| A professional garden designer chooses landscape | | | | (Ligustrum sp.) are often the choice of the landscape |
| shrubs and bushes in a certain way, while an | | | | professional. |
| inexperienced home gardener chooses them in | | | | Informal Screens |
| another. The novice tends to go for plants that he or | | | | Shrubs that are grown as loose, informal screens are |
| she has seen and liked in parks, gardens, and | | | | usually more suited to larger spaces as opposed to |
| nurseries. The landscape architect or garden designer | | | | small backyard gardens. The plants can be larger, |
| on the other hand, while taking personal preference | | | | faster in growth, and have courser leaf texture, than |
| into account, works according to a set of principles, | | | | those designated as trimmed hedges. As screens, |
| which unlike other aspects of design, can be readily | | | | they ought to be evergreen, and to recover well |
| applied by the average home gardener. | | | | from pruning. Examples include species of Viburnum, |
| To think like a professional, do not at first have | | | | Myoporum, Cocculus. Conifers, such as the large |
| specific plants in mind, but rather distinguish between | | | | varieties of Juniper, are especially suitable, as they |
| the various design functions that shrubs perform in | | | | generally do not require pruning |
| the garden, and then choose those species that fit | | | | Flowering Shrubs |
| the design criteria you have established. It's like a | | | | A landscape bush that acts as a screen can also |
| manager choosing from a list of candidates, the | | | | double up as a flowering shrub. It is worth |
| person or persons for a certain job in the company. | | | | distinguishing here between those such as Plumbago, |
| Certainly, subjective factors play their part, but | | | | that bloom almost continuously through the growing |
| primarily, the hirer will be looking at the objective | | | | season, and others, like Grevillea and Callistemon, that |
| credentials of the candidates, such as qualifications | | | | have a brief, seasonal, flowering period. Strangely, |
| and work experience. Here then are some of the | | | | the continual flowerers often produce negative |
| "qualifications" that your "candidates", i.e. your shrubs, | | | | reactions amongst homeowners, perhaps according |
| should possess before including them in the garden. | | | | to the principle that familiarity breeds contempt! They |
| Sheared Hedges | | | | are best used in the farther reaches of large |
| The role of a neatly trimmed, sheared hedge is to | | | | gardens, and perhaps avoided in small spaces. With |
| act either as a formal screen or as a background to | | | | regard to color, shrubs that sport decorative fruit |
| some showy focal point. Not every shrub is suitable | | | | should not be overlooked. |
| for the purpose. As a relatively formal garden | | | | Sculptural and Emphasis Plants |
| element, the plant's foliage should be neat, small, and | | | | I addition to screening and background functions; a |
| of fine texture. Plants with large leaves and course | | | | number of shrubs are highly decorative as individual |
| texture, like Hibiscus for example look poor and | | | | specimens, creating either a clear focal point or a |
| ragged after the hedge trimmer has been at them. | | | | subtle emphasis amongst a mass of "regular" plants. |
| That is why "unspectacular" bushes such as Pistacia | | | | Yucca and Plumeria for instance, have definite |
| lentiscus or Myrtus communis make excellent | | | | sculptural qualities, while the colored foliage of |
| trimmed hedges. | | | | purple-leaved plants creates a striking contrast. The |
| It is tempting to choose species that grow quickly, | | | | key with such "special" plants is to use them as |
| but this is not necessarily wise in the long run, as | | | | sparingly and carefully as possible. Nothing shows up |
| rampant plants, like Elaeagnus pungens, are more | | | | the amateur more, than the sight of plants with |
| difficult to maintain on a regular basis. Undoubtedly, | | | | purple, silver, or variegated leaves, dotted throughout |
| that is the reason why the "boring" Privet plants | | | | the garden. |