The selection of different types of bushes and shrubs for your garden is crucial. If the wrong plant is chosen, it can create issues that make the outside area appear unpleasant and hard to maintain.
Today’s topic will elaborate on what can go wrong if you select the wrong bushes and shrubs and guide you in selecting the perfect ones for your landscape.
One major issue that can occur is overcrowding of plants, which may interfere with aspects such as competition for light, water, or shadows over nutrients. This can leave the plants small and puny, making them prone to diseases and other infections.
Another problem is that some kinds of plants spread out very quickly, and it is a challenge to contain them. They could spread all over your compound, especially if you are growing them in a garden, spoiling the natural beauty.
To maintain the aesthetic appeal of your property, consider using residential tree services to manage and control their growth effectively.
If the plants have a good appearance or are compatible with the general theme of your garden, they can make your garden look odd and ugly. Another area of concern is the placement of trees or bushes near one’s house or any other structure since these can pose a threat later on.
The roots, for instance, may damage the ground level, the driveway, or even the pipes that are secreted in the ground.
For these reasons, one should select the correct size of the bush and shrub types that are most suited for the environments specific to that garden.
You also need to consider the color of the plants, their texture, and whether or not they will match the type of setting that you have. Following the below guidelines, you can establish a beautiful garden that will effectively transform into a healthy, productive landscape in which you would love to spend hours.
Here, you will get to know various types of bushes and shrubs for the best landscaping design. Let’s get started!
Different Types of Bushes For Landscaping
Here are some different types of bushes that you can use in your garden:
Flowering Bushes
- Lilacs are beautiful landscape bushes bearing lovely, scented flowers that can be different colors—purple, white, pink, etc.
- Hydrangea: It features large and showy flowers and is available in several colors, primarily during the warm season.
- Rose of Sharon: The plants have dense foliage with faces that look more like tropical perennials, with flowers blooming in late summer.
Evergreen Bushes
- Boxwood: Its dense leaves are blackish green in color and remain evergreen throughout the year, adorning these bushes.
- Holly: Every type of evergreen tree has green leaves that glisten, and some have red berries, making it a favorite for winter decoration.
- Juniper: These bushes produce spiny leaves in various shades of green, from teal to metallic blue and striking gold.
Deciduous Bushes
- Spireas are trees with a group of white, pink, or red flowers in spring and colored leaves in autumn.
- Weigela: These bushes contain trumpet-like blooms, which are pink, red, or white and turn burgundy in fall.
- Potentillas: They have beautiful yellow blossoms in spring, summer, and early autumn, and the leaves put on striking colors in the autumn.
Native Bushes
- Blueberry: It has edible berries, bearing white flowers and vibrant reds during the fall.
- Serviceberry: They bloom with white flowers in spring, bear berries in summer, and orange to red colors in fall.
- Sumac: Many have green foliage that transfers to burning red during the fall, and some even bear red fruits that last until winter.
- Bushes matter in size, growth, bloom season, and color, so we need to be careful when selecting them for our garden. Planting different types of bushes can be very effective, as it gives the garden a busy look even during the off-season.
Different Types of Tree Shrubs For Landscaping
Here are some different types of shrubs that you can use in your garden:
Flowering Shrubs
- American Witch Hazel: It clears in late winter or early spring, often bearing fragrant flowers. Temperatures drop low during winter, and the leaves turn yellow in the fall.
- Black Chokeberry: Small violet flowers in spring and small black or purple concentrated fruits in late summer. It is red in autumn. The word autumn here refers to the point when the leaves start falling in the Northern Hemisphere, which is called spring in other places.
- Bottlebrush Buckeye: Appears to have brush-like flowers that are very rare and distinguishable from some other types of flowers.
Evergreen Shrubs
- Yew: Non-deciduous, evergreen shrubs with small, light-angle needles.
- Juniper: Feathery appearance of needles, which can be green, blue, gold, or even metallic.
- Boxwood: Shrubs that have dense green foliage that is suitable where a hedge is desired.
Deciduous Shrubs
- Spirea: Collections of flowers in the spring period; beautiful leaves in the autumn period.
- Weigela: The vine grows trumpet-shaped flowers in spring and develops burgundy leaves in the fall.
- Potentilla: Yeris are yellow from spring through the fall; they also turn colors in the autumn.
Native Shrubs
- Blueberry: Blueberries that people can eat, white red fall flowers, and red fall foliage.
- Serviceberry: White flowers in spring, berries July–August, orange-red foliage in the fall.
- Sumac: University Ginseng – It has scarlet leaves in the fall, and some varieties can have red fruit in winter.
While selecting different types of shrubs for the garden, one has to consider their size, growth pattern, bloom period, color, etc. This is because when shrubs have faded or die back, it is not very noticeable if there are other kinds of shrubs nearby that are still flourishing.
Basic Method: How Do You Pick Bushes and Shrubs for Landscaping?
When picking bushes and tree shrubs for landscaping, consider the following factors:
- Hardiness Zones: The ideal plants should be adapted to the hardiness of the region you live in to guarantee they grow well.
- Foliage Color: Choose foliage colors that give out innovation and difference from the other plants in your garden bushes.
- Native Plants: Local shrubs should be the most appropriate ones, as the plants to be planted are suitable for the area’s climatic condition and do not require much attention.
- Seasonal Interest: Select plants with flowers in spring, summer interest, berries in autumn, and good foliage.
- Space Consideration: All the shrubs should be planted at the right distance for the plants in order to grow to their maturity and size without hindering the opening of windows and passageways.
- Appearance: Also, see how the shrubs will look once they have finished blooming and how the shrubs coordinate with the other plant species in the landscape bushes and shrubs.
With these factors in mind, you will be able to choose the right type of bushes and shrubs for your landscaping and, hence, create the most marvelous landscape shrub ideas to enhance your compound.
Design a Garden Bushes and Shrubs
Here are some tips for designing a garden with shrubs and bushes:
Focus on Habit First
When selecting shrubs, consider their growth habit first to create a layered look in your garden. Choose a mix of upright, spreading, and mounding forms.
Pick a Focal Color
Decide on a focal color, like pink or purple, and choose companion shrubs that complement it. This will create a cohesive look.
Extend Bloom Time
Pick a mix of early, mid, and late-season bloomers for season-long color. You can also choose reblooming varieties like the Bloomerang lilac.
Consider Foliage Color
Shrubs offer more than just flowers. Look for varieties with colorful foliage that changes throughout the seasons, like the black chokeberry with its red fall leaves.
Incorporate Evergreens
Evergreen shrubs provide year-round structure and interest. Boxwood, holly, and juniper are classic choices.
Choose Native Shrubs
Native shrubs are adapted to your local climate and soil. They often require less maintenance and support wildlife. Some examples are blueberry, serviceberry, and sumac.
Vary Mature Sizes
Include a mix of small, medium, and large shrubs to create depth and visual interest in your garden design.
By considering these factors, you can create a beautiful, dynamic garden using a variety of shrubs and bushes. Focus on choosing plants with complementary colors, forms, and bloom times for cohesive, eye-catching landscape shrub ideas.
Bushes and Shrubs That Can Tolerate Windy Conditions
After the case of wind, one can understand that few plants for outdoor bushes and shrubs can adapt to such weather conditions. Here are some options:
Juniper (Juniperus spp. ): Junipers are evergreen species plants classified under shrubs with different shapes and growth patterns. Most of them are resistant to windy and harsh weather.
Forsythia (Forsythia spp. ): These are deciduous shrubs that are famous for their bright yellow flowers produced in their early spring. They are not very sensitive to what might be considered adverse weather and can withstand rather windy situations.
Russian Sage (Perovskia atriplicifolia): Russian sage is a bushy ornamental plant in the mint family. Its green or grayish leaves have a pleasant smell, and its violet-blue flowers are attractive. Russian sage is drought-resistant and grows well in windy places.
Cotoneaster (Cotoneaster spp.): Cotoneaster are shrubs of different sizes and forms that can be used in groups to fix banks or faces. They grow to have small and shiny leaves, which are further used in producing fruits that are greatly attractive to birds. Many species are wind-resistant.
Some rules of thumb for shrubs are that they should be planted early in the spring or fall in windy areas where the shrub will be planted. It is advisable to provide some measure of protection during that first year, such as windbreaks or stakes, until the root systems are well and truly established.
Also, it is important to install a proper water supply for outdoor bushes and mulch the area so that shrubs raise their resistance to windy conditions.
