If you’ve only got a relatively small garden space, every plant has to earn its place – there simply isn’t the room for slackers. Shrubs are a great option because of their versatility and variety. There are options for containers, spectacular flowerers, evergreen heroes and much, much more. In this guide, we’ll walk you through some of the very best shrubs for small gardens, so that you can maximise your use of space.

Jump to:

• What is the best evergreen shrub for small gardens?
• What is the best tall shrub for small gardens?
• What is the best wildlife shrub for small gardens?
• What is the best flowering shrub for small gardens?
• What is the best container shrub for small gardens?

What is the best evergreen shrub for small gardens?

For genuine year round interest, you need to go for an evergreen shrub. The good news is that there are plenty to choose from. Photinia ‘Little Red Robin’ is a good place to start; with the characteristic red foliage but more diminutive form than regular ol’ ‘Red Robin’, this photinia only grows to one-and-a-half metres (or so) and can easily be kept even smaller.

But why, exactly, are evergreen shrubs and small gardens such a marriage made in heaven? Well, the main thing about these plants is that they’re incredibly versatile. Small spaces require efficiency and maximum output for minimal input. The year-round interest that evergreen shrubs offer is entirely congruent with that principle.

If you have a large, sprawling garden, then you might have the room for a dedicated blossom tree, some shrubs chosen for their winter stems, a border or two full-to-bursting with colourful perennials, etc. etc. But in a small garden there isn’t the space for that, so choosing something like Euonymus ‘Emerald ‘n’ Gold’, with its bright, colourful foliage, compact stature and slow growth rate just makes the most sense.

What is the best tall shrub for small gardens?

For this, we’re going with bamboo plants. Whilst not technically shrubs, they’re often grouped functionally as such for convenience, and with their fast growth rate, often impressive ultimate heights and suitability for container growing, we think they absolutely deserve their place on this list. In terms of sheer impact, it’s got to be black bamboo – just look at those culms!

What do all the city planners say – if you can’t build up, build out? Something like that, anyway. Well, you can apply that kind of thinking to your garden, too. Upright shrubs offer a great opportunity to still get that sense of scale or verticality into your garden, even if the square footage of your space is actually relatively small.

What is the best wildlife shrub for small gardens?

If you want your small garden to be a hub for wildlife, there are a few choices available to you. Viburnum tinus is always a good place to start; while it can be quite vigorous, you can easily prune it to keep to the space available to you, plus it grows nicely in a pot. The berries are a firm favourite with songbirds while the flowers offer sustenance for pollinating insects like bees and butterflies.

Another option, this one more naturally compact in nature, is Ceanothus ‘Repens’. One of the plants on the Royal Horticultural Society’s Plants for Pollinators list, this blue-thimbled beauty will happily grow in containers and attract many a bee and butterfly in doing so. If it starts to spread beyond its allotted space, then just give it a little trim as with the viburnum.

What is the best flowering shrub for small gardens?

This one was so hard to narrow down… So we didn’t! We picked a whopping five flowering shrub favourites for you to peruse. Ahem, Hydrangea ‘Candlelight’, Camellia ‘Spring Festival’ (standard), Syringa ‘Bloomerang Dark Purple’, Forsythia ‘Flojor’ and Philadelphus 'Belle Etoile'. These shrubs all boast incredible flowers (with superb fragrance being on offer for several, too).

The flowers on display here will bring colour to your garden at various points throughout the year, and won’t leave too big a footprint. Whether it be the conical panicles of ‘Candlelight’, the radiant yellow early spring blooms of ‘Flojor’, or the award-winning semi-double flowers of ‘Spring Festival’, one thing’s for certain – your garden is in for a treat.

What is the best shrub for containers for small gardens?

Many people out there have only a small courtyard or terrace space with which to work in terms of garden-able space. Fortunately, there are lots of smaller shrubs out there that grow nicely in pots and containers. It’s hard to go wrong with Lavender ‘Hidcote’ for starters. Iconic, aromatic and easily maintained, lavender plants don’t need much water when established, making them a good pick for pots, in which plants lose water more quickly.

Hydrangea ‘Little Spooky’ is another absolute belter, growing to just under a metre in height, it’s perfect for large containers. Boasting an abundance of creamy cones, its naturally compact, rounded habit will light up any balcony, terrace or veranda. Plus, it’s an adorable name, you have to admit…

Final thoughts

Hopefully, having read this, you’ll have a better idea of which shrub to go for for your small garden. Make sure to check out our whole shrub collection for more inspiration as well as our small garden ideas guide.