Hi

its a nice shrub , the only thing I would be worried about how it would it cope in a hard winter I realise you are in Dorset but I lived in Cornwall and I remember a hard winter killing most back to roots or worse killed outright so is it in a sheltered spot , well drained soil ?

Alternative would be holy and that likes the edge of woodland to grow and evergreen ...

Gg

I wouldn't recommend it for more than one reason - they like full sun, and don't stand upright without a support behind them, like a fence or a trellis, instead tending to form a sort of mound. Plus there is a major problem with Escallonia Leaf Spot, and many people have had to remove their plants because they just look so awful with it. If you have the space (this gets wider than it does tall, so at least 12 feet wide eventually) I'd be inclined to go for something like Berberis stenophylla, so long as you don't mind a large, evergreen shrub with arching growth that's got prickly edges to the leaves. Deep yellow/orange flowers around May followed by black berries later... Berberis darwinii is similar, but doesn't have the arching growth and doesn't spread so wide, average mature height around 9 feet.

As it's on the edge of a woodland, then perhaps a Rhododendron‎ but not Ponticum. Choisya ternata, Philadelphus Virginal or a Cameilia. Escallonia Iveyi was a bad choice in my garden. Suffered from leaf spot, was quite bare at the foot of the shrub and held on to the dead flowers.

Escallonia Leaf Spot is a major problem, and it's currently untreatable. I've had to remove my Iveyi and Red Elf as a result. Gutted. :(

Gosh...that leaf spot sounds dire. I haven't heard of it before and have just added E. Iveyi to my garden. I shall keep an eye out for it. Thanks everyone.

Depending on the style of your garden, you could use a clump forming Bamboo or a big Yucca etc. to get the desired screening. Mahonia perhaps, or Griselinia...I'm trying to think of some other things that are fairly fast growing, evergreen and will take some shade. Perhaps a Fatsia japonica? A nice Rhododendron would be super though....something like Pink Pearl or Cunningham's White.
And of course, there's always a conifer.

Thank you all for your kind answers. I think I will have to think again!

Bamboo's suggestion is a good one. I have been looking at the Berberis plants.