Yew

Taxus × media

Yews are the classic foundation evergreen — dense, dark green, and tolerant of heavy shearing. They're one of the few evergreens that thrive in shade. 'Hicksii' is a popular upright columnar form; 'Densiformis' is a low spreader. They take any shape you want and recover from hard pruning. Bright red berries in fall (note: all parts are toxic).