If you live in USDA zone 5 and are looking to overhaul, redesign or just tweak your landscape, planting some zone 5 suitable shrubs may be the answer. The good news is that there are many options for growing shrubs in zone 5. Zone 5 shrub varieties can be used as privacy screens, accent plants along with seasonal color or as border plants. Read on to find out about bushes for zone 5 climates.
About Bushes for Zone 5 Climates
Shrubs are an important feature in a landscape. Evergreen shrubs become anchors of permanence and deciduous shrubs add interest with their changing foliage and blossoms throughout the seasons. They add scale and structure to the garden in conjunction with trees and other perennials. Before planting zone 5 shrubs, do some research and carefully consider their requirements, ultimate size, adaptability, and seasons of interest. For instance, does the shrub have a creeping habit, is it mounded, and what is its overall spread? Know the shrub’s site conditions. That is, what pH, texture, and drainage of the soil does it prefer? How much sun and wind exposure does the site get?
Zone 5 Shrub Varieties
It’s all very well to read a list of shrubs suited to zone 5, but it’s always a good idea to do a little local research as well. Take a look around and note what types of shrubs are common to the area. Consult your local extension office, nursery or botanical garden. On that note, here is a partial list of shrubs suited to growing in zone 5 gardens.
Deciduous shrubs
Deciduous shrubs under 3 feet (1 m.) include:
- Abelia
- Bearberry
- Crimson Pygmy Barberry
- Japanese Quince
- Cranberry and Rockspray Cotoneaster
- Nikko Slender Deutzia
- Bush honeysuckle
- Japanese Spirea
- Dwarf Cranberry Bush
Somewhat larger (3-5 feet or 1-1.5 m. tall) shrubs that are suited to zone 5 are:
- Serviceberry
- Japanese Barberry
- Purple Beautyberry
- Flowering Quince
- Burkwood Daphne
- Cinquefoil
- Weeping Forsythia
- Smooth Hydrangea
- Winterberry
- Virginia Sweetspire
- Winter Jasmine
- Japanese Kerria
- Dwarf Flowering Almond
- Azalea
- Native Shrub Roses
- Spirea
- Snowberry
- Viburnum
Larger deciduous shrubs, those that get from 5-9 feet (1.5-3 m.) in height, include:
- Butterfly Bush
- Summersweet
- Winged Euonymus
- Border Forsythia
- Fothergilla
- Witch Hazel
- Rose of Sharon
- Oakleaf Hydrangea
- Northern Bayberry
- Tree Peony
- Mock orange
- Ninebark
- Purple Leaved Sandcherry
- Pussy Willow
- Lilac
- Viburnum
- Weigela
Evergreen shrubs
As to the evergreens, several shrubs of between 3-5 feet (1-1.5 m.) in height include:
- Boxwood
- Heather/Heath
- Wintercreeper Euonymus
- Inkberry
- Mountain Laurel
- Heavenly Bamboo
- Canby Paxistima
- Mugo Pine
- Leatherleaf
- Eastern Red Cedar
- Drooping Leucothoe
- Oregon Grape Holly
- Mountain Pieris
- Cherry Laurel
- Scarlet Firethorn
Larger, more tree-like shrubs that grow from 5 to 15 feet (1.5-4.5 m.) in height may include varieties of the following: