Whether you are looking to up the ante on your curb appeal so you can sell your house or you just want to beautify the front of your home, plant one (or more!) of these flowering shrubs for the front of the house for easy maintenance with instant charm.
The front of your house offers the first impression that guests and neighbors will have of your home. You can choose to ignore that space, or you can really put it to use by making it an inviting, charming space for anyone who visits.
That’s a good reason to put in some time to up your landscaping game! You can do that with simple tweaks like adding flowering shrubs and other plants to your front yard.
Flowering plants bring beauty, texture, sweet smells, and a touch of drama to the yard space they occupy. In addition, with thoughtful placement, they can create a natural flow from the street to the front porch, guiding visitors right to your front door.
Add Some Great Curb Appeal with Flowering Shrubs
When it comes to curb appeal landscaping, a little thoughtful planning will go a long way.
You want something that looks attractive and beautifies the front of your home, as well as plants that fit your personality and require just the right amount of maintenance.
Annual flowers can add that pop of color that you may be looking for, but they require time and maintenance, as you need to replant them every year. Some perennials may also achieve your goals but they require some work too!
However, if you want the greatest impact with the least amount of work, consider planting flowering shrubs in the front of the house as part of a well-thought-out landscape plan to add an instant welcoming and attractive curb appeal.
How to Choose Flowering Shrubs For the Front of Your House
There are several factors to consider when choosing and purchasing shrubs for your curb appeal landscaping.
As flowering shrubs have a more permanent, long-term landscaping feature than most other flowers, keep these factors in mind as you plan your front yard garden and pick shrubs for the front of your house.
- Consider how much sun exposure the areas of your front yard receive as well as the light requirements of the shrubs you’re considering.
- Think about the water requirements of the flowering shrubs you want and how much water your yard receives from rain or a sprinkler/drip system.
- Some shrubs do well in colder climates; others flourish in warmer climates. Know your hardiness zone so that you can pick plants that will thrive in your area.
- Consider the size of the shrub you want to buy. Some shrub plants can grow very large while others are smaller or even dwarf size. Keep size in mind so that your shrubs are an asset to your landscaping and don’t take away from your home curb appeal or block windows or doors.
- Think about bloom times! Different shrubs bloom at different parts of the year. Include variety in your curb appeal landscaping to add visual interest and sustain blooming as long as possible.
The Best Flowering Shrubs for Front of House Curb Appeal
Here are some of the best (and my favorite) flowering shrubs to consider adding to your curb appeal landscaping. To help you know whether these shrubs may work for your yard, I am also including some basic plant information about each type of shrub.
Hydrangeas
Hydrangeas are a top choice for both southern and northern gardeners because they are easy to grow, tolerate almost any amount of sun exposure, can grow in a large variety of climates, and put on an impressive show of large, colorful blossoms when they bloom.
Different varieties of hydrangeas offer different flower shapes and colors, shrub sizes, and growth requirements. All in all, they give you a huge bang for your curb-appeal buck!
Blooms: Summer and fall
Light Needs: Shade, part-shade, sun
Water Needs: Keep moist in rich, well-drained soil
Height: 1-3 feet, 3-8 feet, 8-20 feet (depending on variety)
Width: 2-12 feet
Zone Requirements: 3-9
Color: Red, white, pink, blue, purple, green
Roses
While the classic rose is beloved for its beauty and aroma, it requires a lot of maintenance and doesn’t look very nice during the winter. However, if you love roses and want to add curb appeal to your landscaping, a shrub rose may be an ideal choice.
Shrub roses are one of the easiest types of roses to grow and merge all the best characteristics of roses together into one attractive, low-maintenance plant! They are 3-5 feet tall and only 3 feet wide and have large, beautiful clusters of blooms. Plus they smell absolutely heavenly.
Blooms: Spring, summer, fall
Light Needs: Sun
Water Needs: Moist, well-drained soil
Height: 3-5 feet
Width: 3 feet
Zone Requirements: 3-10
Color: Yellow, pink, red, purple, orange, pink
Lilacs
Lilacs can grow quite large if you need a flowering shrub in a large space or you can plant dwarf varieties that stay much smaller (and even rebloom later in the season). Revered for their beauty, pleasant green foliage, sweet aroma, and ease of care, lilacs are a top choice when it comes to flowering shrubs. You can plant them anywhere you need to add curb appeal to your landscaping.
Blooms: Spring, summer
Light Needs: Part-sun, sun
Water Needs: Let the soil dry out a little; do best with deep, infrequent watering
Height: 3-8 feet, 8-20 feet (depending on variety)
Width: 3-20 feet
Zone Requirements: 3-7
Color: Pink, purple, white
Viburnums
Good luck finding a flowering shrub with a variety of options and diversity than the viburnum! It doesn’t matter if you’re looking for beautiful foliage colors, sweet aromas, color berries or showy blossoms, viburnums have a ton of varieties that seem to have it all.
Blooms: Spring
Light Needs: Part-sun, sun
Water Needs: Moist, well-drained soil
Height: 3-8 feet, 8-20 feet (depending on variety)
Width: 3-12 feet (depending on variety)
Zone Requirements: 2-9
Color: White, pink
Forsythias
These shrubs are known for the brilliant yellow blooms that cover their branches in early spring before their leaves even show themselves. Forsythias can provide a cheery background that’s perfect as a border or the centerpiece or backdrop of any landscape garden.
Butterflies and bees love them, and they are a fast-growing, low-maintenance shrub!
Blooms: Early spring
Light Needs: Part-sun, sun
Water Needs: Keep moist in well-drained soil
Height: 2-10 feet (depending on variety)
Width: 4-12 feet (depending on variety)
Zone Requirements: 5-8
Color: Yellow
Rhododendrons
This flowering shrub is a favorite for shady areas and garden borders. They bloom dramatically in the spring with clusters of showy blooms and offer a wide range of bloom colors. Depending on the type and the hardiness zone you live in, rhododendrons can be evergreen or deciduous.
Blooms: Spring
Light Needs: Part-shade, shade
Water Needs: Keep moist in well-drained soil
Height: 3-15 feet (depending on variety)
Width: up to 25 feet (depending on variety)
Zone Requirements: 3-9
Colors: Red, purple, orange, yellow, pink, white
Azaleas
A close cousin to the rhododendron, azaleas tend to be smaller and have smaller leaves than a rhododendron would have. They are also a favorite among spring-blooming flowering shrubs to add to your curb appeal landscaping.
Blooms: Spring
Light Needs: Part-sun, sun
Water Needs: Keep moist in well-drained soil
Height: 4-8 feet
Width: 4-8 feet
Zone Requirements: 4-9
Color: Purple, white, red, orange, peach, pink
Hibiscus
You may know this shrub by the name Rose of Sharon. Not actually part of the rose family, the large, spectacularly plentiful blooms of the hibiscus attract hummingbirds and butterflies from the summer into the fall. They are drought tolerant and low-maintenance, making them a favorite for curb appeal landscaping!
Blooms: Spring, summer, fall
Light Needs: Sun
Water Needs: Keep moist in well-drained soil
Height: 5-10 feet
Width: up to 6 feet
Zone Requirements: 5-9
Color: Purple, white, red, orange, yellow, pink
Weigelas
Weigelas may not have the name recognition that the lilac, rhododendron, or azaleas may have, but it’s a flowering shrub staple, nonetheless. Both the flowers and foliage come in a variety of colors, making this low-maintenance, drought-tolerant shrub a real beauty.
Blooms: Spring, summer
Light Needs: Sun
Water Needs: Keep moist in well-drained soil
Height: 6-10 feet
Width: 6-10 feet
Zone Requirements: 4-8
Color: White, red, yellow, pink
Final Thoughts About Flowering Shrubs
Now all you have to do is choose! Planting any one of these flowering shrubs gives you the attractiveness of flowering plants in your yard without the hassle of planting new plants every year.
When choosing the best shrubs to plant in front of your house as part of your curb appeal landscape, you can’t go wrong with any of these 9 options!
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