Best Shrubs for Ohio Gardens

All beautiful gardens need a strong backbone to support local pollinators and complement other plants. Shrubs accomplish those goals and look good while doing it! While there are many beautiful shrubs you could go with, here are some of the best shrubs for Ohio gardens. 

Why Plant Shrubs in Your Garden? 

Shrubs are perennial plants, meaning they are suited to survive through the harsh Ohio winter months and require little maintenance throughout the year. Also, many shrubs are great companion plants for other perennials, such as our favorite summer perennial flowers.

Shrubs tend to be large plants (between four and five feet). So, they are great for filling empty spaces in your garden while adding value by growing fruit, expanding habitats for pollinators, and giving you blooming and bright flowers. Plus, shrubs are often easy to grow and many shrubs are flowering plants as well.

When to Plant Shrubs in Ohio

The best time for planting shrubs is during moderate seasons, such as the late winter, early spring, and fall months. For Ohio gardeners, plant your shrubs between March and May or August through October. Certain shrubs may be partial to particular seasons based on how well their roots respond to current weather conditions, so make sure you plant your shrub in the most ideal time of year for a successful outcome. If you have any questions about when to plant a specific shrub, you can give us a call at Timbuk Farms at 740-587-2178.

How to Plant Shrubs

When digging a spot for your garden’s new resident, ensure the hole gives enough space for the shrub to grow. The hole should be twice the size of the shrub’s root ball. Keep the root ball as intact as possible to avoid damaging the roots. As you place your plant in its new home, ensure that the soil around the root ball is compressed to eliminate air pockets. Then, form a shallow moat around the plant that can hold water so that water soaks into the ground and reaches the plant’s roots. 

What Shrubs to Plant for Ohio Gardens

Azalea and Rhododendron 

Azaleas and rhododendrons are often mistaken as the same plants, but they are actually different plants!  

You can tell azaleas and rhododendrons apart by their plant structure. Rhododendrons have thick leaves with clustered flowers while azaleas have thin, hairy leaves with fewer and larger flowers compared to rhododendrons. 

However, both plants will bring beauty to your garden through their wide variety of vibrant flowers. Plus, both plants will attract pollinators including bees, butterflies, and hummingbirds to your garden.

Brambles

Brambles are a great shrub option if you’d like to take a couple items off your grocery list. Certain Rubus varieties of shrubs are native Ohio plants and will produce fruits like blackberries and raspberries. Kids (and adults too!) will love snacking on sweet berries, and native Ohio birds and bees will enjoy these shrubs as well.

Chokeberry

Chokeberry shrubs produce delicate white flowers in the spring that mature into berries in the fall. So, you’ll always have something nice to look at as the seasons change in Ohio. These flowering shrubs are also highly adaptable and low-maintenance plants. The chokeberry is a great shrub for beginning gardeners since this shrub thrives in many types of soil.

Rose 

Elegant and easily recognizable, adding some roses to your garden could make for a permanent, classy garden-party backdrop that anyone can appreciate! Roses grow in just about any color you could want including red, white, pink, purple, yellow, and orange. 

Plus, roses provide cover for pollinators like bees while rose hips can serve as a tasty snack for birds. Check out smooth roses, pasture roses, and swamp roses, which are often native roses to Ohio. 

Spicebush

A spicebush will add a bright pop of color to your garden with its sunny-yellow flower clusters. As the name implies, these bushes have a wonderful aroma to their leaves and stems that when crushed can add a nice fragrance to your garden or home.

If you’re interested in helping pollinators in Ohio, then consider planting a spicebush since it’s a great larval site for a variety of moth species. 

Shrubs to Avoid 

While shrubs are the plant world’s jack-of-all trades that can add beauty and value to your garden, there are some shrubs that can do an equal amount of damage. Buckthorn is an example of an invasive shrub species that is spread through birds dispersing discarded fruit seeds. Once these shrubs take root, they can be hard to get rid of, which makes it a plant you want to stay away from. 

Another shrub to avoid is honeysuckle. This purely decorative plant tends to replace native forest plants because it easily escapes its designated garden spaces. So, choose a different shrub, such as the ones above, to add to your Ohio landscape.

Visit Timbuk Farms for Shrubs and Gardening Supplies! 

If you’d like to add shrubs to your Ohio garden, then come down to Timbuk Farms! Fall is one of the best seasons for shrub growth, and our upcoming Fall Fest is right around the corner. We’d love to help you get started growing the shrubbery of your dreams while meeting your other gardening needs. 

Whether it’s your first time in or if you’re familiar with our Ohio garden center, consider joining our loyalty program to help you save a couple bucks. Plus, sign up for our newsletter so you’ll be the first to know about our discounts, events, and plants. Shrubs, flowers, vegetables, and more, we got it all at Timbuk Farms and we would love to help you with your garden!