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Garden Shrubs

Shrubs are the perfect backdrop for your garden, whether it’s a large plot or a tiny courtyard, and are a big draw for natural pollinators. In all sizes, shapes and colours, we have shrubs for every location and taste, from charming hydrangeas to butterfly hero buddleias and scented choisya. For perennial colour, visit our flowering bulbs page for a fabulous selection.

Berberis Plants

Berberis, also known as the barberry bush, is a great garden shrub whether you want something structural for a border or...
Berberis, also known as the barberry bush, is a gr...
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Buddleia Plants

Buddleia plants attract butterflies and other pollinators with their blooming clusters and vibrant colour, forming a liv...
Buddleia plants attract butterflies and other poll...
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Camellia Plants

Camellia plants are wonderful shrubs for the winter and spring garden, with strong shiny foliage and fantastic blooms in...
Camellia plants are wonderful shrubs for the winte...
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Clematis Plants

Clematis plants are the queen of climbers, with an abundance of flowers and colour. Choose from a wide variety of clemat...
Clematis plants are the queen of climbers, with an...
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Conifers

Conifers are incredibly useful, attractive and popular evergreen trees that can provide excellent year-round privacy by ...
Conifers are incredibly useful, attractive and pop...
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Hibiscus Plants

Hibiscus plants are hardy shrubs with large, exotic, trumpet-like flowers. Available in a show-stopping selection of col...
Hibiscus plants are hardy shrubs with large, exoti...
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Hydrangea Plants

Hydrangea plants are summer-flowering shrubs that are hard to beat. Hydrangeas are easy to grow, display attractive foli...
Hydrangea plants are summer-flowering shrubs that ...
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Lonicera Plants

Lonicera plants, commonly known as honeysuckle, produces an abundance of exquisitely fragrant flowers and it will clambe...
Lonicera plants, commonly known as honeysuckle, pr...
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Magnolia Plant

Create a wonderful focal point with spectacular Magnolia flowers – some that bloom on bare spring stems or branches. The...
Create a wonderful focal point with spectacular Ma...
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Philadelphus Plant

Philadelphus plants offer fabulous white flowers and a refreshing citrus scent. Easy to grow and needing minimal water, ...
Philadelphus plants offer fabulous white flowers a...
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Physocarpus Plant

The physocarpus plant is a hardy evergreen shrub that sports fantastic foliage in a feast of colours ranging from golden...
The physocarpus plant is a hardy evergreen shrub t...
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Potentilla Plant

Potentilla plants thrive in cold climates, thanks to their high alpine and sub-arctic origins. Also known as shrubby cin...
Potentilla plants thrive in cold climates, thanks ...
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Rhododendron & Azalea Plants

Rhododendron and azalea plants are exceptionally versatile shrubs and a must-have for any garden. You can use larger var...
Rhododendron and azalea plants are exceptionally v...
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Climbing Plants

Climbing plants will grow up your garden trellis, walls and fence to produce a mass of lovely blooms. They can add inter...
Climbing plants will grow up your garden trellis, ...
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Evergreen Shrubs

Evergreen shrubs offer a low-maintenance method of adding year round interest in the garden. Select shrubs that flower a...
Evergreen shrubs offer a low-maintenance method of...
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Scented Shrubs

Scented shrubs will envelop your garden in beautiful colours and fragrances throughout the year. Choose from our versati...
Scented shrubs will envelop your garden in beautif...
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Flowering Shrubs

Flowering Shrubs Flowering shrubs provide gorgeous blooms and fabulous foliage throughout the year. Choose repeat-flo...
Flowering Shrubs Flowering shrubs provide gorge...
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Ground Cover Shrubs

Ground cover shrubs produce stunning foliage and are worth the extra time it takes to keep them in fine fettle. They add...
Ground cover shrubs produce stunning foliage and a...
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Architectural Shrubs

Create a dramatic presence in any garden with our architectural shrubs, chosen for their strong formation and appealing ...
Create a dramatic presence in any garden with our ...
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View All Shrubs

Shrubs are a great long-term investment for your garden, providing focal design points and a structural background for f...
Shrubs are a great long-term investment for your g...
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Bare Root Shrubs

Bare root shrubs offer an affordable way to add low maintenance shrubs to your garden. Bare root evergreen shrubs provid...
Bare root shrubs offer an affordable way to add lo...
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Garden shrubs FAQs

Use shrubs to provide the garden with a backbone of heights, blooms and evergreen structure. Dobies’ range of flowering shrubs is the perfect place to find fragrance, winter blooms and popular summer favourites like hydrangeas. These sturdy plants provide the backdrop for herbaceous beds and borders, provide privacy in the garden and mask unsightly areas with evergreen foliage.

How to take a cutting from a shrub?

The best time to take a softwood cutting from a shrub is in spring. Choose a healthy looking tip, making sure it is from the current season's growth and without any developing flower buds or flowers. Use sharp, clean secateurs to cut the shoot roughly five leaves from the tip, above a leaf joint. Place your cuttings in a damp plastic bag until you’re ready to plant.

Remove the leaves from your cutting, leaving one at the top. Cut a large leaf, like on a hydrangea, in half using your secateurs to reduce water loss. Cut one centimetre below the last leaf joint, dust the cut with rooting hormone powder and push the cutting into a small pot filled with free draining compost. Place it somewhere warm and cover the pots with a plastic bag to keep it damp. Expect to see rooting within a few months.

When to prune shrubs

Prune your flowering shrubs in autumn. Regularly deadhead your flowering shrubs throughout spring and summer to encourage more flowering and keep them tidy. After flowering is over in autumn, reduce your shrubs using clean and sharp snips removing dead, diseased and dying branches first and prune them into a desirable shape.

Evergreen shrubs rarely need pruning. However, if you want to prune or shape your evergreens do so in spring, making careful cuts with clean, sharp secateurs. Aim to remove roughly one third of the older, woody growth. Use the new bushy spring growth from the current year to hide any unsightly cut ends.

How can I identify a shrub?

When you move into a new house and garden, it can be difficult to identify your new shrubs, especially if it’s winter and they’re not evergreen. It’s best to wait a whole season before replanting to see what comes into flower and leaf, and use these characteristics to identify your new shrubs. Mature shrubs can be pricey to replace so wait until summer to identify.

Take clear pictures of your mystery shrub’s leaves, and flowers if there are any, and upload them to google image search or use a plant identification app on your smartphone. Use features like whether the shrub is evergreen or deciduous, the shrub’s height and any flowers to narrow it down.

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