What kind of evergreen tree or tall shrub grows well in the shade?
Shade in zone 7 – as a faster growing alternate to the holly and as something that will take the shade better than the junipers or pines, I would recommend Photinias aka Red Tips. These grow quickly and like heat. They grow just fine here (zone 7b) and they are often found between houses. They are a member of the rose family, meaning that they can get black-spot, so be sure they have some air movement around them. I stopped mine from having black spot by cutting off the bottom 48″ of leaves once they were about 8′ tall – you just keep removing leavs or suckers that form in the lower area – blackspot is a soil-borne disease, so if the soil cannot splash up on the leaves, they will not get back spot. I just unse Nandinas for the lower 48″ in the areas where I want coverage all the way to the ground and it is in shade. It does hold it’s glossy leaves all year and it is very dense.
