Compact Shrubs That Provide Color, Interest, and Excitement to the Landscape

These compact cultivars offer big interest in a petite package

Today ’s landscapes tend to be small . Even where space is useable , many nurseryman tend to have other interests and obligations that leave them with less clip to cultivate a large outer space . Creating diversity , interest , and excitement is more critical in a littler garden , because each industrial plant must give to the overall esthetical and hold its own without requiring much sentence or effort .

Rest see , even if space is limited there are many compact shrubs that will provide color , sake , and fervor . select the right - size plants will ensure that you do n’t have extra work try out to keep them from swamping their neighbors . regard each industrial plant a critical piece of the whole , and do n’t hesitate to move something around or remove it exclusively if it is n’t fulfilling its office . See the well compact shrub for your region .

Distinctive forms add interest in every season

‘Mikawa Yatsubusa’ Japanese maple has elegant architecture

Name : Acer palmatum‘Mikawa Yatsubusa ’

Zones:5–9

shape : Full sun to partial shade ; full-bodied , moist , well - drained grime

Native range : Japan

Among the many thousands of Japanese maple selections ( some of which could be consider either small Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree or large bush ) , there is in all likelihood a cultivar for every location . Where blank is a antecedence , one of my favorites is‘Mikawa Yatsubusa ’ . This works is among the modest of the radical , with tightly overlapping unripe , wiz - mold leaves . nightfall color ( pictured ) is a blaze of gold , red , and orange like a miniature balefire . The architectural winter branching can be nearly as lovely as the industrial plant in full foliage . I develop this as a container plant in mostly full sun , but it tolerates most faint condition other than deep shade .

Stonehenge®yew has a slender profile and a small footprint

Name : Taxus × media‘SMNTHDC ’

Zones:4–7

Conditions : Full sun to full shade ; average to moist , well - drained soil

aboriginal range : Hybrid of English and Japanese specie

Lack of space does not needfully preclude some acme . Indeed , a low landscape filled with 3 - ft - improbable works could be quite boring . perpendicular accents such asStonehenge ® yewadd interest without taking up much quad . This tough , upright , evergreen conifer grow only a few metrical unit wide , creating a tower of green in the landscape . It is enceinte as an accent , narrow-minded hedge , or focal point where it will draw the centre . Like other yew , this is an easy plant to grow in either Dominicus or spectre .

‘Royal Ruby’ Japanese leucothoe is graceful and evergreen

Name : Leucothoe keiskei‘Royal Ruby ’

Zones:6–10

Conditions : fond tone ; moist , acidic , well - drain soil

Japanese leucothoe is less well recognize than some of its relatives in the heathland kinfolk , though the genus is found in both the easterly and westerly United States and across much of Southeast Asia . ‘Royal Ruby ’ Japanese leucothoeis a small , exceptionally elegant evergreen plant that deserves more use , particularly in little gardens . The new growth in spring emerge coppery red to burnished Burgundy wine . Its clump of little , bell - shape bloodless flowers are thinly fragrant . The leafage becomes green during the grow season and then changes to burgundy to plum in gloam and wintertime . The graceful , arching stems look especially good planted on side and hillsides .

Eye-catching flowers brighten a small space

Sugar Baby®forsythia is like sunshine on a cloudy day

Name : Forsythia×intermedia‘Nimbus ’

Zones:5–8

condition : Full sun ; well - drain soil

Native range : Hybrid

The glorious gold flowers of forsythia are a mainstay of the bounce garden , but older sort lean to be more rambunctious than a small garden can contain . Sugar Baby ® forsythiatakes that cheery spring coloring and combines it with a tiny form that does not require pruning to keep small . I have discover that the plant really thrive when I cut out some of the oldest stems every yr or two . Common instructions say to prune forsythia like a shot after florescence , but I actually care to rationalize a few sr. stems in late winter to bring indoors . target in water , the forced flowers bring in a bit of spring to the house as much as a month too soon .

For unusual spring color, plant ‘Swamp Hobbit’ anise shrub

Name : Illicium floridanum‘Swamp Hobbit ’

Zones:6–9

Conditions : Full sun to fond shade ; adaptable to most soil types

aboriginal range : Southeastern United States

plant that are exceptionally deer immune are deserving their weightiness in compost , and some of the dependable evergreen plant shrubs in this category are anise or star - flower shrubs ( Illiciumspp . and cvs . , Zones 6–10 ) . Most mintage and selections are much too with child for smaller gardens , but‘Swamp Hobbit ’ anise seed shrub , a form of our native southeasterly specie , gibe right in wherever you need it . It has full - sizing mystifying green leaves that are redolent when crushed and bring home the bacon the perfect background for its large cerise bloom in fountain . Use this adaptable shrub to provide structure in a perennial seam , or plant it in a mass to act as a woody soil cover version . It is drought tolerant once established .

‘Raulston Hardy’ small-leaf viburnum is impressively adaptable

Name : Viburnum obovatum‘Raulston fearless ’

Conditions : Full sun to full shade ; wet to dry soil

Native range : Southern United States

The square coinage of small - leaf genus Viburnum ( genus Viburnum obovatum , Zones 6–9 ) , a Deep South native , is an open , gangly plant with petite leaves and white-hot fountain flowers . It never made much of an notion on me until our part get a 100 - year drought . genus Viburnum were among the shrubs that were intemperately score , but this coinage did n’t pass over a musical rhythm . An unnamed dwarf shape that we were evaluating at the JC Raulston Arboretum proved to be the most evergreen of the cluster during a particularly cold winter and so was named‘Raulston Hardy ’ . It often start to bloom a bit in October and bear on throughout wintertime until it explodes in bloom in April . The foliage take on plum tints as the temperature drop , and plants can become deciduous in a in particular insensate winter . As it ages it can sucker in lighter soil to constitute a colony that ’s perfect for stabilise cant .

Invincibelle Wee White®smooth hydrangea offers classic blooms on a small frame

Name : Hydrangea arborescens‘NCHA5 ’

Zones:3–9

Conditions : Partial shade ; average to moist soil

compact shrubs

Photo: Richard Bloom

Native range : Eastern United States

After years of being check as the substandard cousin to the cheeky bigleaf hydrangeas ( Hydrangea macrophylla , Zones 5–9 ) , our aboriginal smooth hydrangea is ultimately induce the recognition it is due . Invincibelle Wee White ® smooth hydrangeatakes all we have intercourse about the classic ‘ Annabelle ’ and shrinks it down . large clustering of white flowers withstand on sturdy stems top the shrub in too soon to midsummer . Best of all , there ’s no muddiness when it come to winter pruning . This specie can be cut back hard each winter or left alone , and it will still flower well . I trim it back by a third or more in winter for a dull , well - branched structure and flock of flower . I bump that deer tend to happen it by in favor of other shrubs , but your results may vary .

Refined foliage takes a design to the next level

Laced Up®elderberry sends up sprays of fine burgundy foliage

Name : Sambucus nigra‘SNR1292 ’

Conditions : Full sunlight to full shade ; average to moist soil

Native range : Europe , southwestern Asia and northern Africa

Mikawa Yatsubusa Japanese maple

Photo: Richard Bloom

If you hope flowers and interesting foliage , interlace Up ® elderberrymight be just the slate . This spectacular elderberry grows up to 10 foot tall with a minute habit . The leaf emerges recondite burgundy - black , and the bland clusters of pale pink flower open in early summer . Prune just after flowering , if needed , to check flowers for the next twelvemonth . If other form of ignominious elderberry are in the vicinity , expect clusters of tangy yield as well . Plants are best grown in sunlight to light shade in areas that do not experience farseeing periods of vivid summer heat .

Brighten a shady spot with ‘Kokonoe-yama’ mountain hydrangea

Name : Hydrangea serrata‘Kokonoe - yama ’

stipulation : Partial subtlety ; deep , moderately moist , well - drained dirt

‘ Kokonoe - yama ’ mountain hydrangeais another little hydrangea with a grown impact . This dwarf selection has a subtle yet beautiful diversification pattern , with foliage that seems to be dusted with white stippling across its surface . The lacecap flower head range from pale pink to pale dreary as the sour of the soil increases . We find oneself this lovely plant to be the perfect bright background for dark - go forth perennial . In almost a decade , I have not see it grow much larger than a few feet improbable and wide .

Mikawa Yatsubusa Japanese maple height and width

‘Oscar’ Yaupon holly maintains a tidy habit without pruning

Name : Ilex vomitoria‘Oscar ’

Zones:7–10

condition : Full sunshine to fond spectre ; median to crocked ground

Stonehenge yew

Photo: courtesy of Proven Winners®Color Choice®

Yaupon Buddy Holly are among the most adaptable aboriginal shrubs we develop . They tolerate most soil type , grow in both sun and tint , and can be shear into any anatomy or left to grow into large shrubs or modest trees . For those with less space,‘Oscar ’ Yaupon hollyis a very diminutive excerpt that makes a round , dense shrub that grows slightly wider than it is tall . Its small sizing , uniform riding habit , and evergreen leaf make it an idealistic replacement for boxwoods ( Buxusspp . and cvs . , Zones 4–9 ) and other shrubs that require steady pruning regimes .

Why choose a shrub instead of a perennial?

Often the infinite a dwarf bush occupies could be filled with an herbaceous perennial instead . When either plant fits the poster , why include a bush , which might be more expensive ? Here are a few reasons .

Shrubs can help support perennials that may flop if not staked.

They also provide a background for airy flowers that could get mislay without a contrasting ground .

Shrubs can serve as a framework for restrained vines

Every shrub in my garden has at least one and often two small vines planted at its base . I usually stick to vine that can be cut to the undercoat in wintertime for well-heeled cleanup spot , such as gloriosa lily ( Gloriosa superba , Zones 8–10 ) .

Shrubs provide year-round presence

Whether evergreen or deciduous , they furnish continuity and coherency through all the seasons . peak come and go , but woody works drop anchor the garden . The sense of permanency they provide is reassuring , while they also allow for more playfulness and experimentation with the ephemeral beauty of herbaceous yearly and perennials .

Mark Weathington is the director of the JC Raulston Arboretum at NC State University in Raleigh , North Carolina .

Illustrations : Elara Tanguy

Stonehenge yew height and width

Sources

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Royal Ruby Japanese leucothoe height and width

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