12 Foundation-Friendly Plants

Maybe you love the idea of hiding your home’s foundation behind gorgeous flowers and plants. But like anyone else, you want choose plants that will add color and will hide your foundation without taking over the yard. If you want to improve your curb appeal with foundation-friendly plants, here are some great choices. Now you’ll have a great foundation (see what we did there?) for the rest of your landscape.

1. Rhododendron

This evergreen shrub boasts gorgeous flowers in spring, and glossy green foliage all year round. Look for shorter varieties that require less pruning, such as the Yaku Prince (zones 4-8)or the larger Delaware Valley White (zones 5-8).

2. Boxwood

Green Velvet boxwood is a compact, mounding boxwood with pale green foliage. It can grow to 4 feet, both high and wide. It grows in zones 4-8. For zones 5-9, Winter Gem boxwood (shown) is a similar-sized shrub with leaves of yellow-green.

3. Japanese Pieris

This dense, flowering shrub looks like it’s sitting right on the ground. It can grow 3 feet in height and width for zones 5-9.

4. Japanese Yew

Japanese yew are simple shrubs to maintain. You’ll get dark green needles and red berries in winter, and they grow to about 4 feet high and 8 feet wide. Zones 4-8.

5. Smooth Hydrangea

These gorgeous bloomers can bring the wow factor to your landscape. The Bella Anna variety will give you vibrant pink blooms until fall. They grow to 5 feet wide and tall, in zones 4-9.

6. Japanese Spirea

This colorful shrub grows up to 4 feet high and 6 feet wide. You’ll enjoy the flowers from late spring to early summer in zones 4-8.

7. Knockout Rose

This compact shrub grows red, rose-like flowers from spring clear until your first frost. They can get up to 4 feet in height and width. Zones 5-11. The Radtko variety seen here has double flowers.

8. Catmint

Catmint offers tall stems full of small purple or blue flowers. Stems grow about 2 feet tall, and the fully grown plant gets around 3 feet wide. Most varieties do better in grow zones 4-8.

9. Tickseed

These gorgeous yellow-orange flowers look similar to daisies. They bloom in early summer, and feature tall stalks along with fine, almost fuzzy green foliage. You’ll get about 18 inches in both height and width from tickseed. Zones 3-9.

9. Shasta Daisy

Your classic daisy, you’ll enjoy white petals with a yellow center from the middle of summer into early fall. They can grow 3 feet wide and 4 feet tall.

10. Salvia

Salvia blooms in white, pink, or violet flowers on long, finger-like stems. Growth can reach 1.5 feet tall and wide. Zones 4-8. These also do well in containers.

11. Virginia Sweetspire

With Virgina sweetspire, you’ll get bold color without actual flowers. It has dark-green leaves that change to crimson, orange-yellow, or reddish-purple in the fall. If you’re looking for fall color, it’s a great choice in zones 5-9, where it grows 4 feet high and 6 feet wide.

12. Inkberry

A slow growing variety of inkberry could be exactly the kind of upgrade your foundation needs!