Shrubs offer structure and year-round appeal to borders.  From evergreen to deciduous varieties, shrubs help to fill borders with colour and interest.  In our handy guide, we reveal 10 of the best shrubs for borders.

What shrubs do you plant in a border for colour?

Adding colourful shrubs to your border is one of the easiest and most popular ways to add personality and interest.  There’s a huge variety of ornamental shrubs that will help you to achieve this.  Here’s three of our favourites.

Fuchsia ‘Mrs Popple’

Colourful Fuchsia ‘Mrs Popple’ can often be found near the top of many ‘shrubs for borders’ lists.   Its showy, single pendant blooms have deep red petals and violet sepals that capture attention from June to August.  A vigorous grower, this popular, bushy fuchsia is easy to keep in a sunny or partially shaded spot.  Its small, dark foliage hangs elegantly on arching stems that will spread to around a metre in width, making it an ideal shrub for small gardens.  Pollinators love it too.

 

Evergreen Azalea ‘Geisha Purple’

From the Geisha series of evergreen azaleas cultivated in the 1960’s, Evergreen Azalea ‘Geisha Purple’ is a perfect shrub for borders and rock gardens.  Planting this captivating azalea in acidic soil with plenty of mulch will encourage a healthy display of its large, striking lilac blooms that flower in May.  Being evergreen, this variety will also provide year-round interest to any border.  A relatively easy shrub to grow, it prefers partial shade and is winter-tolerant.  Taking up to 10 years to achieve a spread and height of half a metre, this lovely variety is ideal for adding to the middle of a border.

 

Hydrangea macrophylla ‘Kazan’

Often found in cottage or traditional gardens, hydrangeas make excellent shrubs for borders and hydrangea macrophylla ‘Kazan’ is a wonderful choice.  With puffy, bubble gum pink mophead flowers that bloom from May to August, and bushy, dark green foliage, this variety is ideal for filling an empty border space.   As with all hydrangeas, this popular variety thrives in rich, fertile soil and can be transferred to a planter after its flowering season.  Its flowerheads make a lovely addition to cut flower arrangements and can also be dried.

 

What shrubs are the most fragrant?

As well as adding colour to your border, there’s plenty of shrubs that are also beautifully fragranced.  From traditional English favourites such as lavender, to California Lilacs, there’s no need to have to compromise between colour and scent.

Lavandula ‘Hidcote Improved’

As one of the nation’s favourite plants, lavender has to be one of the best shrubs for borders.  Perfect for border schemes of all kinds, including contemporary or traditional spaces, lavender’s richly fragranced flowers and attractive violet colour is hard to ignore.  A great border shrub for supporting local bee populations, Lavandula ‘Hidcote Improved’ has been awarded both the Royal Horticultural Society’s ‘Perfect for Pollinators’ logo and their ‘Award of Garden Merit’.  This outstanding variety is easy to grow, hardy and resistant to disease.  Grown in full sun and in well-drained soil, it will spread to around a metre and will provide plenty of beautiful flowers for your border and home.

 

‘Canary Bird’ Shrub Rose

No top 10 list of the best shrubs for borders would be complete without the inclusion of a shrub rose. Originally a wild rose, ‘Canary Bird’ Shrub Rose has been granted the ‘Award of Garden Merit’ by the Royal Horticultural Society, and there’s no surprises why.  This beautiful medium to large-sized shrub rose bears elegantly arched stems with almost fern-like foliage.  But it’s the exquisite lightly fragranced, creamy canary yellow flowers and prominent stamens that give this variety its name.  Adored by pollinators, this lovely shrub rose will stretch to 6ft in height when grown in a sunny position.

Ceonothus thyrsiflorus ‘Skylark’

Ceonothuses, or California Lilacs, are incredibly versatile evergreen shrubs that work well in borders, as decorative hedges, or trained against a wall.  Ceonothus thyrsiflorus ‘Skylark’ is a compact variety bearing bushy green foliage and an abundance of deep sky blue flowers from spring until early autumn.  With a deep fragrance that attracts birds, insects and pollinators, its stems can also be used in cut flower arrangements.  This hardy shrub grows quickly in a sunny position, so will comfortably fill an empty space in a border with ease.

 

What plants can I add to a border for impact?

Larger borders and those with lots of evergreen plants can benefit from one or two impactful shrubs.  Here’s two of our favourite shrubs for borders to create a breathtaking display.

Rhododendron ‘Nova Zembla’

If you are looking for large shrubs for borders, you can’t go far wrong with the stunning Rhododendron ‘Nova Zembla’.  With an eventual height and spread of up to 5ft, this old variety of rhododendron is a colourful choice to help fill a large border or to create an informal hedge.  It produces a spectacular display of gorgeous large, deep-pink, funnel-shaped flowers from spring to summer, and maintains its dark-green foliage all year round.  This incredibly hardy shrub is happiest when grown in full sun or dappled shade and thrives in moist, well-drained soil.  It prefers acidic and sandy soil, so it perfectly complements azaleas.

 

Euonymus alatus ‘Compactus’

Fondly known as the ‘burning bush’, euonymus alatus is a great choice if you want to add a dramatic focal point to your border.  The green elliptic leaves of these deciduous shrubs transform into breathtaking, fiery red each autumn, creating an awe-inspiring spectacle, especially when nestled amongst contrasting evergreens.  Come wintertime, euonymus alatus reveals the corky texture of its stems and why it is also often referred to as a ‘winged spindle’.  Euonymus alatus ‘Compactus’ is a wonderful variety for a border.  Easy to maintain, slow-growing and tolerant of most soil types. 

 

What plants go in a small border?

For small borders it’s wise to choose slow-growing varieties that won’t swamp other plants too quickly.  From perennial bedding plants to diminutive border shrubs, there’s plenty to choose from.  But for something a little different, why not consider an ornamental dogwood or a palm-like shrub?

Cornus kousa ‘White Fountain’

Cornus kousa ‘White Fountain’ is a delightful Chinese flowering dogwood that is a real showstopper in any border.  This ornamental shrub produces an abundance of pure white showy flowers in spring that gracefully cascade from its branches.  By autumn, its pointy, oval shaped leaves have transformed from green into pink and gold.  Fully hardy and slow-growing, there’s no wonder this is one of the best ornamental shrubs for borders of any size.

 

Cordyline ‘Peko’

Sweeping grasses add soft movement to a garden scheme, but it’s the rigid structure of Cordyline ‘Peko’ that makes it such an interesting alternative as a border shrub.  This strikingly architectural plant, with its upright, sword-like green leaves, grows into a tropical palm-like tree.  This hardy, evergreen perennial works as well in borders as it does in planters and is very easy to care for.  Simply position in a sunny part of your garden and allow plenty of drainage.  Mature plants will often produce lightly-fragranced star-shaped white flowers during the summer.