If you don’t have shrubs around your home, you’re missing out. Shrubs can add color, fragrance and even protection from unwanted attention. Let’s look at some landscape shrub ideas you can add to your home.
Shrubs can create interesting patterns and designs that please the eye. Picking the right spot for the right shrub can make or break your curb appeal.
There are two varieties of shrubs:
- angiosperms are flowering shrubs
- gymnosperms are non-flowering shrubs
While the flowering shrubs can wow you with the color of the blooms, and sometimes with a beautiful scent, there’s a lot of beauty in non-flowering shrubs as well.
With foliage ranging in color from pale to dark green, striped, sporting pinks and blues and purples, landscaping shrubs give you the opportunity to create a work of art in your front yard (backyard too!)
Related: Landscaping with petunias
Landscape Shrub Ideas For Your Home
Flowering Shrubs
Variegated Yucca: It grows up to 3 ft and has white blooms. Within five years, they develop their unique spikes. They are arid shrubs.
Black Chokeberry: It grows up to 6 feet. It blooms a white flower. Its foliage is usually green turning into an orange-purple in the autumn.
Bursting Heart Burning Bush: It grows up to 8 ft. It blooms yellow-green. Its foliage color is green and turns into bright red in autumn.
Compacta Burning Bush: The height is around 8 -10 ft. It blooms red flower, and its foliage is usually green it turns into crimson red.
Common Witch Hazel: The height is around 8 -12 ft. It blooms yellow flowers, and its foliage is green-golden yellow in autumn.
Red Chokeberry: It grows around 6 -10 ft in height. It blooms white and pink flowers. The foliage is green and lustrous. It turns into red in autumn.
Red Leaf Japanese Barberry: It is a 2 ft dwarf. It blooms small yellow flowers, and the foliage is usually red and turns into purple-red in autumn.
Rosemary: It grows about 5 ft. It has green foliage and usually has white and pink flowers. It’s a Mediterranean plant.
Rhododendron: It has a maximum height of 5 ft. It has green foliage and blooms flowers which are in white and pink shades.
Butterfly Bush: The plant can reach up to 6ft in height. It’s a tropical plant and blooms in shades of violet.
Azalea: It is a small bush and can bloom in white, pink and red shades.
Non Flowering Shrubs
While non flowering shrubs don’t have the beauty and scent of flowers, some of them have amazing colored leaves that make them stand out.
Western Arborvitae> (Thuja): one of the most popular non flowering shrubs. It’s very easy to maintain and it’s used mostly to create edging.
Euonymus Japonicus Aureus: beautiful multicolored leaves make this shrub a great choice.
How to care for your landscaping shrubs
As with any other new plant, after planting your shrubs you need to give them extra attention. Make sure you water then regularly, fertilize as needed and trim them before they grow in a weird shape.
From time to time, you might need to part with one of your shrubs. Don’t delay if you see disease cropping up, or you’ll lose more than the one sick shrub. If you keep a good eye on your shrubs, you might be able to see and act on insect infestation. If possible, use natural insecticides and fertilizers.
Shrubs should have enough space between them. Every plant requires a minimum specified area. When arranged in rows like hedgerows, shrubs give a good impression.
Check the soil before planting shrubs to make sure you have the right soil for your shrub. You don’t want an acidic soil for a non-acidic plant.
Enjoy your beautiful landscaping shrubs.
I love these landscape shrub ideas. A beautiful garden can be very relaxing, both to sit in to unwind as well as to tend to as part of gardening therapy for stress and relaxation.
I’ll have to do some research and see what works well here in Tucson!
So many wonderful suggestions. The butterfly bush is one of my favorites!
We are in the early stage of our backyard renovation and this is a great article with loads of inspiration!!