Shrubs are the unsung heroes of any garden, offering versatility, low maintenance, and timeless appeal. These hardy plants provide a beautiful backdrop to your more dramatic flowers, filling garden beds with structure and volume without breaking the bank. Many shrubs also bloom, adding unexpected bursts of colour and drawing attention to corners that often go unnoticed. Whether left to grow naturally, pruned into topiary shapes, or shaped into hedges, shrubs can transform any outdoor space. As a passionate shrub enthusiast, here are some of my favourites to inspire your garden!
Viburnum odoratissima or sweet Viburnum is a bullet proof, easy to grow, shrub that has deep green glossy leaves. This shrub is often used for medium hedges as it clips beautifully into either a formal or informal shape. There are two varieties that make an excellent backdrop to a garden bed, V. ‘Emerald Lustre’ has mirror like larger leaves that bring light to the back of a garden bed but is best grown loosely and V. ‘Coppertops’ has stunning coppery new growth that adds interest in every season.
Correa alba is a native shrub that works well in the middle or front of a garden bed filling the space with coppery bronze foliage and either white or pink flowers. This shrub can be left loose for it’s natural shape or be clipped into balls to form drought, salt and sun tolerant topiary. Ensure you have good drainage when planting this shrub but also mulch well for quick growth.
Another great native shrub is the Coastal Rosemary, Westringia fruticosa. As the name suggests it has rosemary like foliage but in a grey silver tone that helps to tie planting schemes together. Like the correa this can be left to be loose or clipped into tight shapes to suit many styles of garden. Flowers are found all year round on this shrub only slowing in the hottest or coldest parts of the year, in coastal warm spots you should get 12 months of blooms.
Azaleas can be seen as a bit old fashioned, but I have found they really add spring seasonal interest when they bloom into life, heralding the end of winter. When clipped they can form beautiful large mounds of foliage that only get better with flowers. When planting azaleas mix lots of compost into the soil and water well in summer. I also apply a preventative pesticide such as horticultural oil or beat-a-bug every 4-6 weeks to keep the foliage looking its best.
If you are looking for year-round interest in colourful leaves then Loropetalum or Fringe Flower will give you a deep purple tone to the garden that really stands out on a hot sunny summers’ day. This plant can be clipped, and I have a Japanese style cloud pruned one in my garden, but I also like to leave it loose as the branches have an almost layered weeping effect that add even more interest. The plant gets covered in electric pink fringe flowers in spring and summer and sometimes a repeat flower into autumn, improve the soil when planting for best establishment.
A lovely little low maintenance shrub for the front of a garden bed is a native known as Salt Bush or Rhagodia. It has a small silver pointed leaf that needs full belting sun to grow to its best. I like to clip this to form clouds and mounds that when used in mass give a surreal effect to a planting scheme. Salt bush can be used in the kitchen too, drying the foliage out and adding it to dishes or using it as a rub will really elevate your cooking.
