Ornamental Shrubs

Ornamental shrubs are a very important consideration for any garden design. Specimens shrubs and trees can act as a focal point of interest providing character to your landscape garden which changes subtly throughout the year. Many landscape gardeners are increasingly looking to dwarf varieties fruit trees to add interest but the massive range of ornamental shrubs available today means that there is a tree or shrub suitable for all gardens.

The Butterfly Bush (Buddleja davidii) is an extremely popular choice due to the fact that the mass of very sweetly-scented tall spikes of flowers produced in summer attract butterflies (hence the name). Available in a range of colors from the extremely dark purple flowers of the 'Black Knight' to the pure white with yellow eye 16in flowers found on the 'White Profusion'. Other popular varieties of this fast-growing deciduous, upright, shrub with long arching shoots, are the 'Empire Blue' (violet-blue flowers with a purple eye) and the 'Royal Red' (with deep red-purple flowers). The Butterfly Bush can grow up to 8ft in height and spread and is excellent as a specimen shrub or at the back of a border.

One of the most interesting of ornamental shrubs is the Corkscrew Hazel which is a deciduous shrub whose twisted branches are richly decorated in spring by a show of long catkins. The twisted branches help give a geometric feature to the winter garden and they are widely used in fresh and dried flower arrangements (even as ornaments in a plain vase). Even the leaves are contorted and it also produces edible nuts. There are a few varieties that are highly suitable for the garden including the Green (Corylus avellana Contorta) and the Red Majestic (Corylus avellana Red Majestic) which is a relatively new variety which has amazing purple young foliage which grows greener with maturity. The catkins are also purple and so are the nuts.

Some ornamental shrubs such as the Weigela have been a long favorite with landscaping experts and feature in a great many garden designs. The Weigela is another deciduous shrub which has long-lasting clusters of foxglove like flowers which grow up to one and a half inches long. It grows to a height and spread of around 3ft making it suitable for nearly every garden.

As well as ornamental shrubs, ornamental trees such as the Golden Rain Tree also known as the Golden Chain (Laburnum watereri vossi) with it's distinctive masses of long, pendulous clusters of 12 inch long flowers look spectacular at the very center of a well kept lawn. Other landscaping trees which produce an abundance of flowers include the ever popular Cherry whose sweet smelling blossom appears in spring in a magnificent display of pink and white colors. The Autumn Flowering Cherry (Prunus subhirtella Autumnalis Rosea) produces it's semi-double pale pink flowers from November to March and they are ideal as cut flowers.

The ornamental shrubs and trees mentioned above are only a few chosen from a multitude of different species available to the landscape architect. Whichever you choose you can enhance it's beauty by some carefully placed outdoor lighting which can either enhance the architectural properties or highlight some of the flowers during an early evening. Even in the depths of winter your tree or shrub can look spectacular, imagine a Corkscrew Hazel dusted in frost with a few long icicles glistening and sparkling as you sit looking out watching the winter sun set.

Eric Johnstone has been a landscape gardener for about 15 years and writes for a small number of landscape gardening sites in his spare time.