Evergreen perennial suggestions

[Popsicle30]

I am slowly getting into gardening but I'd like to try and make the garden as easy as possible to care for and maintain.

I'm looking for evergreen perennial suggestions for borders. I've come to the conclusion that these are the type of plants I can work with in the garden but would like more suggestions. I have choisya and fatsia (I think) in the front garden and these seem to have flourished. I'm wanting to put other evergreen perennials in that will make a nice border and that I can prune and keep at a nice height. Any suggestions?

I also really like hosters. Can anyone suggest a similar low lying plant that will come back annually?

Many thanks in advance.

Slugs eat hostas - they bloody love them, I found hostas were just an endless disappointment. Low lying attractive perrenials - try heucheras to start. There are lots of answers to your questions obviously but I'm just putting this one in to start the ball rolling! I've bought my heucheras from these people - I've got no association with them, I just really like heucheras.
www.heucheraholics.co.uk/

Can I join pls, as I have some nice pots & planters I would like to fill with evergreens.

Oh and if you're looking for evergreen shrubs I'd have a ceanothus - they are not long lived (seven years-ish depending on variety and circumstances obviously) but when they're in flower they are divine, nothing like them IMHO.

And for the foliage itself - euonymous. Many kinds.

@giletrouge I love ceanothus (just googled), didn't realise they were evergreen. Thank you

I already have a few hostas and slugs dont seem to be an issue for them. Although they were in our old house! Thank you for the suggestion on heucheras 🙂.
Is the ceanothus easy to prune and keep at a mid height? They do look lovely.

I'm googling as the suggestions roll in. Thank you!

Oh god I hate pruning anything but my dh loves to snip at things - I'll ask him and come back later. I do remember him cutting our last ceanothus back (it's dead now but not due to his pruning, it just got old!).

@giletrouge the euonymus varieties look right up my street for the foliage. Thank you

I have a 'winter bed' created by previous owners.
It has winter sweet which flowers in February and smells fabulous if it gets a little sun. Choisya, a hebe, a variegated holly that grows incredibly slowly, a viburnum fragrens, Heather for groundlevel cover is indestructible, and bulbs planted under the shrubs.
I prune it all in autumn, pull out any weeds and top up the mulch, and that's it.

Ceanothus is one of my all-time fave plants. I mean look at this! Not mine - don't think I've got pix of my poor old dead one (or any other from the past).

@Popsicle30 I have a euonymus I think, it's lovely, very green & seems to take care of itself. I'm a novice.

Mahonia for winter colour? Christmas box, viburnum and cornus not evergreen but easy to grow and winter flowering or colourful stems.

Also daphne for scent and early flowering.

Thank you @Mintjulia. Some really good suggestions.

@giletrouge that is beautiful.

@teentipans me too! Plants that take care of themselves are high on my list.

Seconded Daphne. With the added bonus that from January to March (if you get an early and late flowering one) your garden will be filled with the most unexpected scent

Hebes would be good and the flowers are good for bees, you can get varieties grown just for their foliage. Also pieris, azaleas, escallonia, viburnums, mahonia are all worth a look.

Oh yes Mahonia! Gorgeous plant. There's a spine free variety nowadays.

OP you inspired me to go out in the garden and take some pix - so, hot off the presses - here are close-up of foliage of a slow growing euonymous, same euonymous whole, and another euonymous growing over the house. Both these plants are old - 20 years-ish, so as you can see euonymous can stay small or get big - this is partly variety, the slow grower will never get big. The big one can be chopped back easily, I think euonymouses are pretty tough. I'll ask dh when he wakes up!

Thank you all for your suggestions. Some really good ones. I've been googling as they come in

@giletrouge thank you for the photos. These are great. I'm looking for 'pretty tough' plants that I can keep alive 🤣.

Have a look at grasses. Some can look amazing especially in the autumn on a sunny day. Stipa gigantia I think is one Latin name. Plant in 3’s or 5’s. Not just one. Cut back in Feb time and they grow again.
Also a nice acer tree not every green but gives great autumn colour. You could just keep in a large pot.

I made a start on my evergreen garden last summer. Some of the shrubs I have include pieris and japanese pittosporum. I also have a twisted hazel - not evergreen but the twisted branches are a lovely contrast in winter. Mexican orange and eucalyptus. I’ve also got some lovely ones with leaves that change from green to red to deep brown- not sure what they’re called though. Cordylines and yuccas are also evergreen- with cordylines giving some nice height eventually.

DH up so re pruning - euonymus (I've been spelling it wrong!) yes they are tough you can hack them AND that big one on our house is apparently freakishly large - according to DH possibly the largest one ever (ha ha ha - it's like he suddeny became Trump). Ceanothus don't like being pruned much are quite sensitive, so better to buy one that's predicted to grow the size you'd like it to be and not prune much if at all.
Here's a heuchera of mine that's managed to overwinter without dying back much.

I love Ceanothus and have one in my garden ( cannot remember how old it is )

What's the really dark blue variety ? Mine is mauvey but I covet the darker one .
TIA

Just to echo what others have said... A Daphne.
I have a 'Perfume Princess' in bloom at the moment. It is so, so, soooo beautiful, and the scent is just divine.