These shrubs for the front of the house will create an impactful and warm welcome to your home
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If you plant one of the best shrubs for the front of the house in your front yard, it will give the entrance to your home character and personality. It will also give your front porch structure and a place for wildlife to live.
If you plant these shrubs in the right spot, they can give you privacy, block out ugly views, and lower noise pollution. Including them in your front yard landscaping plans is a good idea.
As you pick out a shrub for your front yard, your hardiness zone should be the most important thing you think about. “The shrubs that will live and do well in your front yard depend on their hardiness zone,” says Elle Meager, founder and CEO of Outdoor Happens.
The front of your house is the first thing people see when they come to visit. Making a great first impression with beautiful, colorful landscaping can increase your home’s curb appeal. Shrubs are the foundation plants that enhance a home’s personality. Strategically planting the right colorful shrubs in front can provide privacy, reduce noise, and transform your house into an inviting home.
After researching popular colorful shrubs and tips from landscaping experts, I’ve compiled this guide on the best options to consider for your front yard.
Why Use Colorful Shrubs in Front of Your House?
Here are some of the benefits of using colorful shrubs for your front yard landscaping:
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Increased Home Value Well-landscaped homes with mature colorful shrubs can sell for 5-12% more than homes without landscaping. Curb appeal matters
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Privacy Taller colorful shrubs can provide privacy from neighbors and block unsightly views
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Noise Reduction Strategically planted shrubs can help absorb and block excessive street noise.
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Curb Appeal: Flowering shrubs add bursts of color and interest compared to plain foundation plantings.
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Year-Round Interest: Evergreen colorful shrubs keep your yard lively even in winter.
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Low Maintenance: Many popular flowering shrubs are easy to care for and drought tolerant.
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Wildlife Habitat: Colorful flowering shrubs attract pollinators like butterflies and hummingbirds.
Best Colorful Shrubs for the Front of Your House
Here are 12 of the best options to consider:
1. Hydrangea
Known for their large, colorful flower heads, hydrangeas are a popular choice. The flower color varies from pink, blue, and purple depending on soil pH. They bloom from summer through fall. Grow hydrangeas in partial sun or morning sun.
2. Rose Bushes
Nothing beats roses for classic flowering shrubs. Choose repeat blooming landscape rose cultivars. Knockout and Drift roses are excellent low maintenance choices. Plant roses in full sun for best results.
3. Spirea
Available in a wide range of sizes, spirea offers dense clusters of white, pink, red, or purple flowers in spring and summer. Some varieties have colorful yellow, red, or purple foliage. Prune after flowering.
4. Azalea
Azaleas are shade-loving flowering shrubs related to rhododendrons. They produce colorful clusters of flowers in spring before the leaves emerge. Popular flower colors include white, pink, red, purple, and bicolors.
5. Camellia
Camellias are broadleaf evergreens prized for their showy flowers in winter and spring. Blooms are commonly seen in shades of red, pink, and white. Give camellias morning sun and afternoon shade.
6. Lilac
An old-fashioned favorite, lilacs are known for their wonderfully fragrant flowers in shades of purple, lavender, pink, white, and bicolors. Prune immediately after flowering to maximize next year’s bloom.
7. Forsythia
Forsythias announce spring with profuse amounts of sunny yellow flowers. Their arching branches can be pruned into hedges. Grow forsythia in full sun or partial shade.
8. Flowering Quince
Flowering quince deserves more use. This tidy bush bursts with scarlet, orange, pink, or white blooms in early spring before the leaves open. Makes an excellent hedge. Full sun or partial shade.
9. Rhododendron
Rhododendrons and azaleas are in the same plant family. They produce colorful clusters of spring flowers and have large evergreen leaves. Give rhododendrons morning sun and afternoon shade.
10. Weigela
Weigela shrubs explode with colorful trumpet-shaped flowers in late spring. Popular flower colors include pink, red, white, and bicolors. Hummingbirds love them! Grow weigela in full sun.
11. Viburnum
Certain viburnum varieties like Burkwood or Mohican have clusters of tiny fragrant white flowers in spring. Some types also develop vivid red fall foliage. Plant viburnums in full sun or partial shade.
12. Beautyberry
Although its small purple-pink flowers aren’t much to look at, beautyberry shrubs produce vivid magenta berries in fall that brighten up the landscape. A favorite of birds! Beautyberries thrive in partial shade.
Design Tips for Using Colorful Shrubs
Follow these tips when selecting and placing colorful shrubs in your front yard:
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Choose a variety suited for your gardening zone and site conditions.
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Plant shrubs at least 2-3 feet from walks and driveways for future growth.
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Place taller shrubs towards the back and sides, shorter ones in front for best views.
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Repeat colorful blooming shrubs in groups of 3 or 5 for greater impact.
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Combine evergreen and deciduous shrubs for year-round interest.
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Leave some lawn area rather than lining the entire front with shrubs.
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Don’t ignore spring cleanup of faded flowers and pruning to maximize blooms.
Enhance Your Home’s Curb Appeal
A well-designed front yard landscaping scheme using colorful shrubs can spruce up your home’s exterior and wow your guests. Follow this guide to select the right mix of flowering shrubs for your specific needs and conditions. A little planning and preparation will reap great rewards for years to come. Your home will gain visual interest, personality, increased privacy, and higher resale value.
Best flowering winter shrub for the front of the house (Image credit: Yeoreum / iStock / Getty Images Plus / Getty Images)
Camellias are one of the most popular shrubs for the front of the house. People love their bright flowers, and they are one of the first flowers that bloom in the winter, putting on a cheerful show.
These plants have been hybridized to create more durable flowers and longer bloom times. It’s easy to find a flower that you like because they come in pink, white, and red.
Because of this, camellias are one of the best winter plants for borders and pots, and they would look beautiful in a container on the front porch. It is important to know how to prune camellias if you want to get the most out of these pretty plants.
Best shrub for the front of the house for a show-stopping display (Image credit: Getty/Karin de Mamiel)
Part of the rhododendron family, azaleas are beautiful flowering shrubs that are favored for their long-lasting blooms. Ashes, azaleas, are popular plants for flower beds. They also make great shrubs for the front of the house because of their big size.
Azaleas have long, leathery, oval-shaped leaves. This outstanding flower can become the focal point of every garden. If you want to grow azalea shrubs for the front of your house, you should also know how to prune them so that they look their best.
Top 5 Colorful Shrubs for Front of House – Garden Trends
FAQ
What is the best bush to put in the front of the house?
Is there a bush that blooms all summer?
What shrubs grow in the front of a house?
Another of the shrubs for shade in the front of the house, Euonymus is a low-maintenance hardy shrub genus that can grow up to 15 feet tall. Of the more than 175 varieties, Burning Bush is probably the most familiar cultivar, thanks to its fiery red fall foliage that makes it among popular yard plants.
What are the best front-of-house shrubs?
Ideally, front-of-house shrubs should be easy to maintain, add to your home’s curb appeal, and not grow too high. Boxwoods and coniferous shrubs are the best evergreen shrubs for planting along a fence line, driveway, or front lawn. Spectacular flowering shrubs with a long blooming season include azaleas, hydrangeas, shrub roses, and camellias.
What shrubs look good all year round?
Evergreen small shrubs look good all year round. Since they don’t lose their leaves they continually add life to the front of your house. Holly, camellias and yew are all good options that bring year-round interest to the front of your house.
What plants are good for a front yard?
Holly, camellias and yew are all good options that bring year-round interest to the front of your house. Adding shrubs to the front of your house can help to add privacy, color and interest to your front yard, which is good for both you and pollinators.
What shrubs are best for a front yard?
Boxwoods and coniferous shrubs are the best evergreen shrubs for planting along a fence line, driveway, or front lawn. Spectacular flowering shrubs with a long blooming season include azaleas, hydrangeas, shrub roses, and camellias. Even if your front yard is north-facing, shrubs for shade can brighten your garden.
What are front yard shrubs?
Front yard shrubs are attractive bushy plants with great ornamental value. Shrubs for the front garden can be flowering bushes, evergreen shrubs, small conifers, or perennials. Ideally, front-of-house shrubs should be easy to maintain, add to your home’s curb appeal, and not grow too high.