How To Select Which Trees & Shrubs To Grow In Your Garden?

Vibrant colored flowers, fragrant shrubs, and beautiful trees add beauty to your home. With the right landscaping choices, you can also reap environmental benefits like reduced noise, pure air, more oxygen, etc.

Appealing and beneficial landscapes need time, effort, and specific skill. Once you have selected the right shrubs and trees, you can sit back and enjoy the beauty, and health benefits of your landscape for years to come.

To ensure this, your selection of shrubs and trees should be right. Here are a few tips on selection and the types of landscaping trees and shrubs you can use for your yard.

 

How To Select The Right Trees And Shrubs?

Here are some important tips you have to consider when you pick the trees and shrubs:

Healthy plants: Ensure the plants you pick have good top growth. The roots should not show any signs of disease, damage or pest infestation.

Smaller trees are preferred than larger trees while buying as their roots are not well grown. When you plant such trees, the young roots grow quickly. And smaller trees are also less expensive.

Appropriate plants: The plants you choose should be suitable for your locality. The climate conditions and type of soil should be favorable for the growth of the plant.

The soil should have sufficient organic matter and compost. Find the soil type in your yard and its pH value to choose the appropriate plants.

Other factors to look into include the exposure to sunlight. Evaluate the water requirements of the soil. The irrigation needed depends on whether the soil is fast draining or is water retaining.

While it is still possible to grow plants in environments that are not suitable for them naturally, you have to spend more time on their maintenance and their growth will not be as healthy as the indigenous and naturally growing plants.

Esthetics: The shrubs and trees should add beauty to your landscape pattern and fit well in the space available. For instance, choose different colored and shaped evergreen bushes that add the right background for the flowers you plant.

Space: When you are choosing plants makes sure there is enough space available for them to grow to their full capacity.

And remember to plant trees with sufficient distance between them. For smaller trees, a distance of 8 feet, and for taller trees, a minimum of 15 feet distance is necessary.

Safety: The roots of the trees you plant should not damage the wiring or foundation of your house. Plant them a safe distance from your home so the dropped leaves do not clog your gutter.And the shrubs you choose should not obstruct your walkways or windows.

 

Tree Types To Choose For Your Yard

You have to be more careful while choosing trees than shrubs and other plants. This is because once grown an inappropriately selected tree can cause you a lot of trouble over the years.

From having to cut down the overhanging limbs to problem with the roots that affect the foundation there are many issues to consider.

Trees generally take time to grow. You can enjoy the benefits only after several years. And if your selection is not proper you will have to contend with unwanted features.

Here are a few types of trees you can choose from:

• Flowering trees
• Evergreen trees
• Shade trees
• Dwarf trees

Some specific trees you can consider for your landscaping are given below:

 

Redbuds

Redbuds are small trees that are ideal for planting near the house. The umbrella shape provides good shade. The tree flowers in spring and provides wonderful fall color.

 

Red Maple

If you are looking for fast flowering trees, the red maple is a good choice. The tree is the first to flower during spring. The flowers may appear tiny, but give fabulous color during spring season.

 

River Birch

If you have moist soil and want spectacular looking trees, the river birch is a perfect choice. It looks appealing with the multiple stems and is resistant to the birch borer.

 

Linden

For yards with more space, trees like Linden are a good choice. The triangular form and beautiful color of the tree makes it’s a great alternative for Bradford pear trees and elms.

 

Shrub Selection

Shrubs should be chosen with as much care as the trees. These are ideal for foundation planting as the size is compact and you do not have to spend much time around them.  You can choose from the various types available including

• Fast growing
• Evergreen
• Fall color shrubs
• Flowering shrubs

 

Rosa Rugosa

Beautiful when grown in masses, the Rosa rugosa belongs to the rose species and forms an ideal barrier to keep out pets and children from a specific area.

The shrubs are tolerant to gale and wind. The fruits are vivid red in color and the leaves also have wonderful fall color.

 

Azaleas

Available in a variety of colors, the blooms look spectacular in the spring. Choose the evergreen varieties so you can have a longer blooming cycle.

The plants are ideal for use as shade, borders, foundation plating and specimen plants

 

Juniper

This is a common landscape shrub of evergreen type that is used as a filler for the large empty spaces present between two trees or shrubs

 

Lilac

If you love fragrant and bright colored flowers, the yellow and white lilacs are just what you need. The compact plants can grow quickly. These are perfect for backgrounds and for screening.

 

Final Thoughts

Whatever purpose you are pondering over for the shrubs and trees including for screening, outlining the boundaries, or just as specimens, make sure you follow the selection tips above. Plan beforehand so you can choose the right plant for your landscaping.

When you choose right, you can enjoy the benefits for several years. So, research well on the specimen qualities for the trees and shrubs to arrive at an informed and wise choice.