What type of evergreen will thrive in hard clay soil?

Evergreen bushes like Indian Hawthorne don't much like hard clay soil conditions. I planted two rows of them at my home in Dallas, Texas (where we have thick and somewhat dry clay soil) and one row thrived and the other died out. But for a few years they were quite beautiful, with their masses of pink blooms every spring.

I replaced that row of Indian Hawthorn across the front of the house with a row of Spirea shrubs and they are spectacular every spring, blooming with masses of delicate white flowers. The shrub itself is thickly covered with small leaves the rest of the season and grows up to four feet in height and about 3 feet in width. In winter they "fade" some, not quite losing all their leaves, but thinning a bit. Gentle trimming a little at this time helps each season's flowers bloom, as they prefer to bloom on "new wood."

I might also suggest shrub or hedge roses, with English varieties among my favorites. You can usually manage to hold them at three or four or five feet tall and about 3 feet across. If you get re-blooming varieties, you can count on a full-blooming "season" at least twice a year and many "random" roses popping up unexpectedly even during hot months. Avoid hybrid roses, as they don't "hedge" very well.

If all else fails, there's always the red-tipped Photinia called Fraser or fraseri. They grow fast, are quite pretty when covered in new-growth red tips, very thick (neighbors can't see through), but are vaguely and sometimes unpleasantly "odorific" at times. Keeping a distance mutes their spring smell, which I don't find all that bothersome anyway.

I hope I've helped. I love gardening and love looking at beautifully landscaped yards.

Xylosma, Redtwig dogwood, and Euonymus should do ok. I recommend checking the pH of your soil, too, and matching it up with appropriate plants or you could end up wasting money. For example, if your clay is very orangey, you'll probably need to add powdered lime to raise the pH.

i too have hard clay soil and have had very good luck with Virginia pines