Shrubs 101 help needed

[Ottakee]

I am having my front porch painted which leads to needing to deal with the landscaping.

I want something very low maintenance…aka I rarely have to think about it.   It is sun about half the day and shade the rest.

i am in zone 5.

One suggestion was to just pull out all of the plants and put down wood chips (meaning every year or 2 work to replenish those) over weed barrier. And then set out a few planters of flowers.

Another idea was just some low growing shrubs.

I am open to all ideas for someone not skilled in gardening who has little desire to learn a lot of spend a lot of time on it.

[marbel]

I'd suggest going to a native plant nursery and telling them your sun/shade situation. They would be able to suggest things perfect for your location that won't be invasive and will likely grow easily without a lot of special care. I have never been to a native plant nursery that didn't have employees/volunteers ready and happy to help out. All the better if you can buy the plants from them! 

[stephanier.1765]

We have azaleas in the front of our porch with part sun and shade and I love them for their flowers. Unfortunately, they won't grow in 5 but is there a flowering bush you particularly like. Coming home and seeing my azaleas busting with blooms makes me happy. What makes you happy? Do you have any favorite flower and/or shrub?

[prairiewindmomma]

Anything in planters needs regular watering. I wouldn't think of that as low maintenance.

If you are in an area where you don't need to water trees in the summer to keep them alive (ie---at least semi regular rainfall), I'm guessing you can find some low maintenance bushes that won't need shaping or much in the way of watering.  I'd ask around at the local nursery, though, for suggestions. A lot of the traditional low maintenance bushes are under fungal or pest attack these days----boxwood dieback is decimating our neighborhood at the moment.

[Ottakee]

2 hours ago, marbel said:

I'd suggest going to a native plant nursery and telling them your sun/shade situation. They would be able to suggest things perfect for your location that won't be invasive and will likely grow easily without a lot of special care. I have never been to a native plant nursery that didn't have employees/volunteers ready and happy to help out. All the better if you can buy the plants from them! 

The local parks department is having a native plant sale.  On quick glance it was mostly grasses and wildflowers but I can look and see if they offer anything else.

[Ottakee]

1 hour ago, stephanier.1765 said:

We have azaleas in the front of our porch with part sun and shade and I love them for their flowers. Unfortunately, they won't grow in 5 but is there a flowering bush you particularly like. Coming home and seeing my azaleas busting with blooms makes me happy. What makes you happy? Do you have any favorite flower and/or shrub?

Flowering bushes make me smile as well.  I just have no idea what any of them other than Rose of Sharon are called….and Rose of Sharon is way too big for this area.

[MEmama]

1 hour ago, stephanier.1765 said:

We have azaleas in the front of our porch with part sun and shade and I love them for their flowers. Unfortunately, they won't grow in 5 but is there a flowering bush you particularly like. Coming home and seeing my azaleas busting with blooms makes me happy. What makes you happy? Do you have any favorite flower and/or shrub?

Azaleas definitely grow in zone 5. 🙂 Mine flower just as the hummingbirds migrate to this area.

Small lilacs such as Korean Lilac, hydrangeas of all sorts, petite forsythia and azaleas would be my top picks. Peonies aren't quite shrubs but serve the same purpose during the growing season. You'll get months of color and flowers out of a combination of those. Hydrangeas are great because many types bloom in early summer and change color throughout late summer and fall. Even the dried flower heads are pretty in winter with snow. 
 

None of those require any maintenance except decent soil and, once established, occasional water if there's drought. 

 

[Kanin]

8 minutes ago, MEmama said:

Small lilacs such as Korean Lilac

My friend has a Korean lilac and it's beautiful! 

[marbel]

Some more information on the USDA zones (because I have lost plants by focusing just on my zone number):   https://www.bobvila.com/articles/hardiness-zones/

for example:

• Maximum temperature: The average hottest summer temperature isn’t found on a hardiness map, but it might be vital to a plant’s survival. Gardeners should research the plant species to determine whether it will survive the heat in the region.
• Precipitation: Some plants require a lot of water, while others prefer a desert-type environment. The USDA Hardiness Zone map does not include average precipitation amounts

[prairiewindmomma]

Ottakee-if I had to pick something for your house today, sight unseen, I would pick Joe Pye Weed. https://www.thespruce.com/joe-pye-weed-eupatorium-purpureum-1402848  You have to water it until it's established, but once it's established it seems to handle blizzards, hailstorms, blazing sun, and blowing harsh wind just fine. Bees and butterflies like it. It flowers for long periods of time. But, it's perhaps a little overused by places because it's so durable.

 

[MEmama]

23 minutes ago, Kanin said:

My friend has a Korean lilac and it's beautiful! 

They smell heavenly, and bloom just a wee bit later than when the regular lilacs are at their peak, extending lilac season (at least in my yard). 🙂 They even bloom a second time in early August (!!!), though not as robustly. I don't give mine any care at all and it's been totally reliable for over a decade. 

[Grace Hopper]

See if a yew will work in your zone. They are hardy and evergreen. Very low maintenance. 
 

https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/garden-how-to/gardening-by-zone/zone-5/zone-5-yew-varieties.htm

 

[Innisfree]

How tall and how wide do you want your plants to grow? What color will the house and porch railings be? Do you prefer color or evergreen shrubs or a combination?

Also, do you have hot afternoon sun or morning sun? Do you know what type of soil you have: sandy, clay, loam? Wet or dry?

Edited August 27, 2023 by Innisfree

[Ottakee]

15 minutes ago, Innisfree said:

How tall and how wide do you want your plants to grow? What color will the house and porch railings be? Do you prefer color or evergreen shrubs or a combination?

Also, do you have hot afternoon sun or morning sun? Do you know what type of soil you have: sandy, clay, loam? Wet or dry?

Height 3-4 feet, lower is fine.

house is an off white.  Rails will be off white.  Porch floor and shutters a light gray/sage green, door a burgundy/plum (raisin in the sun)

I like flowers but just green is fine too…I am not picky.

Sandy soil, average to dry just because it drains well

[Faith-manor]

Day lilies look nice, Bush out a bit, the blooms are on tall stems, and they seem to be about unkillable. I did give mine a drink this year, a couple of times, during the drought. But in previous years I have never had to do that. I think Yarrow would grow well in the conditions you describe.

Edited August 27, 2023 by Faith-manor

[livetoread]

I would suggest some small ball types of arborvitae for evergreen color in a tough shrub. I have a Korean lilac that was supposed to be 4x4 and because it likes where it's at, it's well over 6 ft, even with pruning. It's tough though - I watered it the first few months and then haven't in years.

Caryopteris are pretty and do well in tough, dry places. Bees love them, too. Nine Bark is a good tough one with pretty foliage. Those last two aren't evergreen. Hydrangeas are lovely year round even after they drop their leaves, but they like a lot of water, so if your soil is sandy, they might suffer.

ETA, lavender might work.

Editing again to say instead of lavender, catmint might be even better. Six Hills Giant is a good cultivar for foundations because it's big (for catmint anyway).

Edited August 28, 2023 by livetoread

[Annie G]

I know lilies are super common and because of that some people don’t want them, but when we lived in zone 5A we did Stella d’oro and they were great. We also had great success with hostas- I don’t know the kind since they were there when we bought the house, but we now live in N Ga and we dug some of those hostas and brought them here and they’re thriving.  

[Innisfree]

Shrubby cinquefoil:
https://www.wildflower.org/plants/result.php?id_plant=DAFRF
(pest and maintenance free, according to this site. I know it’s tough around here.)

Ceanothus / New Jersey tea: https://www.wildflower.org/plants/result.php?id_plant=ceam

Pictures and descriptions of both are in this list: https://www.canr.msu.edu/news/native_plants_for_michigan_landscapes_shrubs

If you’d rather have herbaceous perennials, which will die to the ground each year, several in this list might work. Yarrow, Butterfly Weed, and Black-Eyed Susans are all pretty tough. They all prefer a fair amount of sun… dry shade is hard. Daylillies, as @Faith-manor mentioned, are hard to kill. They’re not natives, so not on this list. https://www.myhomepark.com/blogs/know-native-plants/michigan-native-plants-14-amazing-landscaping-choices

[PeterPan]

Day lillies are deer fodder around here. 

If you have more time than you have money, the cheapest way to get landscaping plants is Walmart in the spring. Around here they sell them in a penned area of the parking lot and they are CHEAP. Like you'll pay $6 for a bush that will be $30 at the landscaping store! It will be *small* and take an extra year or two to burst forth into something impressive, but oh well. You might also find some end of season deals, but Walmart is my forever fav for things to try on the cheap. I kill so many plants, I get sick of buying $$ ones, sigh.

Fwiw, boxwood would look very nice against the white of your house. It grows moderately, holds its leaves/form all winter, and would even give you something to decorate at Christmas. 🙂

If you want some color, you could bring in a big ROCK and set a planter of flowers on it. Sometimes fields have big rocks like that. It's a matter of watching and asking. They're of course heavy. Maybe consider planting it ⅔ of the way in the boxwood bushes and then just leaving a dab by the stairs that you decorate with more pizzazz. I see you have gladiolus. They grow surprisingly well and are inexpensive bulbs. You could do your lillies, whatever is calling to you in that space. 

You could grow a vine plant up a trellis on the end of your porch. The bushes could wrap around and the trellis could go behind. You have to be careful because plants like that can TAKE OVER if you're not careful!! Trumpet vine is invasive and hard to hold back. People grow that a lot around here and it's beautiful but crazy. I have wisteria, and again it just gets mangy and has to be trimmed back a lot, making more maintenance than you want. But the vine with the purple flowers, name slips my mind, Walmart will have it in the spring, that would grow and be easier to keep kempt. Roses could work too if you want that effort. Deer eat roses.

Hostas and ferns are always a good choice in part shade. Deer will eat hostas so you need to protect them. I have hostas the deer had left alone for years and this year the deer went CRAZY on them, sigh. 

It would get bigger than you want, but Judd leaf viburnum is a wonderful, wonderful plant. Might be the thing you do tall on the end of the porch. Rose of Sharon is another good one that is kempt and can be kept trim without much hassle. Euonymous are inexpensive at walmart in the spring and another that could work for the side IF you keep it trim. It will go 5' tall in a heartbeat, but it has a nice clean form and doesn't look scraggly.

You might just start looking at people's landscaping and see what you like. Maybe *walk* through a neighborhood so you can slow down and see what they did. If they're out working on their yard, you can actually go ask them. 🙂

[Annie G]

True, hostas and lilies are loved by deer.  I forget that since we lived in town up north and down here my next door neighbor lives in Maine in the summer. I can sit on my porch drinking tea with my lilies and hostas within view and watch deer munch their way through my neighbor’s plants. They walk thru my yard daily but haven’t bothered my plants. 
 

[gardenmom5]

There are rugosa roses that would fit.  The can benefit from spring pruning just to keep them down.  They are common here in roadside and freeway median plantings. drought tolerant.  
and they can have very fragrant flowers.
get them on their own roots - NOT grafted (which most nurseries sell - they can get them a marketable size faster.)  own roots are healthier, and if they freeze to the ground, they will come back true.

High country roses dot come is one such nursery, and their fields are in wyoming.  So - cold.  They are very tiny when they come - but give them a year, and they will be big.

 

eta: some will sucker, and give you new plants.  

rugosas are not one of those that say "i don't like this soil, the ph is wrong.  I want more ___".  They'll just grow.
 

Edited August 28, 2023 by gardenmom5

[kbutton]

What I think of as low maintenance is not necessarily so for everyone, and the first year, things need more watering.

If your hours of sun are AM, and it’s not south-facing, hostas are awesome and will fill in so that you have fewer weeds each year. Same for ferns, they look nice together.

Black-eyes Susans are aggressive as all get out. They are supposed to be easy to pull up, but I haven’t tried yet.

If it’s south facing or has afternoon sun, I would try a variety of coneflowers (slow to spread and attracts finches), bee balm, obedient plant, and penstemon. Maybe some sedum. Roses are also nice—drift roses stay moderately low, and there are petite knockout roses now also. 

If you want a little color in the winter, some very slow-growing evergreen shrubs are nice.

 

[Ottakee]

1 hour ago, Innisfree said:

Shrubby cinquefoil:
https://www.wildflower.org/plants/result.php?id_plant=DAFRF
(pest and maintenance free, according to this site. I know it’s tough around here.)

Ceanothus / New Jersey tea: https://www.wildflower.org/plants/result.php?id_plant=ceam

Pictures and descriptions of both are in this list: https://www.canr.msu.edu/news/native_plants_for_michigan_landscapes_shrubs

If you’d rather have herbaceous perennials, which will die to the ground each year, several in this list might work. Yarrow, Butterfly Weed, and Black-Eyed Susans are all pretty tough. They all prefer a fair amount of sun… dry shade is hard. Daylillies, as @Faith-manor mentioned, are hard to kill. They’re not natives, so not on this list. https://www.myhomepark.com/blogs/know-native-plants/michigan-native-plants-14-amazing-landscaping-choices

The first 2 are ones that our local native plant sale has for sale.

[BeachGal]

Some more ideas…

Where the steps and railing meet, a ‘Diablo’ ninebark. These are gorgeous. They like sun but I’ve had success with just morning sun. To the right of that in front of the railing, ‘Gold Flame’ or ‘Magic Carpet’ spirea, maybe three. In front of the spirea, ‘Purple Emperor’ sedum, start with 1-3 and then divide in the next years to get more. They are super easy to divide and grow.

In place of the spirea, you could also plant winterberry which would give you cheery red berries to look at in winter. Very pretty against snow, especially if you can see the berries from the two big windows. ‘Berry Poppins’ and ‘Mr. Poppins’ winterberry would work. You’d want at least one of each planted next to each other to get berries and they do need a bit more water but those berries in winter are worth the bother. Just snake a soaker hose around them. You’d probably find these at a reputable, local nursery. In front of the winterberry, you could plant bright pink obedient plant. Just get a pack of seeds. They grow easily and well. I grow them in part shade with no problem. They just bloom a few weeks later than those grown in full sun.

Smaller shrubs and perennials are also fine. They will spend the first year growing roots and then afterward, you’ll see more branch and leaf growth. A plant that will be 3 feet wide eventually needs to be spaced so that it has room to grow. Just keep in mind that little plants initially will look odd spaced so far apart but they will grow and fill in.

Edited August 28, 2023 by BeachGal

[Carrie12345]

What is your deer situation? Mine have chomped on my hydrangeas and most everything else. If you have obstinate deer, it’s a factor.

They have not touched my catmint, which is pretty and basically maintenance-free.

[wisdomandtreasures]

Wood chips over weed cloth with lavender every 5-ish feet. 

[TechWife]

One thing to consider is whether or not the flowering shrubs will need to be dead headed through the season. It’s not hard, but it can be time consuming and annoying. 
 

[Pam in CT]

For foundation planting, I like to think through to a mix of 1. both broadleaf and confer evergreen (so you're not left with a row of dead sticks through the winter), 2. some variation of leaf color (so you don't have a mass wall of just-green through the summer) and 3. some variation of height (so you don't have a row with everything at waist height).  Blossoms are lovely but they do not last; by thinking in those three categories you end up with contrast and interest throughout the year.

Without knowing your water and critter constraints, to those three elements:

1. Winter: Evergreen: boxwood is the classic formal broadleaf evergreen; variegated euonymous, hardy rhodedendron, and various hollies should also work in your zone.  Pencil Sky holly is a really nice narrow vertical upright, to be positioned between two windows without encroaching on the view (5 is the bottom of its zone, but it's warmer right by the house and I think it'd be ok).  Among conifers, there are a bunch of false cypress in both golden and blue, some of them dwarf and all of them slow-growing. Arborvitae grows FAST, which is a blessing in the first two years but that close to the house you have to plan to rip it out by year 8 or so.
2. Color: In my area, the most rock-solid reliable golden shrub is golden spirea.  Honestly you can't kill it; it takes well to pruning but if you don't it's still fine, if you prune it right after it blooms (here, late June) it'll bloom a second time here, end-July).  There are also some very nice variegated weigela that bloom, or similar-leaf variegated dogwood whose white blossoms don't really show up but have gorgeous bright red sticks in the winter.  I love anything with red leaves -- my favorite small tree in my garden is a dwarf Japanese maple, ahhhhhhh; and ninebark and elderberry also do OK in shade.
3. Height: in the between-spaces, I ADORE all forms of tough-as-nails EVERGREEN!!! liriope which comes in several sizes and leaf shapes and actually shoots up some usually-purple blossoms right around now; and I'd definitely try hosta which if you don't have critters are endlessly adaptable (and also send up not-terribly-interesting spires of blossoms in late summer).  I use heuchera a lot, but I don't think it'd survive zone 5 winters, though you can plonk them in as annuals. Do.not.use.pachysandra or ajuga; both were sent to earth by demons.

[Spryte]

What Pam said. I like the variation of color and height.

Planters would not be low maintenance for me. I’m in the camp of mulch it once a year, lightly weed as needed, and leave it alone. I also avoid anything that needs deadheading, other than bulbs. If you’re looking for low maintenance, maybe talk to the people at a local nursery with native plants.

We have a Japanese maple paired with a variegated eunymous — and though neither bloom, the natural color variation makes my heart happy. Just past that is a Norwegian weeping spruce (aka a Dr Seuss Tree), all with variegated liriope for height. I do have to warn you that our eunymous is incredibly happy — too happy — and grows too tall. I would happily swap it for spirea (love spirea!). Other areas we have paired Japanese maple with various evergreens, and flowers. 

[Grace Hopper]

3 hours ago, TechWife said:

One thing to consider is whether or not the flowering shrubs will need to be dead headed through the season. It’s not hard, but it can be time consuming and annoying. 
 

So true! I made this mistake in one of my gardens this year. Wouldn’t be too big an issue except it’s intentionally planted to be a pollinator garden and sometimes the bees don’t like my interference in their business. 

[Ottakee]

Thanks.  I will check these ideas out.

[BeachGal]

5 minutes ago, Ottakee said:

Thanks.  I will check these ideas out.

See if someone at a local nursery will help you plan something out. They will need to know the rough size of the garden, whether it gets morning or afternoon sun (afternoon sun can burn some plants), how much you want to work on it and what you want to spend. If they know where you live, they might know if your soil is alkaline or acidic, if it's clay or sandy, and if deers or other critters could be a problem. All important things to consider.

[Pam in CT]

Oh and for more on the between-shrub front spaces I forgot japanese painted and their taller cousin ghost ferns, both of them critter-resistant shade loving and both with a nice contrast of texture and gray-purple color; and golden hakune grass.