Using Dwarf Shrubs for Gardens
Dwarf shrubs are short bushes that are used by gardeners for their aesthetic features. They are compact and serve a variety of garden purposes. In larger plantings, small shrubs for landscapes can be grouped into 5-foot (1.5 m.) centers to create a groundcover effect. Bushes that are small also work well in planters and combine well with street trees. Dwarf shrubs for gardens make great edging plants for walkways and more formal garden designs. Single small plants also make good foundation plants.
Types of Small Shrubs for Landscapes
In modern times, you can find numerous new and interesting small shrubs for landscapes or dwarf shrubs for gardens. Given their small size, they work almost anywhere in your garden. Here are a few compact evergreen shrubs to try that stay under 3 feet (1 m) tall: Boxwood (Buxus) is a very slow-growing evergreen that tolerates almost any type of pruning. Leather-leaf Mahonia (Mahonia bealii) is an evergreen that thrives in the shade. It produces clusters of yellow flowers, followed by berries. Dwarf pyracantha (Pyracantha “Tiny Tim”) doesn’t have the dangerous thorns that the full-size versions sport, but it does get the crimson berries. When you are choosing bushes for small spaces, don’t overlook aucuba (Aucuba japonica), another of the great shrubs for landscapes. It thrives in the shade and produces golden foliage. Dwarf yaupon (Ilex vomitoria nana) only gets to 2 feet (0.5 m) tall and wide with delicately textured evergreen foliage. Dwarf bamboo (Bambusa sasa pygara) stops growing at a foot high (0.5 m.) in sun or shade. Dwarf purple-leaf barberry (Berberis) is another very small shrub at 1 foot (0.5 m) in both directions, while dwarf sasanqua (Camellia sasanqua) stays compact but flowers in winter. Dwarf junipers have finely textured silver blue foliage. Dwarf Chinese holly (Ilex cornuta “Rotunda”) and dwarf holly (Ilex cornuta rotendifolia) are both compact and dense. And when you are choosing bushes for small spaces, dwarf nandina (Nandina domestica) grows slowly with great fall color in either sun or shade.
