Evergreen Trees and Other Plants for Privacy

Privacy trees are a great investment—they make front and back yards feel more homey and comfortable, and outdoor entertaining feels more comfortable when you’ve got some privacy from neighbors. Privacy trees are also great for shielding front windows if you keep your curtains open for your plants! Whether you have a small front yard in the city or a sprawling field in the country, there are plenty of evergreen trees and plants for privacy to suit landscapes of any size.

Best Trees for Privacy in Illinois – At a glance

Pro Tips for a Stronger, Smarter Privacy Screen

Most folks think it’s just “plant and wait,” but here are a few expert secrets to help your trees and shrubs thrive:

Think eye-level, not just height
Privacy isn’t about tree height alone, you want full, dense coverage around 4 to 6 feet up. Mix in shrubs or layer plantings to fill in those lower gaps.

Mix it up
Uniform hedges can look too rigid and are more vulnerable to pests. Try mixing evergreens with flowering shrubs or ornamental grasses for a natural, resilient look.

Block the wind early
Winter winds can scorch or dry out young evergreens. Consider a burlap screen or temporary fencing if your yard is wide open.

Watch your spacing
If trees are too close to fences, patios, or each other, their roots won’t have room to grow. Think long-term — that skinny little sapling needs space!

Test your drainage
Soggy soil is a death sentence for many privacy trees. Dig a hole, fill it with water, and make sure it drains within an hour before planting.

Mind the snow load
Heavy snow can snap branches on upright, columnar trees. Gently shake snow off after storms or pick varieties with looser branch structures.

Don’t be afraid to trim
Once your screen hits the height you want, you can lightly trim the tops to encourage it to fill out below. It’s especially helpful for arborvitae and hedges.

Evergreen Trees for Privacy in Large Yards in Bloomingdale and Carpentersville

To create privacy in a large space, you’ll want to create a border of trees—kind of like a living fence! In landscape design, we call this “privacy screening.” You can best accomplish this with tall, narrow trees with a columnar shape. Look for fast-growing varieties, so they mature quickly, creating a wall of greenery.

Here are some large evergreen privacy trees you can plant in Illinois:

• Norway Spruce (Picea abies)
  Hardy and fast-growing, great for large borders and windbreaks.
• Columnar Norway Spruce (Picea abies ‘Cupressina’)
  We love this classic spruce for privacy borders around larger spaces. It reaches a stately 30 feet high at maturity but maintains a tidy, compact, 10-foot spread, making it easy to plant in a row.
  It’s an especially fast-growing evergreen tree, so you won’t have to wait long for your privacy screen to fill out. Columnar Norway spruce prefers full sun and evenly moist soil is ideal, but you should avoid overwatering.
• Eastern White Pine (Pinus strobus)
  For supersized yards that need a lot of coverage around the perimeter, opt for the white pine. This beauty stretches 35 feet across and reaches 60 feet high.
  Its needles are glossy and light with warm undertones, and they’re surprisingly fine and silky—beautiful in the sun! Planting en masse or near a tall home is ideal—it can be sensitive to windburn if planted alone in an open area.
• Green Giant Arborvitae (Thuja standishii x plicata)
  One of the fastest-growing evergreens for privacy, gaining up to 3 ft per year and maturing at 50–60 ft tall. Perfect for creating quick, dense living walls.

• Fat Albert Blue Spruce (Picea pungens ‘Fat Albert’)
  A dense, pyramidal spruce with striking silvery-blue needles. Adds both privacy and ornamental value.
• Black Hills Spruce (Picea glauca var. densata)
  A stately, climate-hardy spruce with bluish-green needles—excellent for windbreaks and privacy.

Evergreen Shrubs and Trees for Privacy in Medium Yards

A single statement tree or a pair of strategically placed trees near the entrance of your home can provide a sense of privacy without taking up all the available space. Some varieties are so narrow you can still create a privacy border around the perimeter of your yard without overwhelming the space. There are also some lovely evergreen shrubs that still reach impressive heights without spreading too wide.

Here are a few lovely evergreens that fit the bill:

• Baby Blue Spruce (Picea pungens ‘Baby Blue’)
  Compact pyramid with silvery-blue needles—perfect as a vertical focal point or mixed in layered screening.
• Dark Green Arborvitae (Thuja occidentalis ‘Nigra’)
  Also known as the eastern white cedar, this satisfyingly slender evergreen tree grows tall and maintains a uniform width, just like a stone column. If you prefer a manicured look to your landscape plants, the dark green arborvitae is perfect for small privacy screens with 3–4 trees.
  
  Its texture is fine and fluffy—less severe than your typical prickly-needled evergreen. It grows in full to partial shade with moist to average soil.
• Emerald Green Arborvitae (Thuja occidentalis ‘Smaragd’)
  A landscape classic that reaches 12–15 ft tall, forming a neat, narrow hedge. Keeps its bright green color year-round.
• Holmstrup Arborvitae (Thuja occidentalis ‘Holmstrup’)
  Compact, upright, and hardy, great for medium yards where space is limited but evergreen privacy is needed.
• Technito Arborvitae (Thuja occidentalis ‘Techny’ dwarf)
  Dense and pyramidal with excellent winter hardiness. A great lower-maintenance option for medium yards.

• Weeping White Spruce (Picea glauca ‘Pendula’)
  This gorgeous, ultra-dramatic weeping evergreen is perfect for small yards, with a 6–10 foot spread and a whopping 50-foot height at maturity. You’ll love watching it grow taller each year while still remaining nice and compact. 
  Just make sure you don’t plant it under any power lines! It prefers full sun or partial shade. Weeping white spruce always impresses with its cool blue-green foliage, sweeping elegantly downward like a skirt.

• Junipers
• Blue Point Juniper (Juniperus chinensis ‘Blue Point’) – A stunning, upright-growing shrub reaching 12 ft tall and 9 ft wide.
• Spartan Juniper (Juniperus chinensis ‘Spartan’) – Columnar, with a 7 ft spread and max height of 15 ft.
  
• Skyrocket Juniper (Juniperus scopulorum ‘Skyrocket’) – Extremely narrow, only 2 ft wide but 15 ft tall; perfect for city yards.

Shrubs and Plants for Privacy in Small Yards in Chicago

If you’re hesitant to plant a bunch of tall trees in your yard and you’d prefer something that doesn’t reach quite so high, shrubs and hedge plants are the way to go.

Here are some deciduous, non-evergreen shrubs that add privacy to small yards:

• Cheyenne Common Privet (Ligustrum vulgare ‘Cheyenne’)
  A wildly popular hedge plant that’s easy to prune, Cheyenne Privet wows us with its lightly scented flower panicles that emerge in late spring. Its dark, glossy leaves contrast beautifully against its creamy white blooms.
  After its flowers fade, you can prune Cheyenne Privet into a smooth, even shape for a tidy, manicured look or let its natural texture fill out.

   

• Mohican Viburnum (Viburnum lantana ‘Mohican’)
  Dome-shaped clusters of delicate, fluffy white blooms give way to striking orange-red berries in fall. Birds and butterflies can’t resist this showy hedge plant—it adds so much splendor to small landscapes! It’s quite drought-tolerant once established, so if you spread some mulch around the soil base, you won’t need to water it very often.
  Plant a single Mohican viburnum in front of your window, or plant a few in a row and prune them every year to maintain a uniform shape.

   

• White Pillar® Rose of Sharon (Hibiscus syriacus ‘Gandini van Aart’)
  This romantic flowering shrub is surprisingly hardy! Its bold, dramatic blooms add so much curb appeal.
  ‘White Pillar’ Rose of Sharon makes a lovely naturalistic border plant as an alternative to the standard symmetrical hedge. Plant them in a row, and they’ll reach as high as 15 feet tall at maturity.

   

Choosing the Right Privacy Tree

When selecting privacy trees, consider:

• Yard size – Tall, wide trees for acreage; narrow columnar trees for city lots.

   

• Growth rate – Fast growers (like Green Giant Arborvitae) fill in quickly, but slower growers may be easier to manage long term.

   

• Style – Manicured arborvitae hedges vs. more natural spruce or flowering shrubs.

   

• Maintenance – Some trees require pruning or protection from wind exposure.

   

Tips for Designing, Planting, and Maintaining Your Privacy Trees in Illinois

Picking the right privacy trees is just the beginning. To get the best results, it’s important to think about how you design the layout, how you plant them, and how you care for them as they grow. Here’s how to build a living privacy screen that’s both beautiful and functional.

Designing Your Privacy Planting

Plan for mature size
Give your trees and shrubs plenty of space to grow into their full size. Overcrowding leads to poor airflow, more disease problems, and uneven growth.

• Arborvitae and spruces should be spaced 3 to 5 feet apart for a dense screen.

   

• Junipers need about 2 to 4 feet depending on the variety.

   

• Large trees like Norway spruce or white pine should have 10 to 15 feet between them.

   

Try staggered rows for a fuller look
In medium to large yards, plant in a zigzag pattern with two offset rows instead of a straight line. It fills in faster and adds visual interest.

Mix plant types for texture and color
You can layer in different heights, foliage textures, and even bloom times. Use taller evergreens in the back, mid-size shrubs in the middle, and low-growing plants in front to create a soft, layered effect.

Check sunlight and wind exposure
Most privacy evergreens love full sun. If your yard is windy, protect sensitive varieties like Eastern white pine by planting them in groups or along a fence line.

How to Plant Privacy Trees and Shrubs

Dig wide, not deep
Make the hole about twice as wide as the root ball and just as deep. The top of the root ball should sit level with or slightly above the soil line.

Loosen the roots
Before planting, gently pull apart any circling roots to help them spread out into the soil.

Use your existing soil
Backfill with the same soil you dug out. You can mix in some compost, but it’s best to let the plant adapt to your native soil.

Water thoroughly and mulch
After planting, water deeply to settle the soil. Add 2 to 3 inches of mulch around the base, but keep it a few inches away from the trunk to avoid rot.

Long-Term Care for Healthy Privacy Plants

Watering

• For the first year or two, water deeply once or twice a week depending on the weather.

   

• Once established, these plants usually only need supplemental water during dry spells.

   

Fertilizing

• Apply a balanced, slow-release fertilizer in early spring.

   

• Skip late-season feedings, which can encourage soft new growth that’s vulnerable to frost.

   

Pruning and shaping

• Arborvitae and hedges can be shaped lightly once a year to keep them tidy.

   

• Most spruce and pine varieties don’t need much pruning beyond removing dead or crowded branches.

   

Winter care

• Wrap young evergreens like arborvitae with burlap if they’re in a windy, exposed area.

   

• Reapply mulch in late fall to protect roots from freezing temperatures and help hold in moisture.

   

Watch for pests and disease
Check regularly for bagworms, mites, or fungal spots. If something seems off, snap a photo and bring it by the nursery — we’ll help you figure it out and find the right treatment.

Visit Platt Hill Nursery

There are plenty more privacy shrubs and evergreen trees for sale in Illinois here at Platt Hill Nursery in Bloomingdale and Carpentersville. Visit us soon, and we’ll be happy to show you a range of options to suit your unique space, budget, and style.

Platt Hill Nursery is Chicago’s premier garden center and nursery.