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What shrub/bush should I plant?

13 years ago

Hi all! I'm looking for some planting advice, I wish I could post a picture. I live in an older home in Edmonton, with a West facing front yard. There is nothing on the NE side of my house next to my front door, and I want to plant something, for some interest. It's a shady and dry area. I want to plant a shrub or bush that will have some height, 4-5 ft, and some width. It has to be easy to grow and pretty all year long. Do you have any suggestions for me? Thanks in advance!

Comments (8)

beegood_gw
13 years ago
You know to see what things look like and do well in your area drive around the neighbourhood and see what appeals to you. Ninebarks have lovely golden leaves and will grow in partial shade.
northspruce
13 years ago
I have grown bridal wreath spirea and mockorange in similar situations. My only complaint with mockorange in part shade is it tends to put out a lot of weak growth that gets attacked by aphids, which it doesn't do in more sun. It still blooms nicely though.
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Can you take one photo from farther away and one relatively close so we get a better feel for what the overall picture is? My thought was similar to Ken's, that your new plants look too close to the house though it's difficult to tell from the one shot posted. When I plant shrubs I look up the width (which is usually size at 10 years.) I then add a couple of feet so I can do any needed work on the house and also 10% to 20% of the 10 year width to account for growth past 10 years since I don't want to be a slave to pruning or have branches damage the house. Since Missouri Botanical Garden says this plant get to 8' wide, the plant's base should be a minimum of 7 feet from the house (1/2 of 8'= 4' plus 2' plus 10%-20%.) You can do similar math for the Hybiscus. For other plants, try a medium sized evergreen or a small tree such as a disease resistant flowering crabapple planted diagonally off the right corner. In between the shrubs you can plant some larger easy care shade-loving perennials such as Astilbe, Actaea simplex (often listed as Cimicifuga racemosa), especially one of the dark-leafed forms such as Brunetter or Hillside Black Beauty, hosta, ferns, Hakone grass (I like the gold one), or smaller shrubs such as Diervilla sessilifolia Cool Splash, Annabelle Hydrangea (you'll need to remove suckers annually to keep it from spreading) or Microbiota decussata AKA Russian arborvitae (though it isn't an arborvitae), a shade tolerant evergreen. Having a range of color size and texture in the leaves will keep the garden interesting even when plants aren't blooming. If you plant the non-spreaders in clumps of several, they will be more visually effective when viewed from the road.
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hykue Zone 7 Vanc. Island
13 years ago
Maybe someone can help me out here . . . can dogwood take dry conditions at all? If so, if it were my house, I imagine I would plant a dogwood. There are many kinds. They look nice all the time, especially in winter when the red- or yellow-stemmed ones add some color in the whiteness. I know they can take shade, and maybe if they were mulched they could take dry as well?

You can post photos (if you have them) by hosting them on Picasaweb or Photobucket and copying the text to embed the image (in Picasa it's called "embed imgage", I believe). Just in case you would like to.
oilpainter
13 years ago
No dogwood doesn't like dry conditions, but it would like the rest of the conditions. No shrub that grows 5 feet should be planted closer than 3 feet of the house anyway. Rerouting the water from a downspout with a plastic sleeve would keep any shrub well watered
prairiegal_edm
Original Author
13 years ago
Thanks for the info! Here's my attempt on trying to load a photo. The soil in that corner is very dry, grows weeds, and seems to be some animals' toilet. I want to cover it with woodchips and then plant something beautiful. I'm not a very green thumb, so I want something that takes care of itself.
From Yard

Here is a link that might be useful: Yard
Konrad___far_north
13 years ago
I'm thinking some Lilac...or a Amur Cherry if you want a tree, the bark
is a nice bronze to look at in winter.

Konrad
hykue Zone 7 Vanc. Island
13 years ago
Lilac is a great suggestion. They're really simple to look after, and mine don't seem to mind the dry. Their flowers are pretty and smell nice, and they're fairly attractive the rest of the time too. But I still would be tempted to put in a dogwood and water it. I'm sure the other suggestions are good, too, but I haven't any idea what those things look like.
bigfred12
13 years ago
I'd go for a Coppertina ninebark, and maybe a Snowmound spirea as well. Dwarf Korean lilacs have a wonderful smell, but you need to do some work with lilacs to make them really nice.
Go for a variety of heights, not just one size type of a look.

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