Evergreen suggestions

Escallonia is pretty tough, and has lovely flowers, also try Euonymus fortunei - lots of differently variegated ones, and Choisya ternata - also flowers, twice in a year. C. teranta 'Sundance' has bright yellow leaves, while the other two are green. (C. ternata and C. 'Aztec Pearl'.

I'm sure other members will think of more. Is your soil acid or alkaline?

Have a look at fourseasonsgarden on this site.

Thanks, both of you! I already have a Choisya Ternata, a Photinia 'Red Robin', a Viburnum tinus and a Cotoneaster 'franchetii'.
I will check the 4 seasons garden section on the site, thank you.

Spritzhenry, Choisya ternata 'Sundance' looks great. I'll search for it.
About the soil, I didn't made a soil test yet. It is quite clayey though...

If you do not have to walk or work close to them, any Holly is good. We have one called Ilex myrtillifolia, small and very pretty. Ilex crenata is another good small Holly too.
There are a lot more Viburnums which are vergreen and flower at different times to V. tinus. V, davidii is usually grown for its leaves rather than the flowers. Then of course there are lots of evergreen Daphne too. D. Jacqueline Postil is scented and flowers from January onwards.

The Mahonia is lovely too, I have very heavy clay soil and my mahonias do well, I keep them nice and bushy and not too tall to catch the wind by pruning them after flowering. The leaves of the Mahonia Japonica are inclined to turn red especially after the frost has touched them. Look at atropapurea, Charity and Japonica, I have them growing in a patch together. Lovely Lilly of the Valley perfume

Ilex (holly) Golden King is a staple in our garden - it grows in shade as well as full sun. It brightens up a winter garden. Also, we have several yew trees - some are quite bright.

Eleagnus pungens 'Maculata' or 'Limelight' are very attractive variegated shrubs, as is Aucuba japonica - green with gold 'splashes' on the leaves.

Conifers! - the most diverse group of plants on the planet, come in all shapes sizes, blue, green, gold, variegated, and all sorts of variations within, including seasonal colour change, some also have the added attraction of handsome cones and flowers. As well as Fourseasons pages you might care to have a look at mine. Plus you can also see more on my website foxhollowgarden.co.uk - so very underrated plants by most gardeners these days.

Sorry, Bluespruce - I should have referred to your pages as well - call it age-related again.

Wagger - no problem.

We think conifers are much maligned! Because of the size of our garden we do prune ours and several are now 17 year old and still look stunning. Bluespruce has some fabulous specimens.

I was thinking about conifers also, to build a green wall on the N-V side of the garden. I've saw some amazing shaped ones here, in Lorraine region, but I don't know their names. I'll make some photos.
Also, I've read about Holly berries being extremely important food for numerous species of birds, so I think they could be part of the N-V green wall too.

If you don't fancy prickly holly, look for the Ilex x altaclerensis group - 'Golden King' is one, that Fourseasons mentioned - I have that, and another called
I. x altaclerensis 'Lawsoniana' which is also variegated green/gold. Honestly, their leaves are not prickly!

Don't forget that you'll need a female AND a male plant to get berries!

Thanks, Spritzhenry!
They look good indeed, the Ilex x altaclerensis family. I'll search for them.