Types of Shrubs and Care Guides

Types of shrubs for your home landscaping are mostly multi-stemmed woody plants, unlike single trunk trees. Shrub types can be deciduous (lose leaves each fall) or evergreen types (stay green year-round). Some larger types of shrubs can grow 15 to 20 feet tall.

Types of Shrubs for Specific Landscaping Requirement

Using different types of shrubs gives form to your yard landscaping. You should consider several factors when selecting the types of shrubs for your home landscaping. These can include how fast they grow, sun requirements, texture, height, shape, wind tolerance, and landscaping needs for year-round greenery or fall foliage. You may want a mixture of shrubs that includes shrubs that provide spring color and/or summer blooms.

Shrub Types That Are Deer Resistant

If deer descend on your shrubs, you may need to plant shrubs that are deer resistant. Deer won't eat the Buttercup shrub that also displays white, pink, or yellow flowers. Boxwood, holly and juniper are also resistant to hungry deer.

Butterfly Bush

You can plant pollinator shrubs to attract butterflies. For example, a butterfly bush can grow between 5-8 feet tall and offer a haven for butterflies.

Shade Loving Shrubs

You can plant shrubs that require shade for the north side of your house. This shady part of your yard can also offer color displays when you select azaleas, forsythia, and rhododendron shrubs.

Hedges and Other Types of Shrubs for Screening

There are many instances when you may need to plant a hedge or choose shrubbery to serve as privacy screening from a neighbor. You may decide taller shrubs are the best solution to block an eyesore building or business from your backyard view.

Aborvitae Evergreen Shrub

An aborvitae is an evergreen shrub that can be pruned into a hedge for a living privacy fence or as individual plantings. This is a fast-growing shrub that is ideal for any type of privacy or pyramidal design element.

Shrubs for Channeling Foot Traffic

You can learn how to use small or large shrubs to create channels that guide foot traffic through your yard or garden. Sidewalks and paths can be lined with various smaller shrubs to accent the hardscapes.

Fragrant Shrub Types

You can add a touch of romance to any landscaping when you include fragrant shrubs. You may want to select several to include in your landscape plan.

Lilacs

The average lilac grows between 8-12 feet high. You can use them for hedges or individual garden features. The blooms are fragrant and come in a wide range of colors, making this a showpiece for any garden.

Gardenias

With over 200 gardenia varieties, you have many choices for this romantic aromatic shrubbery. With pruning, you can keep a gardenia any size needed with some gardenias growing up to 15 feet tall. The most common bloom color is white, but you can also find this amazing shrubbery in red, yellow, and pink.

Rose Bushes

You can choose rose bush varieties that grow tall enough to provide screening or can be trimmed as a flowering hedge. Other types of shrub roses can be grown in planters or other containers. You have a large color palette choice for rose bushes.

Jasmine

A few jasmine varieties can be grown as woody shrubs. You may decide to select a jasmine shrub that is evergreen to give you more garden planning options. The most common jasmine blossoms are yellow or white. However, some jasmine shrubs have bi-color blooms of yellow and white.

Daphne

The allure of a daphne shrub is its remarkable fragrance. This plant will perfume your garden into late winter. However, you should keep pets and children away from this plant since it is toxic to pets and humans if eaten.

Shrub Care and Proper Pruning

Each shrub has specific care requirements to ensure you have a healthy plant: you should follow the guidelines. You need to know when to prune a shrub, such as the best time to prune rose bushes or various hydrangeas.

Cautions for Certain Types of Shrubs

A landscaping plan should take into account any shrubs that have a harmful feature. This could be a warning to avoid planting pointed leaf holly plants or a shrub that features thorns along a walkway.

Plant Small, Grow Tall

You don't necessarily need to plant shrubs that are full grown. You can save money by purchasing shrub seedlings. When you plant, make sure you allow enough garden space for the shrubs to grow.

Types of Shrubs for Gardens and Landscaping

There are many types of shrubs available for your garden and yard landscaping. Keep your USDA Hardiness zone in mind when selecting shrubs to ensure your plant selections will survive over winter.