up their appearance can leave bald spots that never fill back in, says Tammy Sons, master gardener and CEO of TN Nursery. Viewing junipers as a quiet workhorse in the garden can help gardeners set the right expectations for these plants, she says.

02 of 07

American Arborvitae

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This cold-tolerant evergreen shrub is often used as a hedge plant. With its compact form, the American arborvitae (Thuja occidentalis) doesn’t need pruning. Cutting back the brown portions of the plant—the old wood—will stop those sections from regenerating. “Letting these evergreens grow and not cutting them back allows them to be the best evergreen they can be—strong, shapely, and completely low maintenance,” says Sons.

03 of 07

Longleaf Pine

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Cutting back longleaf pine (Pinus palustris) can cause several issues. First off, selecting the wrong time to prune can add undue stress to the tree, making it vulnerable to disease or pests. And trimming too much of this plant can make the tree appear stunted or uneven. “The plant itself is appealing in its natural form and better off if left alone,” says Sons. “As long as it is healthy and not taking over the garden path or roof line, I like these evergreens to grow ‘wild and free.'”

04 of 07

Yucca

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Often grouped in the cactus category, yuccas (Yucca spp.) are actually perennial evergreen shrubs. Most yuccas are slow growers, taking two to three years to reach maturity, says Pieter Croes, co-author of Wild Harmony. These plants also take about five years to bloom, so cutting them back can delay this progress.

05 of 07

Succulents

Credit: Christina Williger

Most succulents are evergreen and only drop their leaves under stress. In arid regions that support outdoor succulents, these plants create a nice ground cover. Succulents don’t need to be pruned. If you do try to prune the plant, you will end up cutting pieces of the plant off, says Croes, which could add undue stress to the succulent and affect its overall health.

06 of 07

Boxwood

Boxwood (Buxus) is another slow grower. A low-maintenance shrub, boxwood is celebrated for its compact growth and petite evergreen leaves, so it doesn’t typically need pruning. Especially when used as solitary shrubs—not planted in a row to form a hedge—these plants don’t need to be cut back, says Croes.

07 of 07

Dwarf Conifers

Several varieties of dwarf conifers exist, with most growing no more than 5 feet tall and wide. Slow growers, dwarf conifers tend to grow just a few inches each year. And if you cut them back too much, you risk them growing back slower or not at all, says Sons.

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