Can anyone recommend the top ten best shrubs for planting around a house? I'm having a new home built in Denton and my contractor has asked me for a list of shrubs to put around the house.

I'm looking for a combination of longevity, low height (less than 5 feet), and bird-friendliness.

Thanks in advance.

Well, I will only offer the two which I have personal experience with at two sites. 1) Dwarf Yaupon Holly and 2) Indian Hawthorne. I must state that I lost 1 of 4 Indian Hawthorne bushes to freeze damage at my first site (9+ years ago). I have had my current bushes for 9 years at this site. Both are thriving and the Hawthornes bear beautiful blossums.

The flowers on salvia greggi and Turk's Cap attract hummingbirds. Birds love American Beautyberry and Barbados Cherry (and wax myrtle and yaupon, but not sure if the dwarf varities produce berries). Blue Plumbago and Lantana attract butterflies.

I worked for a landscaper in Denton county for several years. The following are the shubs we used regularly and had great success.

dwarf yaupon holly
dwarf Burford holly
dwarf chines holly (sharp! - good under windows for security)
carissa holly
harbor dwarf nandina (will turn reddish in winter)
moon bay nandina (same as above)
Elaeagnus
Indian Hawthorne (freeze tolerant varieties available)
Foster holly (tall)
Nellie R. Stevens holly (tall)

All of the above are stay green year round.

Good Luck!
Judy

I cringe every time I hear someone recommend yaupon holly. I live in an area where it is native and it is so EXTREMELY invasive. It is like bamboo, sending up new shoots from the roots. Cutting it down doesn't help, it just grows twice as many shoots from the old roots. My husband jokes that every yaupon in the county is just one huge bush. Of course, not having ever used the yaupon sold in nurseries, I can't say that it will take over your yard, but the native stuff sure does!

Just from my own experience with 6 Dwarf Yaupon Hollys I have never experienced such problems. Interesting though. What do you do to keep the invasion at bay? Has anyone else seen this problem with this particular plant?

We mow the small stuff as it comes up and twice a year have a major cut around the edges of our acre lot (it does make a good privacy hedge!). People without yaupon on their lots have usually used a backhoe to clear the roots (or poison, which I don't believe in). The only good thing about it is that the robins love the berries in the fall.

I love my yaupon holly. We have several shrubs/trees in our yard. The only problem I've had with shoots coming up is from those plants that were cut back 3 years ago when our home was built. I suppose the plant is just trying to survive. The plants that have been left alone have grown to beautiful shrubs/trees and do not produce shoots. I've seen over 15 species of birds in our yaupon. I never have to worry about drought or freeze--it looks great during both, very low maintenence.

I could use some advice on my yaupons. They have been in the ground over two years and have not yet gotten bushy or produced berries. They were planted by a very reputable nursey (organic!) and I was told they were female and there were enough males in the neighborhood to cause berry production. I was also told they will do well in shade as well as sun. Mine are both in shade, is this the problem or was I sold defective plants? Both are seven or more feet tall, but are not attractive at all. Also, I have an American Beauty berry that is eight foot and grows like crazy, but has yet to produce any berries. Could it be too old? My three other beauties produce like crazy in the fall.

The yaupons may not be mature enough yet. We have several that were cut to the ground when our house was built. They have grown back well but only a few have began producing flowers (male and female produce small white flowers in the spring, but only the female has berries). It's been 2.5 years and only the tallest plants flowered this spring (approx. 10 ft tall). The sun/shade issue shouldn't matter. I would be a little worried if they haven't bushed out

Does your beautyberry produce flowers, but just no berries? Or does it not flower at all? This is the first year I've had mine so I can't give much advice.

My large Beauty Berry produces flowers, but then the berries that are left after the flowers are through are very, very small and most of them disappear leaving tiny sticks. Looks like when birds eat them off, but the berries never developed enough for the birds to eat. My other ones are just now dropping the last of their pink blooms and the berries that are clustered look huge. Thanks for the advice on the yaupons. It looks like someone did a bad trim job on them. I will just give them some extra liquid seaweed and mulch and leave them alone.

Cenizo and Agarita are my favorite native shrubs. Evergreen and agarita had a beautiful yellow flower and edible red berries.