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Tennessee Gardening

Evergreen dwarf shrub for sun?

15 years ago

I guess I'm too hopeful for a shrub that fills that above criteria AND blooms in summer. How about the same criteria without anything flowering? I just want to have seasonal interest and don't want bare spots in my front garden with anything that drops it's leaves in fall/winter. 3' high max.

Don't really want nandina (have some) or juniper (don't really like).

I'm in Nashville.

Thanks for any suggestions!

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Comments (3)

conniemcghee
15 years ago
Oh yes, sacrificing the flowering criteria definitely opens up a lot more possibilities! :)

Helleri hollies get about that height. I just bought some hollies called "Little Rascal," and they only get about two feet high by three feet wide (supposedly...that's what they say). I fell in love with the foilage on these. It's kind of crinkly. I bought them kind of late in the spring, though, and out of three now I'm down to two. :( I probably haven't watered them enough. I hope they do better once they're established.

What about arborvitae? There is a globe arborvitae that doesn't get huge, but I'm not sure it stays below three feet.

I'll tell you another plant I think has some awesome cool foilage - plum yew. But I don't know the ultimate size of those either. I *think* they stay small-ish...? I've seen some in our neighborhood that are about 2-3 feet right now. But, don't know how old they are.

You should go to a good nursery and look around and get them to make suggestions. Bates Nursery is good if you're north of town. If you're east, Needham's and Bagatta's.

Needham's has a good Web site and Bates' Web site is even better as it lists their exact inventory. :) You could spend some time looking around on those. Bates' site links you to pictures on Monrovia for a lot of their plants.

Hope that helps!
ccmarks
Original Author
15 years ago
Thanks for the suggestions! I'll check out the plum yew and the arborvitae and thanks for the web site tips too.
I found yews listed elsewhere too and am also going to check out Otto Luykens Laurel.
Thanks!
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Any broadleaf evergreen will produce flowers. Even though they might be tiny and you not notice them, the bees will :-) Conifers do not produce flowers as most of us recognize them so no nectar production that would attract bees and they are pollinated by wind, seldom insects. If you don't want any bees, go with a conifer. FWIW, the flowering period of most broadleaf evergreen shrubs is relatively short, so the bees don't hang around long - when the flowers are over, they move on. And when they are present they are busy - they won't bother you unless you bother them. Boxwood is a very common, almost ubiquitous, hedging plant and is used in similar situations with great frequency. And it is appealing to bees when in bloom but that does not discourage its use for this purpose by 1000's of homeowners. You may be being a bit overcautious :-)
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what other plants are growing there.. and how vigorous are they .. e.g. .. impatiens ... in a dark corner... live and remain smallish .... in a bright area.. but shady .. they might grow like weeds... get huge.. bloom profusely ... etc ... the more i ruminated on this.. what came to mind.. was two conifers.. potted ... which is a trick in itself .. and a nice decorative pot.. and you swap the conifers in and out of the pot over the season .... hemlock are shade tolerant.. but i don't know if they fit the Asian look .... i would tend toward pinus parviflora for the 'look' .. perhaps one of the dragon eye [occulus draconis=dragon eye] ... trained to a windswept/leaning look ... look up Pinus parviflora Fukia .... and p.p. ogan janome .. etc ... but it still all depends on the level of light .... and how you deal with that .... ken
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honeybunny442
15 years ago
Use google images to look at Arborvitae Teddy. They are adorable! I got some this summer and they are so soft, they're fun to pet. No flowers though, sorry.
This doesn't have flowers either that I know of, but what about one of those red barked dogwoods? Small shrubs that have bright red bark in winter, no leaves but they look cooler without them!

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