Flowering Shrubs & Shrubbery: Bushes that Bloom!
Flowering shrubs such as lilac, azalea, hydrangea and the like provide endless benefits to everyday gardens. These flowering shrub types are popular in the garden for a number of reasons:
- fill space
- fast-growing
- require little maintenance
- provide shelter for other garden plants
Flowering shrubs also offer privacy, block unpleasant views, keep out stray animals and thieves, and above all provide color, contrast, and fragrance to your garden at different times of the year.
Using flowering shrubs in the garden
You can incorporate flowering shrubs into foundation plantings dominated by evergreens, or set them off separately in plantings or mixed borders. Sometimes very large, showy shrubs are used like small trees to bring balance to home landscapes.
Most flowering shrubs bloom once a year and then shed their leaves in wintertime. It is recommended that three or four different types of flowering shrubs be planted at the same time, for larger garden coverage and greater visual impact.
Flowering shrub planting, care and maintenance
The maintenance of flowering shrubs is relatively easy. Most are sold as container-grown stock with their full root system intact. They are thus much easier to establish. When planted during the late autumn/early spring, a shrub is unlikely to need any watering, except possibly during very dry weather in the first year. If your soil is very porous and infertile, however, it is a good idea to give flowering shrubs a small amount of fertilizer (try a plant food containing coated timed-release fertilizer) every year. The best time to fertilize most flowering shrubs is as soon as they bloom. Note though, that species that bloom in late summer, such as hydrangea, are best fertilized in spring, just as new leaves appear.
Soil should be well drained, and no pruning is usually necessary during the shrub's first five years, after which it is at the gardener's discretion. A shrub left alone will prosper equally as well as one that is fussed over. Some weed control, such as hoeing, may be necessary.
To propagate flowering shrubs it is necessary to acquaint yourself with the respective processes of layering, cuttings, and, in some cases, layering. See each shrub type below for the appropriate shrub propagation method: