Design a Garden with Shrubs

Use woody plants to get a garden that’s gorgeous and virtually care-free

We ’ve all heard it a million time before : bush and small trees are the bones of our beds and borders . This is unfeigned , but they can be so much more . Twenty eld ago , when I moved to a tumid lot in northerly California , I make up one’s mind to fulfill the landscape with an array of woody plants for several reason . A garden design primarily with shrubs is lower sustenance in the long run and allow you to get a fledged look in a shorter amount of prison term . Do n’t get me wrong : I am not antiperennial — I have one C of them in my garden . But I use perennials as the backup Isaac M. Singer in my beds . They fill in blank infinite while my freshly engraft bush size of it up , and they bridge the gaps between larger woody plants .

In my garden , the shrubs are the kernel and potatoes . Like many other gardeners , though , I was , at first , intimidated to base a design around these large , pricy plants . But I developed a plan that focused on using different habits to achieve a layered look and then relied on color to guide the selection of companion plants . The end result is a shrub - based landscape painting that is just as pretty ( if not prettier ) as any bed filled with mostly perennials .

Focus on habit first to get a layered look

Gardens that have a layered look seem more full and lush . Many assume that , because shrubs take up a magnanimous step than your modal perennial , it is unsufferable to get a layered look without 10 Akko of land . But if you habituate bush with an array of dissimilar forms in one area , you ’ll get that coveted layered effect in whatever space you have . I achieve this by thinking about how a forest exists in nature . I tax the arena that I ’m institute and find out the tallest a bush can be to suit the plate of that area . Based on the form of that starter shrub ( for deterrent example , vaselike , or large and circular , or lollipop form ) , I choose a bush that has a more or less smaller and completing — yet dissimilar — mature habit to fill in the middle ground . I find one last plant ( that is little still , often bow down in habit ) to fill up in the understory . I keep recur this outgrowth until the select surface area is filled in .

Be certain , though , to keep in head the matured height and width of your shrubs when planting . Although this may leave temporary gob , you could fill in with modest perennials . As the bush uprise up , the perennial can either be move to another location , or you may find that many will happily commingle with their bigger siblings . This planting plan works not only in a flat bed but also on a hillside , like the one at the front of my place . Although you may think it makes the most sense to cover an embankment with low - growing shrubs , I decide , instead , to place a few small trees and large shrubs at the midsection and rear of the Benny Hill and then used some medium - size of it selections at their feet , before meet in the radical of the James Jerome Hill with humble agriculturist . The layered effect is the same and look natural because it mime what you would recover if you were walk in the woods .

Pick a focal color to find natural companions

Because shrubs typically blossom for a short time than perennial , it ’s crucial to verify they have the perfect stage to glow when they are in flower . I pair beautifully blooming bush with shrub whose foliation is a similar colouring as the star topology ’s blossoms . I have a few dissimilar rhododendron ( Rhododendronspp . and cvs . , Zones 5–9 ) , for case , that bloom in the orangish - yellow mountain chain and are just ho - HUA when not in blossom . To accentuate these flush , I paired the star topology with shrubs that have icteric leave-taking , like ‘ Dart ’s Gold ’ ninebark ( Physocarpus opulifolius‘Dart ’s Gold ’ , zone 3–7 ) , golden Nipponese barberry ( Berberis thunbergii * ‘ Aurea ’ , Zones 5–8 ) , golden mock orange ( Philadelphus coronarius‘Aureus ’ , Zones 4–9 ) , and Limemound ™ spirea ( Spiraeajaponica * ‘ Monhub ’ , Zones 3–9 ) . To continue building off this color subject , I tote up some variegated bush as well as some shrubs with complementary colors . In this special bottom , I used the strikingly mottle ‘ Goshiki ’ false holly ( Osmanthus heterophyllus‘Goshiki ’ , Zones 7–9 ) and the sullen , glowering - see ‘ Royal Purple ’ smoke bush ( Cotinus coggygria ‘ Royal Purple ’ , Zones 5–9 ) . This gloss - blocking principle can also be used if the best attribute of your star shrub is its foliage or bark coloring material . Simply distinguish the champion and then accentuate its coloring . Before you know it , you ’ve fill the bottom with a pleasing combination of shrubs .

I have never consider myself a decorator but , rather , just a nurseryman who has learned from years of trial and computer error . As my beds mature , I am still interchange and adding to them to make thing as good as they can be . As fourth dimension travel by , however , and the amount of time , effort , weeding , and watering go down , I have never once regretted the determination to fill my beds with shrubs .

Tip: Extend “blooming” with a perennial

One perceived drawback of shrub is that they have a inadequate flush metre than perennials . I counteract this so - called want by planting a rambling perennial at the base of many of my spring - blooming shrubs . ‘ Victor Reiter ’ geranium ( Geranium pratense‘Victor Reiter ’ , Zones 4–8 ) is one exercise of a perennial that flowers for a long clock time and tends to roll around nearby companion without repress them . The mating makes it look like a bush is in reality in rosiness all summertime long .

Cut your cleanup time in half

Although shrubs are less maintenance than perennials , that does n’t have in mind they are entirely care - innocent . In fall , I prune back small shrub , like spirea , to encourage a good habit and bloom set the undermentioned spring . And then , of course , you need to cut back all of your filler perennial . To do this at lightning speed , I rely on these invaluable tools . After many years of cleansing , these are the three tools I would never be without .

Mimic the woods for a full effect

You never go hiking in a forest and think , “ Wow , all of these plants coalesce together seamlessly . ” That ’s because we amount to await that everything in nature outfit together like puzzle pieces . To make your woody - based garden achieve a similar issue , use a condition - layering approaching .

1. Large or defined shapes make ideal focal points

Place big shrubs , like this variegated corokia ( Corokia×virgata‘Sunsplash ’ , Zones 8–10 ) , or shrubs with a magniloquent , defined condition , like ‘ Sundance ’ cordyline ( Cordyline australis‘Sundance ’ , Zones 8–11 ) , toward the rear of a planting so that they can produce the same effect that tree do in a woodland .

2. Medium-size meatballs nestle into the nooks

Depending on the shape of your largest shrubs , your midsize woodies , like smoke bush or this ‘ Goldflame ’ spiraea ( Spiraeajaponica * ‘ Goldflame ’ , Zones 4–9 ) , should jibe like puzzle part into the understory .

3. Creepersfill in the ground-level gaps

In a forest , fern and minor sapling fill up in the thicket at your feet . In a garden , terra firma - hugging shrubs , like this bronze pygmy Hinoki false cypress ( Chamaecyparis obtusa‘Pygmaea Aurescens ’ , Zones 4–8 ) , act a similar part .

Patricia Wells has been gardening for more than 20 long time on her 5 - Akko seaside holding in Trinidad , California .

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Don’t worry about the holes. A lush shrub-based garden will still have gaps, which you can leave bare while the woodies mature or you can fill in with quick-growing perennials, like ‘Hollard’s Gold’ bear’s beeches (Acanthus mollis‘Hollard’s Gold’, USDA Hardiness Zones 7–11) or a skillfully placed container.

Think of the bed as a plant lasagna. Install each layer of your garden one section at a time. If they get cramped, shrubs, like this smoke bush (Cotinus coggygria cv., Zones 5–9), have a tendency to leap out from under bigger neighbors like ricotta oozing out from under the noodles.

Provide a colorful punch. The purplish blue leaves of these redleaf roses (Rosa glauca cv., Zones 2–8) provide the perfect color echo for the bright violet blooms of the shrub fuchsia (Fuchsia paniculata, Zones 8–11). Add in the complementary yellow hue and this combination is pure perfection.

Highlight fleeting flowers. The brightly colored leaves of the barberry pair well with the nearby orange rhodie flowers. Once the blossoms fade, the luminous golden foliage will become the color focal point.Photo: Genevieve Schmidt