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Shrubs to Decorate Your Landscape08-27-09 | News

Shrubs to Decorate Your Landscape

According to Lee Buttala, a veteran gardener who has cultivated shrubs, Hydrangea Quercifolia (oakleaf hydrangia) is "phenomenal in spring and summer when in bloom. [This shrub has] great, deep purple fall foliage that holds for months.?EUR??,,????'?????<

Blooms may be losing some luster among cash-strapped landscapers and gardeners weeding out nonessential spending. A practical option is investing in an assortment of low-risk, high-return shrubs.

Few plants can return so much for so little attention as shrubs, which are long lasting, colorful, cold hardy, fast-growing, drought-tolerant, pest-resistant and practical, and also deliver multi-season interest.

Buttala also stated: ?EUR??,,????'?????<

While the renewed popularity of vegetable growing grabs headlines, people have been spending more on flower gardening and landscaping, said Bruce Butterfield, market research director for the National Gardening Association. In 2008, the total paid for food gardening was $2.5 billion, flower gardening $2.7 billion and landscaping $11.7 billion.
Shrubs come in three varieties: flowering or deciduous (heather, Japanese maples, roses, to name a few), broad-leaf evergreens (boxwood, holly, azaleas, rhododendron) and evergreens with needles. The latter group includes spruce, juniper, yews and pine, all great foundation plants.

Shrubs differ from trees in that they generally are smaller and produce multiple upright stems, rather than a single trunk. Some varieties, like Japanese maples, are classified as both.

"Shrubs can work so well in a mixed border, and give you good structure and a good look through several seasons - even when they're not blooming. They also can interact with one another and train other plants,?EUR??,,????'?????<
Unlike many other perennials, shrubs are proven performers, Buttala said: "Shrubs require minimal care beyond watering and feeding."

Source: capecodonline.com