Your Leyland cypress screen may block out the neighbors, but that doesn’t mean it has to block out style. With the right companions, you can turn that plain green wall into a living, breathing landscape full of texture, color, and seasonal flair.
These 13 standout plants will make your cypress hedge truly pop—and help it blend beautifully into the rest of your yard. Just watch your step: we’ll also highlight 4 plants that spell trouble and could do more harm than good. Let’s get planting!
1. Vibrant Azaleas For Spring Color Bursts
Azaleas create spectacular spring displays with their trumpet-shaped blooms in pink, red, purple, or white. Their compact growth habit makes them perfect for the front of your cypress screen.
Plant them 3-4 feet from your cypress trees to give their roots enough space. Azaleas prefer acidic soil and partial shade, which they’ll naturally receive from the taller cypress trees behind them.
They typically grow 3-6 feet tall, creating a beautiful middle layer in your landscape design.
2. Elegant Japanese Maples For Structural Interest
Japanese maples bring delicate beauty with their distinctive leaf shapes and stunning fall colors. Their graceful branching patterns create a striking contrast against the uniform texture of cypress trees.
Place these ornamental trees 8-10 feet from your cypress screen to showcase their elegant form. Most varieties reach 15-25 feet tall but grow slowly, so they won’t quickly overshadow your design.
The red, orange, or purple autumn foliage adds seasonal drama to your otherwise evergreen backdrop.
3. Low-Maintenance Daylilies For Summer Blooms
Daylilies offer carefree color with their trumpet-shaped flowers in nearly every shade except blue. Despite their name, modern varieties often bloom for weeks rather than just a day.
Plant these tough perennials 2-3 feet from your cypress screen where they’ll receive morning sun but afternoon shade. Their strappy foliage stays attractive even when not blooming, providing year-round structure.
With hundreds of varieties available, you can select colors that complement your home and other plantings.
4. Evergreen Rhododendrons For Year-Round Structure
Rhododendrons maintain glossy green leaves all year while producing spectacular clusters of blooms in spring. Their broad-leaved evergreen nature provides excellent contrast to the needle-like foliage of cypress trees.
Give them plenty of space – at least 5 feet from your cypress – as mature specimens can reach 6-10 feet tall and wide. They share similar soil preferences with cypress, thriving in slightly acidic conditions with good drainage.
Choose varieties with white, pink, or purple flowers to create a cohesive color scheme.
5. Colorful Hydrangeas For Long-Lasting Summer Color
Hydrangeas produce massive flower heads that last for months, gradually changing color as they age. Their lush, rounded form softens the rigid lines of cypress trees, creating a more natural-looking border.
Plant them 4-5 feet from your cypress screen where they’ll receive morning sun but afternoon protection. Most varieties grow 3-6 feet tall and equally wide, creating substantial presence without overwhelming the space.
Blue, pink, white, or purple blooms offer options to match any color scheme you prefer.
6. Graceful Ornamental Grasses For Movement
Ornamental grasses bring movement and sound to your landscape as they sway in the breeze. Their vertical growth habit echoes the upright form of cypress while their feathery texture creates wonderful contrast.
Varieties like maiden grass or fountain grass work beautifully planted in groups of three or five. Place them 3-4 feet from your cypress to allow proper air circulation.
Many grasses develop attractive seed heads in fall that persist through winter, adding interest during the dormant season.
7. Fragrant Lavender For Sensory Appeal
Lavender adds delightful fragrance and attracts beneficial pollinators with its purple spikes. The silvery-gray foliage creates striking contrast against the dark green of cypress trees.
Plant lavender in the sunniest spots along your cypress screen, spacing plants about 2 feet apart. These Mediterranean natives prefer well-drained soil and actually benefit from the slight drought conditions often found near established cypress trees.
English lavender varieties typically prove most hardy in cooler climates, while French or Spanish types excel in warmer regions.
8. Shade-Loving Hostas For Ground Coverage
Hostas thrive in the dappled shade created by cypress trees, producing lush mounds of decorative foliage. Their large, often variegated leaves add interesting patterns and textures at ground level.
Plant them 2-3 feet from your cypress screen where they’ll receive protection from harsh afternoon sun. With hundreds of varieties ranging from tiny 6-inch specimens to massive 4-foot giants, you can create fascinating combinations.
While grown primarily for foliage, their summer flower stalks attract hummingbirds and add vertical interest.
9. Flowering Camellias For Winter Interest
Camellias produce stunning rose-like blooms during fall and winter when little else flowers. Their glossy evergreen leaves provide year-round structure while complementing the cypress foliage.
Plant these elegant shrubs 4-5 feet from your cypress screen in locations with morning sun and afternoon shade. Most varieties reach 6-12 feet tall at maturity, creating a substantial middle layer in your design.
Choose early, mid, and late-blooming varieties to extend the flowering season from October through March.
10. Drought-Tolerant Barberry For Color Contrast
Barberry shrubs offer striking burgundy or golden foliage that dramatically contrasts with green cypress trees. Their compact, mounding form creates excellent transition between tall trees and lower plantings.
Plant barberries 3-4 feet from your cypress screen in areas receiving at least half-day sun. Their thorny branches provide extra security while their dense growth habit discourages foot traffic.
Most varieties reach just 3-4 feet tall and wide, making them manageable additions that won’t compete with your cypress for space.
11. Climbing Roses For Vertical Accents
Climbing roses can be trained up trellises placed between cypress trees, creating spectacular flowering columns. Their abundant blooms add romantic charm while their vertical growth echoes the cypress form.
Install sturdy supports about 3 feet from your cypress trees and select repeat-blooming varieties for months of color. Modern disease-resistant climbers like ‘William Baffin’ or ‘New Dawn’ offer impressive performance with minimal maintenance.
The fragrant flowers attract butterflies while providing cutting material for indoor arrangements.
12. Native Ferns For Woodland Charm
Ferns bring delicate texture and woodland character to shaded areas along your cypress screen. Their feathery fronds create a lush, natural look that softens the base of the trees.
Plant moisture-loving varieties like lady fern or ostrich fern in groups where they’ll receive protection from hot sun. Once established, many native ferns tolerate the drier conditions often found near cypress roots.
Most stay under 3 feet tall, creating an attractive ground layer that requires minimal maintenance once established.
13. Butterfly-Attracting Coneflowers For Wildlife
Coneflowers (Echinacea) draw butterflies and birds with their daisy-like blooms and seed heads. Their upright growth habit creates vertical interest in front of the much taller cypress backdrop.
Plant these prairie natives in the sunniest spots along your cypress screen, about 2-3 feet away from the trees. Modern varieties come in pink, purple, white, yellow, and even orange, allowing for creative color combinations.
Leave the spent flowers standing through fall and winter to feed finches and other seed-eating birds.
14. AVOID: Invasive English Ivy
English ivy might seem like an attractive ground cover, but it poses serious threats to your cypress trees. This aggressive climber will scale trunks and eventually weaken or even kill trees by blocking light from reaching their foliage.
The vines can become woody with age and are extremely difficult to remove once established. Their dense growth also provides habitat for rodents that may damage tree bark.
Choose native ground covers like wild ginger or woodland phlox instead for similar coverage without the risks.
15. AVOID: Thirsty Willows
Willow trees grow quickly but create serious competition for water. Their extensive, aggressive root systems can stretch far beyond their canopies, seeking out and depleting moisture that your cypress trees need.
During drought conditions, this water competition becomes particularly problematic. Willows can also introduce diseases that might spread to nearby plantings.
If you want a similar weeping effect, consider a smaller ornamental tree like weeping cherry or Japanese maple placed at least 20 feet from your cypress screen.
16. AVOID: Allelopathic Black Walnut Trees
Black walnut trees release a chemical called juglone from their roots, nuts, and decomposing leaves that’s toxic to many plants. This natural defense mechanism, known as allelopathy, can severely stunt or kill your cypress trees over time.
The effects can appear gradually, making it difficult to identify the cause of your cypress decline. The toxic zone extends roughly 50-60 feet from mature walnut trees.
Keep black walnuts far from your property boundary if you value your cypress screen.
17. AVOID: Bamboo’s Aggressive Spread
Running bamboo varieties might seem like great privacy options, but their uncontrolled spread creates nightmares for homeowners. The underground rhizomes can travel 15+ feet annually, emerging through lawns and even hardscapes.
Once established near cypress trees, bamboo competes aggressively for nutrients and water. Its dense root system makes removal extremely difficult without also damaging your cypress roots.
If you absolutely must have bamboo, choose clumping varieties and install proper rhizome barriers at least 30 inches deep.