The front of beds and borders is the ideal place for smaller growing shrubs to put on a display without being crowded out by their larger counterparts. Small shrubs are highly effective for softening hard edges with their naturalistic appearance, perhaps slightly spilling out of the bed while covering the bare stems of taller plants growing behind. Even if you prefer a more formal appearance, a tightly clipped low hedge of shrubs such as box plants or English yew are highly effective and low maintenance, simply requiring clipping twice a year. Smaller shrubs really come into their own in city and suburban gardens where space is at a premium with low growing shrubs or ground cover plants particularly effective for covering unsightly objects or patches of soil. These varieties might be dainty but they’re all resilient, easy to grow, unfussy and care free. Some of our favourite small plants for the front of borders are ceanothus, cistus rock rose, euonymus, hebe, dwarf varieties of hypericum, lavender, leucothoe, pieris, potentilla, skimmia and vinca.
