Gardening Articles

Shrubs are defined as being woody perennials with a permanent structure above ground that unlike herbaceous perennials, does not die down in winter. In most gardens, shrubs are cultivated to provide a permanent presence throughout the seasons.

Shrubs typically produce a frame-work of branches from the base, unlike a single trunk like the trees do. There is not such a big difference between shrubs and trees as some types of shrubs may be cultivated and trained with a single trunk and some trees may be cultivated as multi-stemmed. The scale also is not making a special demarcation between trees and shrubs as long as some shrubs may grow larger than some trees.

Shrubs can be grown in groups for a massed effect, as individual specimens surrounded by low growing perennials or in grass or used as focal points in a mixed border. There are a large variety of shrubs: different shaped leaves, colorful autumn leaves, evergreens or fruity shrubs.

The size range vary from dwarfs around 20-30 cm tall, perfect for a rock garden, to much more large ones that can grow like 5-6 m tall, usually evergreen ones. Shapes vary from rounded, arching, vertical or look like an explosion of leaves and even ground cover shapes.

With this variety of shapes, sizes and different effects that shrubs can offer, they are suitable for any design or any type of garden. You will always find a type of shrub that will like the soil that you have in your garden even if is acid or alkaline, clay, sandy or well-drained. There are shrubs for every site of your garden: sunny places, sheltered or exposed, dry or moist, you can even find shrubs that can tolerate a polluted air.

For small gardens there is a limited number of shrubs that can be squeezed to fit in, but there are some that you can use to create a visual impact. For a little help we give you some examples: Brachyglottis 'Drysdale', Caryopteris x clandonensis 'Heavenly Blue', Ceratostigma willmottianum - Hardy plumbago, Daphne odora 'Aureomarginata', Exochorda x macrantha 'The Bride' - Pearl bush, Lavandula stoechas subsp. pedunculata - French lavender, Pittosporum tenuifolium 'Tom Thumb', Ribes sanguineum 'Brocklebankii' - Flowering currant, Skimmia japonica 'Rubella', Viburnum tinus 'Eve Price' - Laurustinus.

For year-around interest you can use in your garden evergreen shrubs. Combining evergreen shrubs with different leaf colors and textures as well as flowering shrubs, you garden will preserve its interest all year-around. Some of those evergreen shrubs we have listed below: Aucuba japonica - Himalayan laurel or Spotted laurel, Choisya ternata Sundance - Golden Mexican orange blossom, Cupressus macrocarpa 'Golden Pillar' - Golden Monterey cypress, Drimys lanceolata - Mountain pepper, Elaeagnus pungens 'Maculata', Lonicera nitida 'Baggesen's Gold', Mahonia x media 'Charity', Nandina domestica - Heavenly bamboo, Photinia x fraseri 'Red Robin', Rhamnus alaternus 'Argenteovariegata' - Variegated Italian buckthorn.

Spring is the most awaited season of all, the moment when you stat to plant your garden for the first colors to show and the perfume to be felt as soon as possible. Place shrubs that offer spring interest at intervals around the garden and interplant with groups of bulbs and spring-flowering herbaceous perennials. For a piece of help on choosing shrubs for spring color you might find interesting one of those: Berberis x lologensis 'Apricot Queen', Ceanothus 'Puget Blue' - Californian lilac, Euphorbia characias, x Ledodendron 'Arctic Tern', Magnolia stellata 'Waterlily' - Star magnolia, Rhododendron luteum - Common yellow azalea, Rhododendron yunnanense, Stachyurus praecox, Syringa vulgaris 'Congo' - Lilac, Viburnum carlesii 'Diana'.

Summer is the most loved season of all. With good planting you can have a succession of colorful and interesting flowering shrub performance from spring to autumn. Choosing summer flowering shrubs and interplant between the other ones you will have a glamorous show of color. Remember to prune them at the right time to improve flower quality and to help control the shape and size. For a complete summer color dispaly you can choose one or more of the following: Buddleja x weyeriana, Deutzia x rosea, Fabiana imbricata f. violacea, Fuchsia magellanica 'Versicolor', Hibiscus syriacus 'Red Heart', Hydrangea serrata 'Bluebird' - Blue lacecap hydrangea, Kolkwitzia amabilis - Beauty bush, Lavatera 'Rosea' - Tree mallow, Philadelphus 'Virginal' - Mock orange, Phygelius x rectus 'Winchester Fanfare' - Cape figwort.

Autumn is a precious season, when the lowering rays of the sun seem especially designed to illuminate glorious autumn tints and voluptuous fruits. Autumn is full of surprises. Shrubs like: Calluna vulgaris 'Spook' - Ling or Scots heather, Clerodendrum trichotomum var. fargesii, Cotinus Coggygria 'Flame' - Smoke bush, Euonymus alatus - Winged spindle, Fothergilla Major, Hamamelis vernalis 'Sandra' - Ozark witch hazel, Hydrangea paniculata 'Pink Diamond', Rhus Typhina 'Dissecta', Rosa 'Geranium', Staphylea pinnata - Bladdernut, Viburnum opulus - Gulder rose, ensure the garden ends it's season with an explosion of color instead of just fading out.

Winter is the last performance for your garden, but it still can be beauty if you know what to choose. To be able to enjoy flowering shrubs and dazzling stem colors in winter is a real triumph of a good planting. Even when the weather is cold you can enjoy colors in your garden if you chose from the following shrubs: Abeliophyllum distichum - White forsythia, Acer pensylvanicum 'Erythrocladum' - Moosewood or Striped maple, Chimonanthus praecox - Wintersweet, Cornus sanguinea 'Midwinter Fire' - Dogwood, Erica x darleyensis 'Silberschmelze' - Darley Dale heath, Hamamelis x intermedia 'Diane' - Witch hazel, Lonicera x purpusii 'Winter Beauty', Rhododendron 'Olive', Sarcococca hookeriana var. digyna - Christmas box, Viburnum x bodnantense 'Dawn'.