What Are Some Good Shrubs for Landscaping?
Shrubbery is one of the cornerstones of attractive landscaping. While trees provide shade and vertical lines and flowers provide bursts of color to your landscape, shrubs provide texture, color and diversity. Does this Spark an idea?
Other People Are Reading
-
Region
-
The first thing to consider when deciding on shrubs is your geographic area. While many shrubs can withstand extremes in both heat and cold, a number of them cannot. Determine your hardiness zone by reviewing the map shown in the resource section below.
Color
-
Flowering Hibiscus Flowering shrubs like azaleas and hydrangeas provide beautiful seasonal color to your landscape. By selecting shrubs that bloom during different seasons, you can continually have color and fragrance.
-
Function
-
Shrubs make ideal hedgerows. Shrubs make ideal hedgerows, privacy screens and backdrops. Boxwoods and yews are excellent choices for hedgerows, and arborvitae create natural privacy hedges. Shrubs are also used to hide foundations and to add interest to otherwise boring exterior walls.
Deciduous Choices
-
Deciduous shrubs often provide winter berries. Like trees, some shrubs lose their foliage during the winter, but not before providing intense fall colors. Burning bush and firethorn are two examples; nandina also provides changing seasonal colors but without dropping its leaves.
Evergreen Choices
-
Evergreen shrubs provide interesting textures. Evergreen shrubs, like rhododendron and holly, maintain their green foliage, so they are attractive throughout the winter. Although many evergreen shrubs don't flower, their textures and year-round foliage make them good choices for landscaping.
-
References
Resources
- Photo Credit Image by Flickr.com, courtesy of Margaret Anne Clarke Image by Flickr.com, courtesy of Vox Efx Image by Flickr.com, courtesy of La Citta Vita Image by Flickr.com, courtesy of Gordana Adamovic-Mladenovic
