creating a garden with shrubs
What are shrubs? - Shrubs are plants that have woody stems. They also do not die back every year and therefore they maintain their structure and appearance.
There are many evergreen and deciduous shrubs that can create interest and a lasting impression in every planting design in any garden.
When selecting shrubs for your garden design it is worth asking a number of key questions, relating to what function will they play: Do you want to create a screen, hide something? Do you want them to introduce colour or structure? Or maybe scent? Also, how much space do you have?
These are very important questions, as they will determine what types of shrubs you will choose to use in your garden planting design.
Shrubs come in all shapes, colours and forms.
If you are looking for creating a bit of screening or hide an unsightly view, you might want to consider planting evergreen shrubs. There are plenty of varieties that will also enhance your garden with beautiful flowers.
Camellias are great shrubs – their lustrous, evergreen foliage will create the desired coverage, additionally the flowers will bring colour in late winter and early spring. There are many varieties of Camellias available with different flower colours and forms to choose from.
When selecting shrubs for your garden consider the flowering times. Many shrubs flower early in spring; hence It is worth doing a bit more research and select shrubs that will fill the garden with interesting blooms later in the year during the summer and autumn season.
Selecting shrubs that flower at different intervals will extend the seasonality in your garden making it a dynamic and evolving space that will always capture your interest.
It is also worth thinking about the foliage of the shrubs that you are selecting. Not only the colour but its size. Planting shrubs with bigger foliage closer to the entrance to the garden or outside the main window, will create the impression of grandeur and volume.
To add another level of engagement with your garden you might want to consider more shrubs that have scented flowers. Adding an olfactory experience into your garden design will significantly elevate the perception of your garden space.
In my previous blog post I wrote about the importance of scent in a winter garden. In this earlier article, you can find some suggestions of scented shrubs that you might want to add to your garden planting.
When planting your shrubs, you need to think very carefully about spacing, particularly the spaces in between that need to be left, so that the plants in your design do not look too crammed. Remember that you need to consider the mature size of the shrub and make sure you leave enough space accordingly.
If you decide to use shrubs as the main building blocks of your garden design, you will also need to think about what goes underneath and around them, what are the most suitable plants to create the most interesting understory.
There are many varieties of low growing perennial plants that will grow happily in a shady area under the shrubs. Consider ground covering plants that spread easily and fill the gaps between the shrubs. Vinca or Pachysandra are good examples.