Shrubs
Visit Green Pastures Garden Centre near Norwich for one of the best selections of garden shrubs for Norfolk gardens. Our knowledgeable horticultural team work tirelessly to stock and maintain our large choice of shrubs to the highest standards. To give you and your garden one of the best choices and quality of shrubs possible, much our range is seasonally focussed, bringing you the most beautiful plants for the time of year.
Buying shrubs at Green Pastures Garden Centre is easy, whether you’re a seasoned green fingered “pro” or simply a “green around the gills” beginner gardener. Our “Plants for Places” plant displays make choosing plant solutions easy and our expert gardening staff are always on hand to advise you.
All of our shrubs are container grown, so the majority are suitable for planting all year round except in extreme drought in the summer or a prolonged freeze in the winter. Whilst we stock a great choice of shrubs throughout the year, our stocks do vary seasonally, peaking in the spring. For further advice regarding plant availability please Contact Our Team.
Acer Palmatum (Japanese Maple)
With their beautifully graceful stature and beautifully coloured foliage, a Japanese Maple makes an outstanding feature in the garden. Looking equally magnificent in a border, as a specimen plant in a lawn or a feature plant in a patio container, there’s a spot in everyone’s garden for one of these majestic shrubs. Although Japanese Maples thrive in full sun, intense heat can scorch the foliage on young trees so plant somewhere lightly shaded to be on the safe side. They also appreciate shelter from cold winds. Japanese Maples are a popular choice for growing in containers. We stock several varieties, mostly throughout spring and summer, which offer a stunning palate of spring, summer and autumn foliage colour in a variety of shapes and sizes.
Buddleia (Butterfly Bush)
The Butterfly Bush needs little introduction! The chances are you may have one of these very easy to grow wildlife magnets in your garden already, but what you might not have discovered is one of the several “new generations” of Buddleia which have become some of the most desirable garden plants. In contrast to their big lofty parents, dwarf buddleias (growing to just 2-3ft tall) are one of the most beautiful flowering shrubs to grow in a pot. Another Buddleia which we have fallen in love with is “Wisteria Lane”, a dense weeping shrub with long honey scented flower spikes, giving the effect of a wisteria shrub considerably more than any other buddleia!
Fatsia Japonica (Castor Oil Plant)
Tropical foliage has been very much in vogue lately (the swiss cheese plants suddenly rose from the houseplant wilderness) seeing the Fatsia right up there in the plant fashion charts right now with its large glossy leaves. Once mostly regarded as a houseplant, Fatsia japonica is a great plant to grow in a shady spot out in the garden where it will soon grow and “fill a hole”. Requiring a sunnier destination, “Spiders Web” with its daintier and colourful variegated foliage, is another popular garden shrub these days.
Flower Carpet Roses (“Groundcover” Roses)
Whilst strictly speaking not a “shrub”, ground cover roses are often overlooked when they would often provide the perfect solution in a garden border. Their spreading nature makes them a completely different proposition to a traditional upright rose “bush”, making them perfect for filling up space in a low maintenance garden whilst providing a truly beautiful display. The “Flower Carpet” series make a perfect shrub with their incredibly long flowering season (May to October), excellent disease resistance and ability to perform without specialist pruning.
Hebe (Shrubby Veronica)
Box needs little introduction and has fast become a familiar sight in both old and new gardens. If you’re looking for an easy to grow hedge that you can keep down to a low height, box would be a great choice. We offer box plants in 3litre pots as well as packs.
Hydrangea
Few shrubs rival Hydrangeas for sheer impact with their big blooms which appear every summer. Even most non-gardeners are familiar with the flower-power of the mophead and lace-cap hydrangeas of which we offer many varieties every summer. Hard on their heels are now emerging a never ending list of paniculata and arborescens varieties, mostly in cooler whites, creams and limes to bring some real sophistication to your garden.
Lavender
There’s no denying the English gardener’s love affair with the Lavender and few other county’s could be affiliated with this number one shrub more than Norfolk! If you have a sunny spot out of the way of a heavy clay soil, you have a perfect home for a Lavender which combines perfectly with so many other shrubs and perennials. Oh, and it’s a fantastic plant for encouraging insects (and birds) into the garden too. We sell a large range of English and French Lavenders from spring to autumn in many different sizes.
Phormium (New Zealand Flax)
Phormiums stormed their way to becoming a top garden plant at the turn of the millennium and show no sign of moving! Ticking the “evergreen and low maintenance” boxes, they offer the garden much more than that. Their striking upright architectural foliage is a garden designers dream and not only do they create a great statement in the border, they make powerful feature plants in containers too. Available all year round, with optimum availability in the spring.
Photinia
Mention “Red Robin” and most gardeners will instantly associate with the bright red new shoots of Photinia Red Robin. This is another plant that has shot to fame in the last twenty years or so but it hasn’t been without its draw backs. This easy evergreen earned a bit of a reputation for getting spotty and leggy, particularly when young and in in-experienced hands but plant breeders have been busy developing new improved varieties to bring all the pros without the cons. We’re huge fans of Photinia as a hedging plant and the variety “Carre Rouge” is perfect for this purpose.
Rhododendron
The ”Rhodo” is a beautiful shrubs with a bit of a tricky reputation with lesser experienced gardeners but the reality is there is little to be scared of. With their requirement for a lime-free soil aside, Rhododendrons are actually extremely tough and resilient beasts capable of surviving any winter in this part of the world and requiring very little care. If you’re not sure if you have an acidic soil, grow Rhododendrons in pots with Ericaceous compost. Rhododendrons are available from Green Pastures for most of the year.
If you have any questions regarding selection, growing or purchasing shrubs, please feel free to contact us. Our team of knowledgeable horticultural staff are always happy to advise you.