Hedge Plants for Maryland: What Holds, and What Only Looks Hardy

Maryland runs from USDA zone 5b to 8a, a spread wide enough that the same hedge can thrive in one county and die in another. Of the 12 hedge species documented on this site, 6 hold across the whole state, 6 hold in only part of it, and none fail everywhere. The partial six are where the expensive mistakes happen. What follows sorts out which is which, flags the plants you can never cut back to size, and looks at what the ground under a Maryland hedge tends to do.

What actually holds in Maryland

The zone number on a plant tag comes from one measurement: the average annual extreme minimum temperature. The USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map (2023 edition, built on 1991-2020 normals) puts Maryland anywhere from 5b to 8a. That is a range, not an address. The mountains in the west sit at the cold end, and the milder Eastern Shore sits toward the warm end. Your own zone depends on where the property is, so look it up before you buy forty feet of anything.

The six that hold only in part of the state

Start with what will not survive everywhere, because a hedge is a long, visible row and a dead one is hard to hide. Each of these needs a zone check, not a yes or a no:

Two of them, Leyland cypress and cherry laurel, start at 6a. If your address falls in 5b, the coldest pocket in the state, they are outside their documented range. The other four stop at 7b, which leaves zone 8a out of their range. The upper end of a hardiness range is often a heat limit rather than a cold one, so a privet or yew in an 8a spot may simply sulk through summers it was never rated for.

The six that hold everywhere

Boxwood (Buxus sempervirens), American hornbeam (Carpinus caroliniana), evergreen inkberry holly (Ilex glabra), winterberry holly (Ilex verticillata, which loses its leaves in winter), eastern red cedar (Juniperus virginiana) and arrowwood viburnum (Viburnum dentatum) hold from 5b through 8a. That means they survive the whole state. It does not mean every one of them looks its best in every corner of it. A plant at the edge of what it tolerates will often look tired next to one in the middle of its range.

The hedges you can never cut back down

Three of the twelve cannot regrow from old wood: Leyland cypress, arborvitae and eastern red cedar. Cut into the bare interior of any of them and the branch does not resprout. Whatever height and width you have when the hedge outgrows its spot is the size you live with, or you replace the plant. Everything else on the list, boxwood, yew, privet, hemlock and the rest, can be cut hard and will come back.

Leyland cypress, the one that outruns you

Leyland cypress grows 3 to 4 feet a year and reaches 15 to 25 feet as a screen, and it cannot be cut back to size later. At that pace, a 3-foot plant is near 15 feet in about three to four seasons. The pruning window runs from late spring to midsummer, and the only workable approach is to trim the outer growth regularly so you never need a hard cut.

Arborvitae and eastern red cedar

Arborvitae grows slower, 6 to 9 inches a year, and stays between 4 and 15 feet as a hedge. Prune it in late winter before growth starts, or in midsummer. It holds only from 5b to 7b, and it does not regrow from old wood either, so a lopsided or storm-damaged section stays lopsided.

Eastern red cedar is the tough native of the three. It holds across the whole state, grows 12 to 24 inches a year and reaches 8 to 20 feet as a screen. Cut it lightly in late winter and no harder.

The practical rule is to decide the final height before planting, then pick the plant whose mature size matches it. A 6-foot privacy hedge does not belong in Leyland cypress. Boxwood, yew or inkberry can be cut back to 6 feet, hard, more than once. For other states, see Hedge Plants for Vermont: What Holds, and What Only Looks Hardy and Hedge Plants for Missouri: What Holds, and What Only Looks Hardy.

Matching the plant to the job

Speed is the first thing to weigh, and the numbers are far apart. Boxwood adds 3 to 6 inches a year and tops out at 2 to 6 feet. Leyland cypress adds 3 to 4 feet in the same time. A low formal edge and a fast privacy wall are different projects, and the growth rate tells you how long you will wait and how often you will trim.

Tall screens

For height, the candidates are Leyland cypress (15 to 25 feet), eastern hemlock (10 to 20 feet), eastern red cedar (8 to 20 feet), cherry laurel (6 to 15 feet) and arborvitae (up to 15 feet). Of those, only red cedar holds statewide. Hemlock and cherry laurel regrow from old wood, which gives you a way back if they get too big. Cherry laurel is slow, 1 to 2 feet a year, and needs a late spring cut after flowering. Hemlock takes light cuts only, in late spring.

Formal edges and mixed borders

Boxwood and yew suit clipped, formal lines. Boxwood holds statewide and is pruned in late spring, after the last frost. Yew holds 5b to 7b, grows 6 to 12 inches a year, and is cut in late spring once the new growth hardens. For a looser hedge, arrowwood viburnum (6 to 10 feet, pruned right after flowering), inkberry and winterberry (5 to 15 feet, both pruned in late winter while dormant) and American hornbeam (6 to 15 feet, cut in midsummer after the first flush) all hold statewide and all regrow from old wood.

Timing matters more than most people expect. On September 29, nearly every pruning window on this list has closed: late spring and midsummer are behind us, and the late-winter cuts are months away. The one exception is privet, which gets two cuts a season, spring and midsummer. The NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 normals (station data here) put the first fall frost between October 26 and November 5 (the 30 to 70 percent band of 32°F freeze probability) at their reference station. For general background on the topic, see our overview of Hedges.

The ground you are planting into

The USDA lists the Sassafras series, an Ultisol, as Maryland’s representative soil. Ultisols are old, heavily weathered and leached soils, naturally acid and low in nutrients. The USDA NRCS Soil Data Access figures for the surface horizon (290 mapped components, queried 2026-08-29) show a pH of about 5.3, which is strongly acid, and a texture of 67 percent sand, 10 percent clay and 23 percent silt. Organic matter sits near 1.6 percent, and the soil is well drained.

What that tends to mean for a hedge: water moves through fast, nutrients do not hang around, and a newly planted row can dry out quicker than the label suggests. Mulch and steady watering in the first seasons do more here than fertilizer.

Now the caution, and it is a real one. This is the soil that represents the state, not the soil in your yard. Maryland spans hundreds of soil series. River bottoms, hill country and any lot where a builder scraped or filled the ground can look nothing like Sassafras. The pH of 5.3 is a representative value for the mapped surface layer, not a measurement of your bed. Do not treat it as your number.

A soil test gives you the real one. The University of Maryland Extension (extension.umd.edu) is the place to start for how to collect and submit a sample. Test before you plant a long run, since a hedge is the one planting where fixing the soil afterward means working around roots. The tables here carry no lime or fertilizer rates, and those figures are not published in this page’s data, so use the lab’s recommendation for your own site.

Common questions

Which hedge plants hold across all of Maryland?

Six of the twelve species documented here: boxwood, American hornbeam, inkberry holly, winterberry holly, eastern red cedar and arrowwood viburnum. They hold from zone 5b through 8a.

Can I plant Leyland cypress in western Maryland?

It depends on your zone. Leyland cypress holds from 6a to 8a, so a 5b address is outside its range. Western Maryland is mountainous and runs colder and later than the rest of the state, but check your own address on the USDA map instead of assuming.

Which hedges can I cut back hard if they get too big?

Boxwood, American hornbeam, inkberry, winterberry, arrowwood, privet, cherry laurel, yew and eastern hemlock all regrow from old wood. Leyland cypress, arborvitae and eastern red cedar do not. Hemlock and red cedar also call for light cuts only.

What should I do with a hedge this month?

Mostly plan, and test the soil. The pruning windows for late spring and midsummer have passed, and the late-winter ones (inkberry, winterberry, red cedar and arborvitae) are still ahead. At the NOAA reference station, first fall frost falls between October 26 and November 5, and later in the western mountains. The last spring frost there falls between April 3 and April 16, which is the reference point for boxwood’s post-frost cut. Use your own local dates, since they differ across the state.