Zone 8 Bushes: Choosing Shrubs For Zone 8 Landscapes

zone 8 shrub
zone 8 shrub
(Image credit: chert61)

Zone 8 shrub varieties are abundant and give you plenty of choices for landscaping, hedges, flowers, and even a range of sizes to fit every garden space. Zone 8 covers a wide southern region of the U.S. from Texas to parts of North Carolina and parts of the Pacific Northwest as well. It’s a temperate climate with a long growing season and there are many shrubs that thrive here.

Growing Bushes in Zone 8

Zone 8 designates a climate that has mild winters with temperatures no lower than 10 to 20 degrees F. (-6 to 10 C.) and hot summers days with cooler nights. It’s a pleasant climate and one in which many plants thrive. Due to a longer growing season, there is a greater opportunity to enjoy flowering shrubs and to have color for a longer period of time. Many shrubs will do well in your zone 8 garden and while they need to be watered regularly until established, will generally thrive with just rainwater after that, making care easy.

Shrubs for Zone 8

With this easy growing climate, you have a lot of zone 8 bushes to choose from. Here are just a few of the many options you have for your garden: Butterfly bush – This bush is aptly named and will drive beautiful butterflies to your garden. The butterfly bush is drought-tolerant and likes full sun. It needs some regular pruning to avoid getting out of control, however. Bigleaf hydrangea – The big, round flower clusters of bigleaf hydrangea shrubs are showstoppers. The vibrant colors depend on the pH of your soil: alkaline soil produces pink blooms while more acidic soil will give you blue. Lavender – Zone 8 shrub varieties include some herbs, like lavender. Given the right conditions—plenty of sun and well-drained soil—lavender makes a great low hedge and adds a gorgeous fragrance to the garden. Forsythia – The bright and abundant yellow flowers of the forsythia bush are a herald of spring. The rest of the summer they provide pretty greenery in a shrub that can be planted singly, or as part of a trimmed, large hedge. Knock Out rose – This cultivar of rose has been extremely popular since it was developed, partly because it is so easy to grow and disease resistant. Knock out rose bushes thrive in zone 8 and produce fragrant blooms in a variety of colors. Wax myrtle – If you are looking for an ornamental shrub without flowers that can be trimmed into tight shapes, wax myrtle is a great choice. It is an evergreen shrub with glossy green leaves. It grows easily and quickly, even in poor soil and is drought tolerant. Growing bushes in zone 8 is easy thanks to the temperate climate and wide variety of options for planting. Choose the right varieties for your garden and you can enjoy beautiful shrubs and hedges without a lot of effort.

Mary Ellen Ellis
Writer

Mary Ellen Ellis has been gardening for over 20 years. With degrees in Chemistry and Biology, Mary Ellen's specialties are flowers, native plants, and herbs.