Hedges and shrubs are an integral part of an ornamental garden. Here you will find some species, whether evergreen, deciduous, flowering or fruiting.
Shrubs in the ornamental garden are like the s alt in the soup. They add structure to your garden. They provide variety with their loose growth. And they're the perfect backdrop for colorful flower beds.
The different colors and shapes of the leaves, different flowering times, varying colors and scents of the flowers and the variety of the fruits indicate a large number of these ornamental trees. You can choose from weak-growing, small shrubs, as well as ornamental shrubs that grow up to 2.5 meters or those that grow much larger.
Most species are pruning tolerant and can be trimmed to desired height. Many shrubs are therefore also suitable as hedges. We would like to introduce you to some of these ornamental perennials in four sections.
Ornamental Evergreen Shrubs
When all other shrubs have already shed their leaves, flowers and infructescence, the evergreens with their persistent foliage bring color and structure to your garden. How about one of the following plants?
❶ boxwood
Botanical: Buxus sempervirens
The classic among the evergreen foliage shrubs is the boxwood. You can use it in many ways. Do you want to use it for the border? Then it is best to use a slow-growing variety. "Suffruticosa" and "Blauer Heinz" are recommended.
You can also create higher hedges with boxwood. Fast-growing varieties such as "Rotundifolia" and "Handsworthiensis" or the wild species "Buxus sempervirens" are available for this purpose.
The targeted choice of variety also applies to topiary. So "Suffruticosa" or "Green Gem" (Green Gem) are ideal for small balls. For larger sculptures, you are well advised to use taller varieties. If you choose variegated boxwood, you must choose a sheltered location. These varieties are somewhat sensitive to frost.
❷ Holly
Botanical: Ilex
Well over 400 species belong to the holly family. However, from this family group only a very small number is actually suitable for the ornamental garden.
How about the Hedge Fairy holly? It is a very hardy variety and is particularly suitable for use in hedges. But also planted as a solitary plant, it is an eye-catcher in both summer and winter. Holly is an eye catcher with its dark green glossy leaves and attractive red berries in autumn.
It reaches a maximum height of 3 meters within 10 years. The wide, upright variety "Blue Angel" is only half as tall. However, it only bears female flowers. However, it is suitable as a preliminary planting for the male and fruitless variety "Blue Prince".
❸ Wrinkled Snowball
Botanical: Viburnum rhytidophyllum
The narrow, dark green leaves of the Wrinkled Viburnum are highly textured, wrinkled and hairy on the underside. For an evergreen shrub, this viburnum is incredibly hardy and hardy.
Its flat white flower spikes appear from May to June. In autumn, the first red fruits follow, which later turn black.
Before you decide on this shrub, you should consider that the fine leaf hairs can trigger allergies. Also include the wrinkled leaves in your decision. Some find them ugly, others are particularly enthusiastic about this leaf structure. The shrub is particularly effective in combination with other evergreen trees such as holly, mahonia, box or conifers.
❹ Japanese Aucube
Botanical: Aucuba japonica 'Variegata'
The Japanese Aucube, also known as the butcher palm, is a thick-stemmed shrub with evergreen, fleshy leaves. The cultivar 'Varigata' has irregularly shaped leaves that are yellow marked and mottled.
Because of the large, fleshy leaves, the Aucube should be planted in a semi-shady location. Protected from the wind as much as possible. The plant is particularly present in combination with other evergreen trees such as cherry laurel or lavender heather.
Another contrast is provided by the bright red fruits, which form in late summer and remain on the bush until next spring.
Be careful with the low winter hardiness. Winter protection is advisable in cold, dry regions. To promote winter hardiness, the butcher palm shouldget a place that is as sheltered as possible and partially shaded to light shaded from the outset.
Deciduous Shrubs
This group impresses with its virginally fresh foliage in spring and with its extraordinary leaf coloring in autumn. However, many of the deciduous shrubs also produce beautiful flowers and bear fruit. You can find an overview of four plants from this woody group here.
❶ Harlequin Willow
Botanical: Salix integra
With its white and then pink young shoots that look like flowers, the harlequin willow is an extraordinary sight. The mottled, older foliage is just as attractive. The Salix integra is a real beauty and an asset to any garden, whether as a standard tree or as a shrub.
It finds an ideal location both in the sun and in light semi-shade. The harlequin willow is also frugal in its soil requirements. It thrives excellently on sandy to medium-heavy soil and medium nutrient content. It only needs a lot of water after planting.
The mottled leaves are a feature of the 'Hakuro Nishiki' variety and are sun sensitive without getting used to it. If the location is too dark, the leaf colors will suffer.
❷ Barberry (sour thorn)
Botanical: Berberis vulgaris
A beautiful native shrub is available to you with the "common barberry". This plant is also called sour thorn or vinegar berry. The barberry can be planted both as a hedge and as a single shrub.
In spring you can enjoy the yellow flowers, in autumn the shrub delivers bright red berries.
The barberry does not make high demands on the location and care. Just as undemanding are barberry species, such as the 1.5 meter high golden barberry 'Aurea/Maria' with its golden yellow foliage. Or how about the red barberry (Berberis thunbergii 'Atropurpurea')? Planted in a hedge, this shrub provides protection against intruders up to 3 meters high.
❸ Hornbeam
Botanical: Carpinus betulus
The hornbeam is known by various names. It is also called hornbeam or hornbeam. It is best suited for impenetrable enclosures. It also structures your garden and gives it a classic look.
Foliage is fresh green in spring and summer. The leaves turn bright yellow in autumn and brown in winter.
NotUltimately, it is these properties of the hornbeam that make it so popular: It is frost hardy, tolerates shade and is easy to keep in shape. In addition, it is suitable for low hedges but also for walls up to 4 meters high. This means that it has the best prerequisites for privacy and wind protection.
❹ Red-leaved Bladderwort 'Diabolo'
Botanical: Physocarpus opulifolius 'Diabolo'
Due to the color intensity of the red-leaved bladderwort 'Diabolo', you can create great color additions to green hedges in summer. Its red to reddish-brown shoots and blood-red leaves create an extraordinary contrast to the green shrub hedges.
Pink umbels of flowers appear on the shrub in June and July, followed by red pods.
This deciduous tree is fast-growing and easy to care for. It can grow up to 3 meters high and has an upright shrubby habit. It does not place any higher demands on the soil or the location. Even wind and weather cannot harm the bubble pier. It is very robust and frost hardy.
Blossoming Shrubs
It is above all the flowers with their diverse shapes, colors and scents that make this group of ornamental shrubs something special. We have put together a selection of four flowering shrubs for you to give you a little suggestion.
❶ Witch Hazel
Botanical: Hamamelis
The witch hazel belongs to the frost hardy winter bloomers. The special appeal of this tree lies in the yellow to red flowers and their unusual shapes.
The witch hazel does not require any special care. You have to be patient though, because it grows very slowly. Their growth habit is sparse and spreading. It can grow up to a few meters tall.
It is best to choose a sunny to partially shaded location for this winter-flowering shrub. It is important to ensure that this is free of draughts. Because the witch hazel does not tolerate prolonged strong cold and drafts. Flowering remains uniformly beautiful only in mild winter weather. By the way, there are attractive varieties with different nuances in flower colour.
❷ Grand Bell
Botanical: Enkianthus campanulatus
If you want to create an ornamental garden, then you should shortlist the magnificent bell in your plants. In the cloudy autumn, it provides an extraordinary blaze of color in the garden. This attractive ornamental tree with its yellowish-redFlower clusters resembling a lily of the valley appeals to the eye with its large umbels and fiery red autumn colour.
Because of its relatively slow growth, it is particularly ideal for smaller gardens. It does quite well in the company of azaleas and rhododendrons.
The glorious bell, however, makes some demands on its location. It loves the brightness and does well in spring and autumn even in full sun. On hot summer days, however, it prefers a semi-shady to shady location. In any case, she wants to be sheltered from the wind.
❸ Garden Jasmine "Snowstorm"
Botanical: Philadelphus 'blizzard'
Its beautiful clusters of white flowers and the pronounced upright growth make the garden jasmine really interesting for garden lovers. Depending on the variety, its flowers can be double or single.
One of the most popular varieties is 'Schneesturm', also known as farmer's jasmine. The abundance of flowers gives the variety its name. During the flowering period from May to early July, 'Snowstorm' exudes a delightful fragrance.
It is also fast growing. With its very elegant overhanging side branches, the shrub reaches a height of up to 2.5 meters. You can plant the jasmine in a fully sunny or partially shaded location. However, you shouldn't put him completely in the shadow.
❹ Smoke Tree
Botanical: Cotinus coggygria
In terms of its visual effect, the willow smoker tends to be more reserved in spring and summer. Its foliage is green or dark red and its flower is inconspicuous. The plant has its furious finale in autumn. The flowers then develop into pompom-like infructescences, reminiscent of wigs. These are accompanied by the impressive autumn colors of the leaves.
The tree, which belongs to the tropical sumac family, is completely hardy and very easy to care for.
The tiny stone fruits of the smoke tree are not edible. However, the ornamental shrub makes up for this with its long, protruding hairs. These surround the small fruits and give the plant its spectacular appearance in autumn.
Fruit-bearing shrubs
The fruit bearers have qualified in this group with their unusual infructescence, the color and shape of the individual fruits. The fruits add color to your garden until late autumn. You can also participate in this color palette with the following trees.
❶Beauty Fruit / Love Pearl Bush
Botanical: Callicarpa bodinieri
In autumn and winter, the violet pearls of the beauty fruit, also known as the love pearl bush, are a real eye-catcher in a rather wintery, dreary garden. The branches are suitable for cutting and are ideal for decoration.
In summer, the beauty fruit is attractive with its violet flowers. The shrub is an eye-catcher for every garden. Foliage turns yellow-red hues in fall.
In winter, protect the roots of the shrub with leaves, compost or mulch. In very severe frosts, the shrub freezes back easily. But it will sprout again in spring.
It is recommended that you plant two shrubs. In this way, the ornamental shrubs can pollinate each other and carry even more "love pearls".
❷ Amethyst Berry 'Magic Berry'
Botanical: Symphoricarpos doorenbosii 'Magic Berry'
With its enchanting appearance, the amethyst berry offers magical moments. The typical pale pink flowers give the first magical impressions. From June they present themselves in a beautiful bell shape. A short time later, the first magenta to scarlet berries adorn the bush.
This gorgeous shrub grows wide and upright and develops overhanging shoots. He is about a meter high and about as wide. A sunny to semi-shady location is ideal, otherwise the amethyst berry is quite undemanding.
You can use this shrub in many ways, for example for group planting, as a flowering hedge or as a container plant.
❸ Spindle Hat
Botanical: Euonymus europaeus
The euonymus is a richly branched, sparsely growing tree and is suitable for every garden. Uninhibited as a shrub, it can grow up to three meters tall. But the euonymus is very pruning tolerant and can be trimmed back to any size.
Its intense autumn colors with bright foliage are impressive. The bizarre-looking fruits are comparable in shape to a priest's hat. The fruits ripen from August to October.
Unfortunately, the plant is completely poisonous to humans, especially the seeds. However, birds are particularly fond of the fruits and seeds of this ornamental tree.
The euonymus can also be planted as a hedge, but then it has to be cut regularly.
❹ Quince
Botanical: Chaenomeles
The ornamental quince originally comes from East Asia and therefore goes well with Chinese or Japanese-style themed gardens. In addition, the rose plant is an enrichment for every garden. Botanically, however, it does not belong to the quince family.
In spring, from March to April, the rich blooms in white, pink, orange or red give your garden a Far Eastern charm. Their fragrant, apple-like fruits caress the garden lover in autumn and winter.
You can use the ornamental quince as a solitary plant, for facade greening and also as a hedge. The tree is extremely versatile and easy to care for. The sprawling shrubs are particularly frost-hardy and, depending on the species, can be 1 to 5 meters high and 2 meters wide. Its fruits are edible but very hard.