Shrubs in your garden

It is very difficult to create a magnificent landscape in a modern garden without such representatives of the flora as shrubs. These elements of vegetation are a wonderful addition to a colorful garden palette.

With their appearance in plant compositions, new notes begin to sound. Shrubs for the garden become bright touches of landscape decor. They decorate open areas, organize hedges from them, letting them along the garden alleys, they become the background of cheerful flower beds. The presence of shrubs will transform any landscape and make it truly festive.

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The role of shrubs in the arrangement of a personal plot

"Shrubs used in garden decoration can only have upright branches"

Experts consider shrubs to be a kind of link that harmonizes trees with herbaceous low-growing annuals, long-lived and bulbous. Many of their representatives are decorative initially and can be an excellent backdrop for flowering plant forms.

Shrubs for the garden have to perform a variety of missions. They are assigned a role:

1. Hedge.

2. Protecting the garden from drafts and unwanted glances.

3. All boundaries of the site.

4. Extraordinary decor.

Shrubs are included in various compositions. They, for example, fill the background in mixborders.

A rose bush is a great way to break up the monotony of a grassy lawn. It will become a wonderful decoration of the entrance to the house and the front garden.

Shrubs used in garden decoration can only have upright branches. Among them there are liana-like representatives, indispensable in vertical gardening, as well as ground cover varieties suitable for decorating slopes and tree trunks. By the way, they suppress the growth of all kinds of weeds quite well.

Decorative varieties of shrubs are presented in a wide variety. About forty of their species and even more subspecies are suitable for our difficult climatic zone, graying them: roses and creepers, beautifully flowering and decorative deciduous options with red, pale yellow, purple, white-green cover and colorful fruits.

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Spectacularly flowering representatives of the class

The leader of the category is the rose. Although it belongs to the class of “capricious” bushes, the beauty of which has to be maintained with remarkable efforts, nevertheless, landscape design cannot do without their use.There are park varieties of pink shrubs for the garden that are less whimsical. They can be safely planted in their gardens by everyone, including beginner gardeners.

The unpretentiousness of park rose bushes is overshadowed by a meager flowering period. They throw out buds only once a season, but at this time the plants are charming and exude the finest bewitching aroma.

The most decorative features are:

1. "Ritausma", covered with pale pink, stuffed with double flowers.

2. "Rosa Shevchenko", having buds of rich dark red color.

3. "Hansa", pleasing with huge red-pink flowers.

The second most popular among landscape designers is jasmine. During the flowering period, it is simply irresistible. At the very beginning of summer, its branches are covered with snow-white flowers, and it seems that in front of you is a garden after a heavy snowfall. Jasmine shrubs for garden decor are planted in whole alleys or create a hedge from them.

The plant grows well in shaded areas, but still blooms more actively in the sun. The most spectacular varieties of jasmine with architectural types of crowns. "Virginal" has a dense, vertically shaped crown.

If you need a view with a wide pyramidal crown, then you should use the "Pyramidal".

It is good to buy a vesicle to create green hedges. This is a medium-sized species with a height of up to two meters. The plant attracts designers with an unusual color of foliage. An exfoliating crown in brown-red tones is crowned with elegant inflorescences. The plant responds well to a haircut and is able to maintain a decorative effect throughout the season.

Unusual shrubs are also given fruits that resemble leathery leaves of a swollen shape. As they ripen, they gradually change color from green to deep red.

The varieties "Diabolo" with maroon foliage, the compact handsome "Summer Vine", with red leaves of the crown and white-pink flowers, as well as the representatives of "Kopertinna", which initially have orange foliage, are in demand.

The decoration of the emerald lawn will be group plantings of rhodendron shrubs for the garden. Alfred, Blue Peter, Violetta are distinguished by their original beauty.

You can often find deren in the ennobled garden area. It makes excellent tall hedges. The shrub has a three-meter height and a dense crown of flexible upright coral-red branches. Often the shoots are covered with a bluish bloom. Deren blooms all summer. The inflorescences are classified as umbellate and are collected from tiny white flowers.

The shrub does not lose its decorative effect even in autumn. During this period, its foliage acquires a wonderful bronze-crimson hue. An unusual effect is produced by bare dark cherry branches in winter. They are an excellent contrast to evergreen conifers and snow-white cover.

The uniqueness of turf shrubs for garden decoration is that they look great both in group and in individual plantings. Individuals are not afraid of a haircut and respond to it with the rapid growth of young growth. Among the decorative options, the leaders are Gold Star, Rubra, Cherokee Princess.

It is very tempting to get bushes on your site that do not stop flowering even in frost. The group of frost-resistant species includes the following perennials:

1. Berry yew growing up to 30 meters in height.

2.Juniper belonging to the genus cypress.

3. Derain, deciduous subspecies of dogwood.

The bushes are moisture-loving, but not particularly capricious. It is easy to create garden decor of any shape from them, as the plants tolerate a haircut well. Clusters of viburnum and large camellia flowers can dilute the grayness of autumn bad weather.

Fruit bushes for the garden should be highlighted in a separate topic. Hazel is highly decorative. Its red-leaved varieties are in perfect harmony with the rest of the plantings. Currants, gooseberries and raspberries put together can become an insurmountable obstacle, so feel free to use them as a hedge.

Many like the iridescent placers of wild rose flowers and the brightness of sea buckthorn fruits. Hawthorn, Japanese quince and shadberry are not often seen in our gardens, but they can fully pick up the baton of the summer collection of plants. Crimson foliage will become a wonderful tint fragment of any composition due to the spectral highlights generated in the foliage by the sun's rays. Barberry, cinquefoil, honeysuckle perfectly adapt to complex reliefs. In limestone soil, it is worth growing elderberry, euonymus, buddley.

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Shrubs for the garden - aspects of selection

In order for the shrub you like to fit into the existing landscape, it must have some qualities.

In the first place is the decorativeness of culture and this is understandable, because you dream of adding beauty to your garden with the help of this plant. Today there is no shortage of shrubs that stand out for their non-standard crown shape, unusual leaf color and wonderful aroma.

If you like flowering shrubs, you should take those species that will bloom all season. Of interest to gardeners are also options that change the color of foliage in accordance with the change of seasons.

The next factor to pay attention to is the "growth" of the plant. The selection of shrubs for the garden should be carried out taking into account its structure. It makes no sense to plant a plot of a small area with tall varieties with spreading crowns. Here, compact shrubs from the genus of columnar junipers will be more appropriate.

If you plan to create hedges with such vegetation, then priority should be left to rapidly growing crops. In this case, the shape of the crown is important. It must retain its attractiveness, not only being covered with foliage, but also without the “cap” that the plant will lose on the eve of winter.

The desire to plant a garden with exotic is encouraging, but you need to really look at things, or rather, the climatic aspects of growing it. Heat-loving varieties will not survive frosty winters. It makes no sense to plant new individuals every year. The bushes will not have time to appear in all their glory, because they need several years to mature. Many types of shrubs for garden decoration are ready to show their luxurious decorativeness only in open, well-lit areas, while other varieties, on the contrary, need a deep shadow for this. If you do not have enough time to care for your garden, or if this is your first time doing such a thing, then start ennobling it by planting plants that do not require your special attention either to their growth or reproduction.

It will not be superfluous to know that all shrubs are divided into deciduous and evergreen varieties. The first in the winter remain with bare branches, the second - this does not threaten. Evergreens can partially shed their leaves with the advent of spring and immediately replace them with new ones.

Before you buy shrubs to improve the garden, take an interest in what shape its crown will have in its mature form. She may be:

1. Weeping.

2. Spherical.

3. Rounded.

4. Direct.

5. Pyramidal.

6. Expanded.

7. Drop down.

8. Looks like a column.

Plants whose crown is not artificially formed (by cutting) need to be provided with sufficient space for full development.

Since the bushes are distinguished by a variety of foliage colors and flower petals, with some effort it is possible to create magnificent combinations from them in the color aspect. The selection of plants and palette depends on personal preferences, however, striking contrasts should be avoided. Differences in shades that cut the eye will not allow you to fully appreciate the individual beauty of plants and the greatness of the idea as a whole.

When choosing shrubs for garden design, especially if you need to plant them in groups, find out and compare their flowering periods. Consistently blooming planting will make your garden constantly blooming, and the most delicate aroma will fill the yard of the estate from early spring to the last days of autumn. A combination of regular and evergreen varieties will look good. With such a landing, green islands on your site will be year-round.

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How to plant and how to care for shrubs

“If the roots of shrubs purchased for the garden are open, then they can only be planted in very early spring or late autumn”

Buying planting material is a responsible process. In order for it to be guaranteed to start, it is worth buying seedlings of bushes not with an open root system, not in boxes or bags, but in special containers and transplanted into the ground directly with the clod of soil that the roots have already managed to entangle. Such seedlings are somewhat more expensive, but they take root on the site much faster and grow strong. In addition, they can be planted throughout the warm season.

If the roots of shrubs purchased for the garden are open, then they can be planted only at the time when they are in a leafless state, that is, in very early spring or late autumn. The size of the planting hole should be such that the roots feel free in it. A little humus, seasoned with a glass of ash and some kind of complex fertilizer, is laid at the bottom.

Intervals for mass planting are calculated taking into account the spreading of the crown of an adult plant. So, when planting a hedge, the bushes are separated from each other by at least 0.4 meters and a maximum of a meter. In a mixboard, they are planted at a much greater distance, since high accuracy is not needed there.

pruning

When caring for shrubs that are a decoration for the garden, you cannot avoid such a procedure as pruning. Absolutely all varieties need it, the only question is how often?

- Most often, with garden shears, you will have to approach hedges and curly landscape decors that look like balls, animals, etc. They will sometimes need to be sheared several times over the summer.

- Rodendrons are pruned exclusively for sanitary purposes, removing broken and missing branches in early spring.

- Tall shrubs used for landscaping the garden are pruned even less often - once every five years, but they do it radically, almost “under the stump”. Thus, the plants rejuvenate and achieve their full flowering. Old and damaged branches are cut as they appear.

- Lilac, spirea, hydrangea are to be pruned immediately after flowering is completed, but forsythia and weigela will independently shed dried flower stalks.

Diseases

Shrubs are not often affected by pests, but they still have a risk of suffering from their attacks. The main enemies of plants are:

1. Caterpillars.

2. Aphid.

Fungi and bacteria can attack the shoots. In the fight against parasites, it is recommended to use insecticides and fungicides. Do not add beauty to the bushes and weeds, so do not forget to destroy them in time.

Watering

In the spring, garden shrubs need a mulching procedure. For this you can use:

1. Bark.

2. Gravel.

3. Decorative chips.

4. Coniferous litter.

5. Peat.

6. sawdust.

Plants are interested in a stable supply of moisture, so you will have to organize their regular watering. This can be done not often, but very plentifully, especially if the weather is hot. First of all, heather varieties and conifers suffer from drought.

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The role of shrubs in landscape design

Most often, designers use shrubs to improve the garden in the form of green hedges and mixborders. In the first case, the selection of varieties will depend on the height of the intended fence. For high hedges, they take the game, thuja, hawthorn, deren. For medium - cotoneaster, barberry, vesicle. A low-growing hedge is formed from boxwood, holly magnolia, Japanese quince. If an unformed option is planned, then hydrangeas, juniper, and spirea are planted.

With the help of liana-like shrubs, already existing unsightly fences are decorated. Lemongrass, wild grapes, honeysuckle, climbing roses, clematis, actinidia are allowed on them. They are also used for vertical gardening of bersos, pergolas, trellises, lanterns, arbors and other vertical surfaces available on the site.

If hedges are formed from the same type of bushes, then mixborders will require their varietal diversity. When arranging them, shrubs for the garden are used as an independent filling unit, and they are combined with herbaceous plants, lianas and representatives of conifers. For tall varieties, the background is isolated, medium-sized ones fill the center, and undersized ones are brought forward.

A bush is not just a fast-growing plant, it is also growing strongly, so you need to monitor the condition of the mixborder, cutting and correcting the shape of the crowns of all plantations in a timely manner. A very attractive mixborder, on the territory of which plants with different flowering periods, having different heights and different foliage colors are collected. With the right organization, you will get the effect of a "green room", that is, an enclosed space in an open garden.

When you need to equip a rock garden, hide an unsightly piece of soil, or decorate a container, use dwarf shrubs. With a small height, they will perfectly cope with the task of filling the background of the site.

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molded shrubs

Figured shrubs will become real highlights of the decor for the garden. They can become the basis of such a popular lawn garden among summer residents. The materialization of an idea is possible even on a very modest area, because the volumes of crowns of conical and spherical shapes remain constant. Any variety of bushes lends itself to modeling, the only “but” is that deciduous species have to be cut more often.

Coniferous bushes are not always subject to topiary shearing. There are many varieties whose crown is formed independently in the initially given geometry. To correct it, it is enough to slightly shorten the shoots.

If you want to have bushes in arbitrary shapes, it is enough to turn on your imagination and plant them correctly.

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Interesting neighborhood

Shrubs for the garden, planted along the alleys, will be perceived as borders. Their low representatives and dwarf bushes are good in this role. Plants can solo on lawns if used as a single planting. Look attractive: rhodendron, hydrangea and many-sided spirea. But varieties that are unpresentable in a calm period are best included in group compositions.

Competent combination will help to avoid the obvious decorative superiority of species in the group. The process of selecting and drawing up a diagram is quite complicated and the experiments here are not always successful, so it is better to adhere to the already existing adapted practice, according to which:

- it is recommended to choose rhodendron and fortisia as partners for the red-leaved barberry.

- Japanese quince, honeysuckle, mock orange and the ubiquitous rhodendron, the beauty of which is not inferior to the luxury of tinted roses, will happily coexist with lilacs.

- in the company of spirea it is worth planting hydrangea, red coleus - yellow-leaved barberry.

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Worth a try!

Even a very small area is not a reason to abandon its design. Compact mini-shrubs will perfectly cope with the task, which for such a garden will be just a godsend. It will look very modern, since among such plants there are many subspecies with a non-standard form of growth, which bring innovative notes to garden design. In parallel with this, compact forms allow saving both forces and resources for their cultivation, which fully meets the stringent requirements of our days. Dwarf shrubs will allow you to give the site a well-groomed appearance, without distracting you too much from your main activities.

Low maintenance gardens allow the shrubs to explore the area as they see fit, while using dwarf shrubs to decorate the garden will give the owner more control over the look of the garden, so the mini shrubs will satisfy those who wish to see it in order.

Fortunately, it will not be possible to keep plants within the established limits, since they tend to grow and change, so that you are not threatened by the same type of composition frozen over the years. Trying to correct or invent something, you will have to take up scissors and improve garden sketches, which means that it will not be boring.

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Conclusion

As you can see, growing shrubs for the garden is much easier than cultivating flowers. Planting them once, you will have a magnificent garden decor for many years to come without the laborious maintenance and solid investments in maintaining everyday beauty.

Photo gallery - shrubs for the garden

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