Shrubs Complete the Home Landscape

Shrubs in the home landscape are often limited to only a few along the base of house called "foundation" planting. Modern homes are often set closely to the ground and are made of interesting materials that do not need to be hidden by plants. For this reason modern plantings are used mainly to break the long horizontal line formed where the house meets the lawn area. Corner plantings are used to broaden the house and break the abrupt vertical lines formed at corners.

Shrubs serve many other functions to complete the landscape. They may for boundaries, partitions backgrounds, accents, or specimens. Shrubs mature quite rapidly - in about 5 or 6 years - so they become useful much more quickly than a tree that may take 20 to 30 years. Large shrubs are used for boundary plantings to provide privacy and mark the limits of the property. If the property is small, large shrubs such as forsythia, viburnum, or honeysuckle may occupy too much space. In such situations, a fence, clipped hedge, or columnar plants may be the best solution.

Where land is not limited and some pleasant view exists, shrubs may be used to frame it and direct the line of sight to the pleasant view while screening out more undesirable areas. Do not use plants with colored foliage for boundary planting. A large mass of striking foliage can be too dominant and detract from other landscape features and flowers. Use only plants with medium green leaves. Shrubs are useful to separate different areas of the garden or provide a background for more colorful displays of perennial and annual flowers.

Shrubs that partition different areas of the lot need not be large. On the small lot, a low barrier will give an "implied" enclosure and a feeling of privacy without being overpowering. Background shrubs should not have dominant features. Leaves should be moderate green with medium to fine texture. Plants with coarse, deep green foliage catch the eye and compete with other plants. Garden shrubs may be divided into three groups; dominant plants, interest plants, and filler plants.

Dominant plants often have erect, still growth habits, coarse textures, or brightly colored foliage. They provide strong accent and might be used to mark enhances. Interest pants are similar to specimen and accent plants but have seasonal interest because of their bloom, foliage, or growth habit. They are not as strong attention getters as dominant plants but provide interest in a more subtle way. Dominant and interest plants must be used sparingly and joined together by filler plants. Filler plants are often repeated and used in groups to develop unity and repetition in the landscape. Spireas, privets, spreading junipers, and shrub honeysuckle are examples of filler plants.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shrub