Decorative shrubs, the photos of which we will present in this article, are often elements that harmonize the overall picture, as well as emphasizing the necessary nuances of the site so that it looks harmonious, bright and attractive. They are like strokes on the canvas, able to properly dilute the necessary details of the flowerbed, and in certain places to place accents. Any gardener, summer resident, owner of a personal plot would like to do everything carefully and correctly so that fruit trees, vegetables, beds with greens are in place.
Depending on the imagination, size of the plot and preferences, ornamental shrubs (see photo in the article below) can become a backdrop for the rest of the plantings, an interesting element of various garden compositions, hedges, and also act as the main nuance that attracts attention.
In this article we will consider the most popular decorative trees and shrubs planted in summer cottages and in the territories of private houses. It is unrealistic to cover the entire spectrum of these representatives of the plant kingdom, but it is worth paying attention to the main flowering and decorative foliage.
Main placement criteria
The first is to choose decorative trees and shrubs that will feel comfortable in the climate of your region. Select a specific variety follows from this factor.
The next nuance is considered to be its location. So, if you buy a sun-loving representative, it should be planted in a sunny place, in which there will be a huge amount of light without any hint of shadow. While shady ones should be placed only in shaded areas, possibly in the shade of large trees or buildings. This is important because the wrong choice of place will affect the splendor of flowers or the brightness of the colors of the foliage on the shrub, as well as its viability as a whole.
The general picture of your garden also needs to be taken into account when choosing a particular plant (we will give the most popular names for decorative shrubs in the article below). In a small area, lush and tall specimens will look inappropriate. At the same time, frost-resistant, blooming, beautiful, low bushes are ideal, in addition, you will be pleased with their appearance before the frost.
Flowering shrubs
Some ornamental flowering shrubs are also fruit. We will indicate this nuance in the description.
Mocker or jasmine
Well, how to do without him ?! Thanks to its charming aroma, almost everyone loves and knows him. At the moment, you can find multiple hybrids and varieties of this ornamental shrub - all of them are incredibly attractive. They differ in the shape, size, aroma and color of the flowers. In our case, we are talking about a white-flowering representative - resistant to diseases, frost-resistant, unpretentious (it can be placed in a place lit by sunlight, or in the shade).
Spirea
Spirea is very beautiful and very unpretentious. Varieties of this ornamental shrub can bloom in spring and summer. Moreover, if you correctly calculate the time, you can plant these 2 species so that first one blooms, and the second at this time just begins to bloom. Some varieties have very beautiful foliage - Pink Ice, Wagnutta. For this reason, they are easy to attribute even to decorative foliage plants.
Spirea blooms luxuriantly and abundantly, leaning literally to the ground with branches covered in white flowers. Slow-growing, low Japanese spirea blooms with lilac-pink lush inflorescences. She is very attractive and serves as a honey plant.
Viburnum
Viburnum is both an ornamental shrub and a fruit specimen. A unique plant in every sense: berries are useful, are widely used as a medicine, blooms beautifully with white large spherical inflorescences. Foliage also deserves attention, the shade of which changes from bright green to red and golden.
Dogrose
Some ornamental shrubs that are able to grow in the country do not even need recommendations and introduction, for example, rose hips. It looks very attractive, useful in so many ways, it will decorate your site in the spring, while it blooms with red or pink flowers, and will also create a reliable prickly barrier in case you plant it along your fence. In some of its varieties, flowers are not inferior to roses in their beauty, and varieties with red healing berries will give you a natural natural “medicine”, whose valuable qualities are well known to many.
Lilac
Having many shades and colors, fragrant lilac! Without it, it is difficult to imagine a local area or a summer cottage, be it a multi-story or private house. Lilac is a fairly large shrub (up to two, three meters or more in height). But even in a small area at least one bush can be planted. There are many different varieties of plants. The shrub is unpretentious, resistant to cold, is beautiful in itself.
Elderberry black
Black elderberry is an ornamental shrub or small tree. The shrub differs from others in its bark, which has a grayish-brown color. This plant is all strewn with a huge number of yellow small lentils. Opposite and long leaves have a rather complex structure. All leaves consist of another 6 on average ovate leaflets with a pointed shape.
Hydrangea
There are shrubs that bloom and grow in places where a huge number of others refuse to give color and develop. And if we consider such decorative trees and shrubs, hydrangea is just such a plant. She prefers moist soil and shade. This frost-resistant shrub blooms with lilac, snow-white, blue, pink, and lilac large "balls." If the flower is cut off and put in a vase, it will stand for a very long time.
Ornamental shrub hydrangea has a long flowering, starting in July and ending in September. Some varieties bloom until October. This is a very non-capricious plant that feels good and on acidic ground. It is worth noting that most garden and flower representatives really dislike him. It can be used in single plantings, and at the same time looks very harmonious with clematis, rhododendrons, roses, lilies, various fern varieties, hosts.
Forsythia
Forsythia shrubs are real "suns" in your area! It blooms in early spring with bells of bright yellow color, and foliage appears on the shrub after the flowers have fallen. About three weeks lasts a time of plentiful flowering. This is a very heat-loving representative who shows his decorativeness as much as possible in the warm regions of Russia. It looks great surrounded by various bulbous flowers or like a plant planted separately. Suitable for creating hedges, but does not like cold winds, drafts and waterlogged soil.
Daphne
We continue to consider decorative trees and shrubs. Daphne belongs to the family Volchnikovye. It is an evergreen or deciduous shrub, widely known for the toxicity of berries and its fragrant flowers.
Decorative and deciduous shrubs
This is another category of shrubs. Without them, there is no suburban area. It is not possible to talk about all good copies in one article, but we will turn your attention to the most popular individual representatives. In most cases, decorative and deciduous shrubs do not require special care, their longevity is considered a separate plus. So, once planting a bush, creating comfortable conditions for its existence, it will be possible to admire it for many years.
Japanese red maple
If you prefer a riot of red shades, plant Japanese red maple on your site . This shrub is distinguished by a voluminous crown, its foliage first has a saturated green color, and closer to autumn it gradually turns orange, after which it turns into a carmine, bright red hue. Japanese maple actually has a huge number of varieties, each of which has its own attractive color. Aconitifolium variety - red-orange leaves, carmine-red - in Vitifolium, dark red, almost black-red leaves in Atropurpureum. They look great in every place of the site, prefer partial shade, are in perfect harmony with various coniferous representatives, hosts, ferns.
Fieldfare
The mountain ash of the mountain ash is very unpretentious, beautiful in color, grows rapidly, while its foliage deserves close attention. Openwork leaves of the plant have an unusual feature - a gradient, a smooth transition between shades. Red, orange, yellow, green, pinkish - these colors smoothly mix among themselves on one separate leaf. It resembles a bright bonfire from afar, during the whole season a riot of colors is observed, especially closer to autumn. It can be used in group plantings to hide ugly landscape details, it grows well in partial shade and in sunny areas. Fieldfare is not very picky about the soil, although nutritious, loose and moist soil is more preferable for it. Drought is undesirable for him.
Birch
Considering the beautiful ornamental trees and shrubs, it is simply impossible not to mention the birch. These trees reach a height of 45 meters, although there are dwarf species up to 2 meters. Young branches are usually painted in a reddish-brown shade and are covered with small “warts”. On the branches, the buds are alternately and covered with sufficiently sticky scales. Bright green small leaves with pronounced veins of a triangular shape with two slightly rounded corners. They are excised along the edges with denticles. Young birch leaves in spring are mostly sticky.
Bubble
This plant is interesting in that it has a completely different color of foliage depending on a particular variety. This is a rather non-capricious plant, but on loose, slightly moistened soil it will feel more comfortable. It is actively used in landscape design: some varieties can be trimmed, giving them any shape in this way, some of the varieties are used to create hedges or borders. It is attractive and good in itself, as well as in the company of other representatives of garden plants.
Hawthorn
Also, the ornamental shrub hawthorn comes to mind, which has such a huge number of varieties that any gardener among them will be able to find a shrub to their taste. All kinds of figures can be formed from it, while its fruits are healing, used in official and traditional medicine. And this is not all decorative trees and shrubs.
Hawthorn in its "behavior" resembles something like boxwood, looks great in the design of hedges, in a single copy and in group plantings.
Ornamental trees and shrubs: elm
This is a deciduous large tree, reaching 40 meters in height. In this case, the diameter of the barrel can be up to 2 meters. In the genus, there are species that grow in the form of shrubs. Their crown can be cylindrical wide or spherical. Sympodial branching, in other words, the apex of the axis (main branch) stops growing at a certain moment, while its place is occupied by the lateral one growing in its direction. Thus, over time, you get a "ladder" along the trunk of a tree.
Hedge
This is one of the most popular, favorite and interesting horticultural “structures”. In the role of "building" material here are green spaces. Depending on the end result, a hedge can be arranged in the form of a low border or green high wall. You can choose any length or shape of this fence. It is worth noting that this is a creative activity, giving almost always excellent results. The green hedge is able to hide the unsightly parts of the summer cottage (fencing, old fence), highlight separate areas on the territory, and also emphasize other design accents.
Juniper
This is one of the most popular, favorite, convenient to care for and cutting plants for the design of hedges. He prefers sunlight, is resistant to cold and drought, but he needs to be protected from too moist soil. It should not be planted if mainly clay soil prevails on your site. The bushes are planted from each other at a distance of about 70 cm, a haircut is performed twice a year. It is worth remembering that juniper is growing quite quickly.
Hop
Hop is a climbing vine and shrub at the same time. It is frost-resistant, unpretentious, prefers moist soil, does not need frequent adjustments. The plant forms medium-sized cones, adding beauty to the bright green dense foliage. He needs a strong and reliable garter and support.
Turn
The thorn (blackthorn) reaches 2 meters in height, blooms in white, densely arranged flowers to each other, has numerous thorns. When planting thorns to create a hedge, you will need to fix each bush, tie it to a peg. Thus, you will ask the shrubbery the right direction, at first support it, then it will gain strength. After planting, the first month of seedlings should be regularly watered. Blackthorn grows very quickly, while producing blue saturated fruits - plums (slightly tart, tasty).
It is worth noting that it all depends on the availability of free time and your imagination. It should always be borne in mind that between tall shrubs need a lot of space. Also do not forget about the climatic features of the region when choosing plants.
Tips for planting and choosing shrubs
Most often, shrubs are planted in autumn until frost or early spring, as soon as buds begin to wake up on the trees, and snow has already fallen. Pits for planting in the spring should be prepared in the fall - to fertilize, calculate the width and depth of the recess for a particular variety of shrubs. Buy seedlings only in reliable places - flower shops or special nurseries. Before deepening, the plant can be kept for several hours in water with a growth stimulant added to it.
In addition to the agrotechnical features of each individual species, you need to remember the elementary formulas:
- Medium-sized plants should be planted one and a half meters from each other.
- Dwarf and low representatives are buried from each other at a distance of 60-80 cm.
- Tall specimens - not less than 2 meters.
The ornamental shrubs presented in this article are the most adapted and popular for our regions. Pick green residents to your own color and taste, and let your site become even more attractive and unique.