Shrubs, shrubbery & bushes for the garden

Among other benefits, shrubs and shrubbery enhance your garden or landscape with beautiful flowers, foliage and even fragrance.

Your Garden: Evergreen or deciduous shrubs?

There are two basic kinds of shrubs: evergreen and deciduous (sometimes known as flowering shrubs). Evergreen shrubs keep their leaves all year long while deciduous shrubs shed their leaves in the fall. If you are looking for shrubbery to provide a year-round screen, hedge, foundation plant or ground covers, choose evergreen shrubs for their year-round foliage. Both deciduous and evergreen shrubs can provide your garden with lovely flowers and color.

Many flowering shrubs bloom in spring. White spirea, purple lilac, pink and red azalea and many more colors are vibrant and beautiful reminders of springtime. The explosion of color in your garden can be extended past spring by selecting flowering shrubs like butterfly bushes and hydrangeas for their gorgeous summer blooms. Sasanqua camellia blooms in the fall and shrubs such as witch hazel and Japanese camellia bloom in the winter. So as you can see, shrubs and shrubbery in your garden can provide you with flowers, foliage and fragrance every season of the year!.

Selecting shrubbery

Garden shrubs are frequently selected based on the following factors:

• flower color and fragrance
• foliage texture and color
• foliage retention (i.e. evergreen or deciduous)
• fruit
• fall foliage color.

Shrub foliage is a particularly important factor, as it has the greatest impact for the greatest length of time.

When selecting shrubs for your garden, choose several varieties with multi seasonal interest, like those with fragrant spring blooms, glossy summer foliage, attractive fruit and bright fall color. Select different shrubs blooming in spring, summer, fall and even winter to extend your flowering season.

Of course when selecting shrubs you must choose shrubbery adapted to your climate or zone, and to your garden! Shrubs should be cold hardy and/or heat tolerant, depending on your climate, adapted to your soil type, and adapted to the sun exposure for your preferred site. Most of all, the shrubs should have room to grow!

When buying shrubs, find a reputable seller like Spring Hill Nursery, who are sure to have healthy and pest free shrub stock.

Planting shrubs in the garden

Shrubs are often planted in beds in the garden. To plant shrubs, work the selected area deeply (about 12-24 inches), adding 3-4 inches of organic matter into the bed as you go. Remove the shrubs from their containers or burlap and prune any circling roots. Set plants with the top of the root ball at soil level. Backfill the soil around the plant and firm the soil.

Water the shrubs thoroughly. After watering, be sure the plants remain at the proper depth. Apply two to three inches of organic mulch over the bed surface, and fertilize the new planting lightly by broadcasting a granular fertilizer around each plant.