Last updated on October 23rd, 2023 at 08:38 pm
It does not always have to be boxwood. In garden design, dwarf shrubs with low growth heights are ideal for edging beds or paths.
Trees and shrubs that do not grow taller than one meter are classified as dwarf shrubs. They can find a place in the garden as a good alternative to the box hedge. Depending on the location, different dwarf shrubs can be used, which can be cut without problems and bring greenery to the garden at any time of the year.
Decorative, cut tolerant and evergreen
Dwarf shrubs are popular in front garden, cottage garden or rock garden design. Dwarf shrubs have a decorative effect rather than providing a good privacy screen.
Compact dwarf shrubs are wonderful for edging flower beds and paths. The small plants also look great in small front gardens or on the patio and as container plants and are very easy to care for. Some varieties do not even need to be trimmed.
Small plants and shrubs are a freak of nature, their origin is often a mutation. The altered genetic material of a tree originates from a branch with special characteristics, popularly called witches’ broom because the shoot is thick and short. Gardeners graft these shoots.
Ilex, hedge myrtle or dwarf privet – dwarf shrubs decorate the garden at any time of the year.
Japanese holly (Ilex crenata) is ideal for bed borders and also suitable as a potted plant. It looks very similar to boxwood. The small plant grows slowly and is easy to prune into shape. It requires a sunny to semi-shady location and acidic, loose and humus-rich soil, where it can also grow as a hedge with a height of up to 80 centimeters.
Evergreen honeysuckle (hedge myrtle), originally from Asia, also grows ground cover-like on slopes or embankments and is suitable as a shrub in dark green, not exceeding a growth height of one meter. The variety May green, which blooms in sunny and semi-shady places, is particularly undemanding.
A nice idea is also the box-leaved barberry (Berberis buxifolia) which bears its fruits mainly from December to March. It grows only about half a meter tall and does well in more difficult locations. Suitable for low hedges or for edging beds or in rock gardens.
Absolutely classic for bed borders and hedges, is also the dwarf privet (Ligustrum vulgare), which is very compact and can withstand severe frost without problems. It is evergreen and loses its foliage in the spring, just before budding. The plant does not have high demands on its location.
No matter what plant the garden owner chooses. Dwarf shrubs have are easy to care for and beautify the garden with their greenery at any time of the year.