How to Avoid Expensive Mistakes When Selecting Shrubs

Tiger eyes sumac grows in full sun to part shade, is drought-tolerant, and reaches six feet high and wide. You can grow it as a tree or shrub. It’s a stunner in the landscape. The one downside is that it suckers. So when you plant it, don’t amend the soil because rich soil will encourage suckers.

If you’re like me, you’re always looking for ways to spiff up the curb appeal of your home. In my case, that often means buying new plants.

A key component of the landscape is shrubbery, and now is a great time for installing these woody additions.

It’s important, however, to select shrubs carefully because they’re expensive, and they frequently constitute a major part of your overall design. So when you need a new shrub, ask yourself several questions before heading to the nursery.

How long, deep, and high is your planting area? If I want to fill a border that’s, say, four feet deep, don’t select large shrubs, such as rose of Sharon, flowering quince or Cheyenne mock orange. Instead, aim for shrubs that are four feet wide or less at maturity, such as small shrub roses (example: Bonica) or dwarf varieties of Japanese barberry. Take shrub height into consideration, too, especially if you have windows that you don’t want obscured by plants.

How much sun/shade does your planting area receive? If your area faces south or west, you’ll need full-sun plants unless the area is shaded by trees, buildings or other structures. If your area faces east, your plants will likely be in sun part of the day and shade the other part unless you also have sun streaming in the side from the south or west. If your area faces north, you’ll likely need shade-loving shrubs unless there are mitigating factors.

Some top-performing shrubs for Colorado include:

Spring bloomers, such as autumn brilliance and regent serviceberry (full sun to part shade), Cheyenne mock orange (full sun), Carol Mackie daphne (part shade), black elder (part shade), viburnum (full sun to part shade), Pawnee Buttes sand cherry (full sun to part shade), and red chokeberry (full sun to part shade).

Summer/fall bloomers, such as hardy hibiscus (full sun to part shade), Annabelle hydrangea (full sun to part shade), tiger eyes sumac (full sun to part shade), dogwood (full sun to part shade), ninebark (full sun to part shade), and roses (full sun to part shade, depending on the cultivar).

When it comes to fall color, hedge cotoneaster is hard to beat. It’s easy to grow, and birds love the berries.

Is fall color important to you? If so, select plants known for their stunning fall foliage, such as autumn brilliance and regent serviceberry, tiger eyes sumac, Pawnee Buttes sand cherry, red chokeberry, hedge cotoneaster, and purple smokebush.

Do you have a working sprinkler system? If you do, you can select shrubs with high, medium or low water needs. Conversely, if you need to water by hand, consider low-water users, such as barberry, cotoneaster, serviceberry, Cheyenne mock orange, Pawnee Buttes sand cherry, Siberian pea shrub, potentilla, and sumac varieties.

Purple smokebush, nestled here in a bed of prairie winecups, can be grown as either a tree or shrub. When backlit by the sun, this plant just glows. Smokebush will produce summer blooms that resemble puffs of pink smoke. For smaller gardens, I recommend the Winecraft Black cultivar, which grows 4 to 6 feet high and wide.

How much maintenance are you willing to do? If you want to do as little maintenance as possible, stick with barberry, serviceberry, cotoneaster, viburnum, Cheyenne mock orange, purple smokebush, and Pawnee Buttes sand cherry. If you’re all right with moderate maintenance, such as occasional deadheading, install hardy hibiscus and Annabelle hydrangea. If, however, you enjoy pruning your shrubs at least once a year, look at roses, dogwoods, and tiger eyes sumac (which requires cutting back suckers).

Colorado State University Extension offers two helpful publications for selecting shrubs: Fact Sheet 7.415: Deciduous Shrubs and Fact Sheet 7.229: Xeriscaping: Trees and Shrubs.