Landscape Plant Selection

Review Evergreen Shrubs

Term: Silhouette

Plant Silhouette

• The outline of an object as viewed against a background – for plants the overall shape or growth habit.

• Impacts placement in the landscape

Evergreen Shrub Review

Plant Exposure Size Color/Season

Boxwood

Laurel

Photinia

Yew

Barberry

BoxwoodsBuxus

• Broadleaf evergreen shrubs• USDA zones 6 – 8• Dwarf varieties grow to about 3’ high• Many varieties and sizes• Full sun to part shade• May or may not be pruned and shaped• Usually a formal style of planting• Propagate by cuttings (allow to callus)

Japanese Barberry

• Shrub, deciduous • Hardiness Zones: 4a to 8a • Height: 3’ to 6’ by Spread: 4’ to 6’ • Exposure: shade to full sun • Leaf Color: Green, Purple – Grown for Foliage

not blooms• Has small red berries in fall• Grows very slowly• Looks like a red boxwood• Has small thorns

PhotiniaRed-tip

• Plant type: Evergreen Tree or shrub• USDA Hardiness Zones: 7b to 9a • Height: 15 to 25’ and 10 to 20’ wide" • Exposure: full sun • Leaf Color: Green, Purple • Growth Rate: Quickly out grows small spaces • Landscape Uses: Hedge, Screen,

Standard, Specimen, Street tree

Yews

• Genus: Taxus

• Evergreen shrub

• Many varieties from 2’ to 20’ tall.

• Exposure: Shade to full sun

• Flat needles up to 1” long

• Used for hedges or foundation plantings

• Tend to be over-pruned

English Laurel

• Prunus laurocerasus ‘Schipkaensis’ • Large evergreen shrub• Dark green leaves• Grows to 4 -10’ tall and wide• Blooms in spring on fragrance racemes• Tolerates full sun to part shade• Has small black fruit in summer• Propagate by seed or cutting

Keys to plant selection

• Will the plant have a role in the landscape?– privacy, traffic control, wind block, shade

• Will it thrive in the conditions?– Soil, water, sun

• Seasonality?– Does it look good all year?– Plant in combinations with other plants

• Will it fit the landscape when mature?– Planting size vs mature size

Shade

• Deciduous trees– Cool in summer– Warm in winter

• Plants for underneath

• Canopy Height

Privacy

• Block Views into yard

• Block views out of yard

Traffic control

• Use hedges to keep people from cutting across the grass

Seasonality

• Garden for year round color

Mature Size

• Plan according to how big the plant will be – not how big it is now