Landscaping Shrubs

Shrubs are not trees, as shrubs have more stems and their height is well under 20 feet. Periwinkle and lavender are examples of low shrubs which are less than 6 feet tall. Most roses are considered bushes or sub-shrubs. There are plenty of plants that are classified as shrubs and most of them are ideal for use in landscaping.

1. Selecting Shrubs for Your Home: There are tens of thousands of plants that could be deemed as shrubs. Choosing which ones to use in your landscaping could be quite demanding more so if you don’t have an idea of what you are looking for. This website will make the job of choosing shrubs a breeze. All you need to do is select the shrubs based on its size or tolerance, by exposure or by use.  Or you can tick off your preferences such as size, foliage color, soil condition, uses, fall foliage color and so on, to come up with a list of choices. (www.urbanext.illinois.edu)
2. Shrubs: Here is another comprehensive list of shrubs listed in both their common and scientific names.  There are more than 1,400 varieties of shrubs found in the United States, in the list. Click the name of the shrub to taken on another page with that particular shrub’s hardiness zone, habit (evergreen or not), soil requirements, height, width, flower, foliage, cultivar, texture and form. (www.ces.ncsu.edu)
3. Bushes and Shrubs: This is an online nursery where you can order shrubs for your garden.  There are close to a thousand shrubs on the list with each one photographed and described. You can also browse on the different shrubs by type: evergreen, barefoot, red flowering, dear resistant, pink flowering, large, small, hedges, fall color, white flowering, yellow flowering shrubs and more. (www.naturehills.com)
4. Shrubs: Here is another website that sells shrubs and bushes online. Angel’s trumpet is a subtropical plant that thrives in warm and cool weather. When winter hits, you can either take it indoors or let it out to be planted again in spring. The flowers come in yellow, white, orange, cream and pink. (www.bhg.com)
5. How to Plant a Shrub (video): It does not take rocket science to plant a shrub. As long as you have the necessary tool, right soil requirement and the enthusiasm of a gardener, you should be alright. Make you know the requirements of the plant (soil, sun, water) before digging a hole for planting it. (www.thisoldhouse.com)
6. Pruning Trees, Shrubs and Vines: Pruning time depends on the plant species and your reason for pruning. Prune weak stems and branches in late winter or early spring for new growth. If you wish to slow down the growth of the bush, prune in the summer. For shrubs that bloom in spring, prune immediately after. These are general pruning guides. This website discusses the various aspects of when and how to prune. (www.howstuffworks.com)
7. Mulching Landscape Plants: Mulching shrubs and other plants is a great method for keeping plants healthy and reducing landscape maintenance. Up to 25% of soil moisture is lost due to evaporation. Mulch will conserve soil moisture as well as keep the soil well-aerated. Probable soil fungi are also deterred from contaminating the plant. (www.ohioline.osu.edu)
8. A Gardener’s Guide to Fertilizing Trees and Shrubs: Fertilizers are not food for the plant. Synthetic or natural, fertilizers provide the correct nutrients for the plant for its growth.  Proper addition of fertilizers will definitely promote plant growth and the production of blooms. Excessive fertilizer spells doom for the plant. (www.ces.ncsu.edu)
9. Planting and Maintaining Trees and Shrubs: Before you choose the site in which to plant shrubs, consider the following first: hardiness zone, slope, exposure, amount of light, soil type, drainage, size of the area and nutrients available. What follows are the consideration of the shrubs to be planted. Included on this site are details regarding proper soil preparation, planting, fertilizing, watering, staking and mulching. (www.extenstion.umass.edu)
10. Shrubs Landscaping Photos: Here are more than 67,000 photos of shrubs used for landscaping. You can use shrubs of varied heights and colors for a real interesting composition. The collection of landscaping ideas using shrubs on this website is just enormous. Whether you are looking for a landscape design with layered, sculptured, or flowering shrubs, this website has it all. (www.houzz.com)