Shrubs
Summer Has Finished. Your Garden Hasn’t.
As summer flowers begin to fade, shrubs step forward.
Evergreen leaves, glowing autumn colour, berries for visiting birds and beautifully scented flowers still to come can all keep a garden feeling alive through autumn and winter.
Whether you have a large border, a small patio or simply one empty pot, this is a wonderful time to give your outdoor space a fresh lift.
Keep the Garden Looking Alive
Evergreen shrubs provide the shape and greenery that hold a garden together when many other plants have finished for the year.
Try rounded Pittosporum Silver Ball, variegated pittosporum or a compact conifer to fill an empty space, frame a doorway or give a border some lasting structure.
Our smaller evergreen shrubs are also an affordable way to refresh containers or begin a new planting area.
Evergreen shrubs from £5.99
Conifers 2-litre £9.99
Pittosporum 3-litre £24.99
Autumn Colour Without Relying on Flowers
Flowers are not the only way to brighten a garden.
Osmanthus Goshiki brings a lively mixture of green, cream, yellow and bronze-toned foliage. Photinia Carré Rouge produces brilliant red young growth, while our colourful hebes can bring both attractive foliage and seasonal flowers.
Place them where you will see them from a window, beside the front door or among plainer green plants that need waking up.
Hebe Addenda 2-litre £14.99
Osmanthus Goshiki 3-litre £19.99
Photinia Carré Rouge 3-litre £24.99
Put Out the Welcome Mat for Wildlife
A shrub can do far more than fill a space.
Berrying shrubs such as Pyracantha Orange Charmer and our selection of Cotoneasters can brighten the garden while providing valuable food for visiting birds.
Cotoneasters are available in different shapes, from low spreading plants that cover bare soil to larger shrubs that can add height and shelter. Pyracantha can also be trained against a wall or fence, bringing flowers earlier in the year followed by glowing berries in autumn.
Add one to the garden, then enjoy watching to see who comes for dinner.
Cotoneasters 3-litre £19.99
Pyracantha Orange Charmer 3-litre £19.99
Small Garden? Start with a Pot
You do not need a large garden to enjoy shrubs.
A single evergreen shrub can transform an empty patio, balcony or doorstep. Combine a shrub with seasonal bedding around the edge of the container, then change the smaller plants as the seasons move on.
Our Andromeda mix, colourful hebes and compact conifers are ideal starting points for customers who want something manageable.
Andromedas prefer Azalea & Rhododendron compost, while our team can help you choose the right compost and container for the other shrubs.
Andromeda 13cm £6.99
Conifers 2-litre £9.99
Hebe Addenda 2-litre £14.99
Fragrance Worth Waiting For
Daphnes may look quiet now, but their wonderfully scented flowers can make stepping outside feel like a real event.
Flowering times and colours vary between different daphnes, so look at the plant label or ask our team to help you choose. Place the shrub near a path, doorway or seating area where you can enjoy the fragrance whenever the flowers appear.
A daphne also makes a thoughtful living gift for someone who enjoys beautiful plants and fragrance.
Daphne in varieties 2-litre £19.99
Plant Now for Next Year’s Flowers
Some of the best things in gardening are worth waiting for.
Planting shrubs during autumn gives customers something exciting to anticipate when the warmer seasons return.
Choose Deutzia Tokyo Delight for clouds of delicate flowers, Choisya White Dazzler for evergreen foliage and white blooms, or Syringa Bloomerang Pink Perfume for wonderfully scented lilac flowers.
They may not be performing their summer show today, but they are carrying the promise of what comes next.
Deutzia Tokyo Delight 3-litre £19.99
Choisya 3-litre £19.99
Syringa Bloomerang Pink Perfume 3-litre £29.99
Give a Bare Border a Backbone
If your border disappears once the summer plants fade, evergreen shrubs could be the missing ingredient.
Use shrubs as the permanent framework, then weave bulbs, bedding and returning perennials around them. The shrubs keep the garden looking cared for while the seasonal plants come and go.
For an easy starting point, place one taller evergreen towards the back, one rounded shrub through the middle and a low spreading cotoneaster near the front.
You do not need to redesign the whole garden. Begin with the space that bothers you most.
Not Sure Which Shrub Is Right for You?
Tell our plant team:
- Where the shrub will grow.
- Whether the position is sunny or shady.
- If the shrub will live in the ground or a container.
- Approximately how much space you have.
- Whether you would prefer flowers, fragrance, berries or colourful foliage.
We will help you find a shrub that suits the space and gives you something to enjoy through the seasons.
Start with One Shrub. Change the Whole View.
Fill an empty pot, brighten a tired border, bring visiting birds closer or give yourself some fragrance to look forward to.
Visit Elm Court Garden Centre and discover how one well-chosen shrub can keep your garden looking interesting long after summer has ended.
Varieties are subject to availability. Flowering times, eventual sizes and preferred growing conditions differ, so please check the plant label or ask our team for help.