Shrubs
Shrubs are great additions to homes that provide some variety to your landscape.  They also help with elevation changes in your landscape.  If a landscape is flat with not much visual elevation change it comes off to be very simple and boring.  But add bushes of different heights and you will find a visually pleasing look.

When first deciding on shrubs stay away from impulse.  While buying what everyone else is buying might seem like a logical choice you could be far from right.  Note the areas that you want to place your shrubs in and the height that they grow.  You also want to pay close attention to things like smell.  Some shrubs have very nice flowering and would be idea for places that you are around often.  Entryways and patios make great places to put in bushes that are 3-5' in height.  Also, putting in a taller bush like the lilac is great for fragrance.  Think about the natural pattern of wind.  If you always have a westerly wind planting the lilacs on the west side of your yard will spread the lilac fragrance over your yard. 

Thinking about size that bushes get is often disregarded completely.  Instead of anticipating the size that an arborvitae will grow to most customers plant these large tall bushes far too close to their home.  The shrub then grows into the home and they eventually need to have it replaced.  Once they have done this one of two things happens.  Either it looks great or it looks like it is missing something.  Either way the choice of planting the shrub that close to the home was financially no effective.

So just like the trees in your yard you have to think of how big they will get.  It is always a good idea to pay attention in your travels for shrubs that you like.  Notice how big they get and plan for the max size in your landscape.  Another thing to think about is the function of the bush.  For example a juniper bush tends to collect garbage and is a common nesting place for animals that eat on flowers.  Giving them a habitat is a great way to loose the beautiful flowers that you probably want in your yard.

Junipers and other similar bushes also require very acidic soils.  They should never be planted with trees that suffer from iron chlorosis as the junipers spread like weeds and take all of the iron out the soil thus suffocating the tree. Although, these shrubs have draw backs they are great shrubs to shape and they can be very decorative.

And by all means don't plant buckthorn bushes.  They make for good cover but they spread like crazy and are next to impossible to get rid of once you decide to do so. They also spread land grow like weeds.
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