Plant Tough Shrubs for a Handsome, Drought Tolerant Landscape

To design a landscape that remains attractive even during dry weather, consider planting drought tolerant shrubs throughout your yard. Use them as foundation plants, in shrub borders, and even in mixed borders combined with drought-tolerant perennials. In addition to remaining attractive despite summer heat and drought, a water wise landscape also saves time and money spent on watering‚Äîand that’s a good thing!

Shrubs for Dry Soil

Full sun and average soil that ranges from moist and well-drained to dry is all the shrubs listed here require.

Ninebark (Physocarpus opulifolius). A tough, underused native shrub, ninebark ranges from 5 to 10 feet tall and spreads as far. Plants bear small, simple, somewhat maplelike leaves, arching stems, and clusters of whitish flowers in late spring or early summer. Cultivars with colorful foliage are most appealing: Look for ‘Diablo’ with red-purple leaves or ‘Center Glow’ featuring burgundy leaves with chartreuse centers. ‘Dart’s Gold is 4 to 5 feet tall with yellow leaves. Zones 3 to 7.

Cotoneasters (Cotoneaster spp.) Grown for their flowers and showy berries, most cotoneasters tolerate drought and poor soil, although they’re generally happiest with well-drained moist conditions. The tiny white flowers are borne in abundance in summer and are followed by red berries in fall. The foliage may be evergreen or deciduous. For shrub plantings, look for evergreen willow-leaved cotoneaster (C. salicifolius), hardy in Zones 6 and 7, which can reach 15 feet. Wintergreen cotoneaster (C. conspicuous), another evergreen hardy in Zones 6 to 9, ranges from 5 to 8 feet tall. Low-growing forms of both species are also available and make great ground covers.

Gray dogwood (Cornus racemosa). This native shrub grows in sun or shade and, bears simple, gray-green leaves and produces rounded clusters of whitish flowers in late spring to early summer. Flowers are followed by white berries and leaves turn red-purple in fall. Plants grow 10 to 15 feet tall and wide and spread by suckers to form wide colonies. Gray dogwood is best used in shrub borders or for naturalizing along woodlands where has space to spread. Zones 4 to 8.

Juniper (Juniperus spp.). Among the best drought tolerant evergreens, junipers come in a wide range of shapes and sizes. Native common juniper (J. communis), hardy in Zones 2 to 6, is about 20 feet tall. Named cultivars are the best garden subjects and range from columnar 10- to 15-foot shrubs like ‘Hibernica’ to low-growing ground covers like 15-inch-tall ‘Repanda’. Creeping juniper (J. horizontalis), hardy in Zones 3 to 9, ranges from 1 to 2 feet and spreads to 8 feet or more. Many cultivars under 1 foot tall are available, and they feature different foliage colors. Combine several for increased winter interest. Some to look for include ‘Bar Harbor’ and ‘Blue Chip’ with blue-green needles that turn purple in winter. ‘Emerald Spreader’ has green foliage, while ‘Wiltonii’ is silver-blue.

Northern bayberry (Myrica pennsylvanica). The waxy, aromatic berries of this native shrub are the source of bayberry candles. Plants are semi-evergreen and bear aromatic leaves and insignificant flowers followed by grayish white berries. Both male and female plants are necessary for good fruit formation. Bayberries spread by suckers to form colonies and are excellent in shrub borders and on sites with difficult soils. Zones 3 to 6.

Sumacs (Rhus spp.) Most gardeners prefer cultivated forms of these tough, drought tolerant, suckering shrubs. Natives include fragrant sumac (R. aromatica) and staghorn sumac (R. typhina). Look for ‘Gro-low’, a cultivar of fragrant sumac hardy in 3 to 9, which is 2 feet tall and spreads to 8 feet. Cut-leaved staghorn sumacs, ‘Dissecta’ and ‘Laciniata’, 15 to 20 feet at maturity, plus 6-foot tall chartreuse-leaved Tiger Eyes (‘Bailtiger’) all feature deeply cut ferny textured leaves. All are hardy in Zones 4 to 8.

Sweet fern (Comptonia peregrina). This is a native shrub, not a fern, that spreads by suckers to form colonies. Plants have insignificant flowers and deeply cut, ferny, aromatic leaves. They tolerate a wide range of soils, but can be difficult to move and establish. Where happy, sweet fern is an excellent option for sites with poor soil in sun or part shade. Zones 2 to 5 or 6.

Secrets for Successful Shrub Plantings

Encourage your shrubs to thrive by giving them extra TLC at planting time and for at least the first year they are in the ground. Once you get your drought tolerant plantings established, you’ll find that they can be as handsome as thirsty ones, plus they’ll require far less time hauling hoses to look their best.