If you’re thinking of sprucing up your landscape with the right plants, it’s a good idea to think about how much time you have to maintain them. Plants are living things and require tender loving care. However, even if you don’t have that much free time to dedicate to your garden on a daily basis, that doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t have plants.
There are a variety of low-maintenance species that will allow you to elevate your home without taking up so much of your time. Here are the best low-maintenance shrubs to plant in front of your house:
Low-Maintenance Privacy Shrubs
It’s normal to want some privacy for your home. While some may choose to install the traditional fences, a more creative approach is by adding some privacy shrubs. These low-maintenance landscaping plants can provide you with the solitude and peaceful ambiance you need while beautifying your garden.
Consider adding the following plants to your home:
- Boxwood Hedges
Boxwood hedges (Buxus) are slow-growing small trees and evergreen shrubs. Also known as boxes, they are native to many locations, which include Southwest, southern and eastern Asia, southern and western Europe, Africa, and Mexico. While they also bloom flowers, these plants are grown specifically for their foliage.
Their height can range from 1 to 20 feet tall, and they can spread 2 to 8 feet wide. Their leaves are leathery to the touch and are lance-shaped to almost rounded. Many leaves are darker blue-green, while others are a paler green. In spring, they bloom small, yellow-green flowers.
Take note, however, that this plant contains an alkaloid that’s toxic to animals and humans. Ingesting its leaves can trigger dizziness, convulsions, intestinal distress, and respiratory failure, while making contact with its sap may cause skin irritation. Avoid this plant if you have pests.
- Wax Myrtle Tree
The wax myrtle tree (Myrica cerifera) is a large shrub or a small tree that’s native to North and Central America and the Caribbean. It goes by many names, which include southern wax myrtle, southern bayberry, bayberry tree, candleberry, and tallow shrub. This plant can adapt to various habitats and naturally grows in wetlands, near streams and rivers, fields, hillsides, dunes, pine barrens, and in both mixed-broadleaf and coniferous forests.
While it’s usually much shorter, wax myrtle can grow 20 to 25 feet tall. It has light olive green leaves with serrated edges, as well as a thin, smooth, gray-brown bark. It also bears bluish-white fruit that matures in clusters on short stalks.
- Thuja Green Giant
Thuja green giants (Thuja standishii x plicata) belong in Thuja, which is a genus of coniferous trees belonging to the Cupressaceae or cypress family. Out of the five species in the said genus, three are native to Eastern Asia, while the other two are native to North America. These evergreens are also known as green giant arborvitae or Thuja green rocket.
Thuja green giants are fast-growing trees, and they can grow 3 to 5 feet tall in a single growing season. These grow in a columnar and uniform shape, and when they’re mature, they can reach a height of 50 to 60 feet and 12 to 20 feet in width. Their leaves are tiny, glossy and resemble scales, which overlap and are tightly together, which makes a fan of foliage.
Low-Maintenance Flowering Shrubs
If you’re aiming for a colourful landscape, the first idea that may come to mind might be to plant more flowers. Although you’re free to continue growing your flower garden, some of these may need more time and effort to flourish. To keep things simple, try adding more flowering shrubs to your yard.
Here are some plants that can add more colours to your lawn:
- Forsythia
Forsythia shrubs belong in Forsythia, a genus of flowering plants with 11 species in the olive family Oleaceae. Most of its species are native to eastern Asia, while one is native to southeastern Europe. Also commonly known as golden bells and Forsythia, these plants are named after William Forsyth, a founding member of the Royal Horticultural Society.
These deciduous shrubs usually grow to a height of 3 to 9 feet, although they can also grow up to 20 feet with rough grey-brown bark. Their leaves are borne oppositely and can range between 2 and 10 cm in length. The flowers they produce are bright yellow and bloom in the early spring before the leaves.
- Hibiscus
Tropical Hibiscus (Hibiscus rosa-sineis) is a shrub that belongs in Hibiscus, a genus of flowering plants from the mallow family Malvaceae. It’s also commonly known as Chinese Hibiscus, Tropical Hibiscus, and China rose. It is an evergreen perennial flower that’s native to warm-temperate, tropical, and subtropical regions throughout the world.
Their large flowers measure 3 to 8 inches in diameter and resemble trumpets. Each one has five or more petals, with colours from white to pink, red, yellow, orange, or purple. The plant consistently produces them, although each blossom will only last for one day. It can grow to 24 inches per year and even reach as high as 15 feet.
Low-Maintenance Evergreen Shrubs
Seeing more green plants around you is beneficial. One study shows that living in or being near green areas can result in longer life expectancy and improved mental health among women. Even if you’re busy and only have limited space in your home, you can still experience these benefits with evergreen shrubs. These low-maintenance plants can fulfill your landscaping ideas, whether they’re for small yards or much wider ones.
Here are some reliable evergreens you can include in your home:
- Blue Star Juniper
Blue Star juniper (Juniperus Squamata ‘Blue Star’) is a needled evergreen shrub that’s a member of the cypress family. This plant is native to Afghanistan, the Himalayas, and western China. It’s popularly known as flaky juniper, singleseed juniper, and Himalayan juniper.
Blue star juniper is also a dwarf shrub. When it grows to its mature size, it forms a compact mound that can measure from 1-3 feet in height and 1.5-3 feet in width. It’s a slow-growing plant that tends to grow out instead of growing up. Its foliage is silvery-blue and packed densely, and its needles are awl-shaped.
- Euonymus
Euonymus refers to a genus of flowering plants from the staff vine family, Celastraceae. They’re mostly native to East Asia, the Himalayas and are also in North America, Europe, and Madagascar. Depending on the species and the countries they’re in, their common names can vary but include burning-bush, strawberry-bush, spindle, spindle tree, wintercreeper, or euonymus. It consists of 130 species of deciduous and evergreen shrubs, lianas, and small trees.
One of its species, wintercreeper (E. fortunei), is a herbaceous perennial that can grow up to 70 feet as a vine. However, it usually only reaches 2-4 feet if you decide to keep it as a mounding shrub. Its leaves are egg-shaped and measure 1-2.5 inches long and 1-1.75 inches wide. They also vary in colour, as it can be green-white, dark green, or green-gold.
Planting low-maintenance shrubs can be useful for your landscape because they can provide privacy to your home, and at the same time, add more unique features to its overall appearance.
If you’re looking for reliable trimming services for your low-maintenance shrubs in Ontario, then look no further than Dave Lund Tree Service and Forestry Co Ltd. Our tree company offers excellent tree and shrub services for over 40 years. For inquiries, please call us at (905) 884-0511 or email us at info@davelundtreeservice.com.