Front porch shrubs are among the most important elements of your house’s curb appeal since they naturalize and beautify your landscape. The roots of good shrubs won’t hurt your foundation or utility pipes and they soak up extra moisture as well as prevent soil erosion around your property. Many shrubs provide the extra magnificence of seasonal blossoms.

Evergreen Foliage

Add year-round greenery to your front yard once you plant evergreen shrubs. Sweet hakea (Hakea suaveolens) tolerates drought and smog. It provides dense shade and needs full sun, which makes it ideal for south-facing front porches. Sweet hakea bears attractive, fragrant white flowers in autumn or winter and rises in U.S. Department of Agriculture plant hardiness zones 8 through 10. Lemon bottlebrush (Callistemon citrinus) adapts to full sun or partial shade, tolerates drought and thrives in moist to dry soil. It bears out-of-the-ordinary wispy, red blossoms in spring or summer and rises in USDA zones 9 through 11.

Moist Soil

The soil around a leading porches stays moist. Peegee hyfrangea Hydrangea paniculata “Grandiflora”) thrives in moist soil, creates showy pink or white flowers in the summer or fall and grows in USDA zones 4 through 8. The banana shrub (Michelia figo) also thrives in moist soil and provides dense shade. This evergreen produces good-looking fragrant, cream, maroon or yellow flowers in the spring or summer and rises in USDA zone 9.

Extra Privacy

Tall shrubs provide extra privacy whether your front porch is either low or raised to the ground. Native to California, western redbud (Cercis occidentalis) thrives in moist soil and tolerates drought. It grows quickly to 25 feet tall, bears plenty of eye-catching purple blossoms in spring and grows in USDA plant hardiness zones 7 through 9. Seaside pittosporum (Pittosporum crassifolium), also known as stiffleaf cheesewood, thrives in saline soils and coastal problems. It rises 25 feet tall, creates ostentatious, fragrant maroon flowers in spring and grows in USDA zones 9 and 10.

Colorful Foliage

The vibrant reddish-purple foliage of the jump bush (Dodonaea viscose “Atropurpurea”), also known as Florida hop bush, makes an perfect accent to get a front porch of a home with a gray stone outside or light-colored siding. This smog-resistant shrub needs adequate moisture, but flourishes in any kind of soil, including weak soil. Its evergreen foliage provides dense shade and it grows in USDA zones 9 and 10.

Winter Interest

Splash your winter landscape with color from great amounts of red berries when you plant San Jose holly (Ilex x “San Jose Hybrid”). This evergreen loves any sort of moist soil, even clay, and its berries, really known as drupe from the plant world, attract wildlife to your yard. San Jose holly grows in zones 7 through 10.

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