Which evergreen shrubs for this scenario?

[FolornLawn]

I want to plant some evergreen shrubs along a fence line to help reduce traffic noise. Because the shrubs will be going between the fence and a patio I don't want anything spiny, or anything that I can't cut back if it starts protruding out too far.

The fence faces north.

Yew, I think is good for traffic noise and can cope with being cut back.

Thanks, I'll have a look at yew. I was also wondering whether I should also consider shady climbers. I know climbing hydrangea isn't evergreen, but it's v nice to look at.

Yew is a good recommendation.
Privet is a classic for a reason, evergreen and neat.
Beech isn’t evergreen but does keep most of its leaves and gives nice winter colour.
I don’t think climbers will be dense enough to stop traffic noise.

Choisya is also good, doesn’t mind being cut back, the green reliably has. Fragrant flowers, that bees love v easy. The yellow one is proving a bit shrieky in my garden but could be nice with some darker evergreens.

A columnar evergreen tree if you need height…

Bay is nice and useful and you can hack right back or topiary it.

Climbing hydrangea is beautiful but it's very slow to get going. It also doesn't provide a dense coverage.

You need something fast growing with a dense structure and smallish leaves.

You can double up.

Grow Ivy on the fence itself and a row of plants next to it. Despite it's bad reputation ivy would be perfect, it grows fast, and it does well in shady spaces.

Thanks for these suggestions. The stretch of fence is only about 2.5 m long, so hopefully not too expensive to work with.

If you are after a climber jasmine copes surprising well in shade, although it might not flower as much, and is evergreen.

That’s good to know, I have a Jasmine Polyanthum that I need to move. It barely flowers where it is now, so I reckon giving it a bash on a north facing fence could be worth a try, above shrubs.