Under the Gutter Plants

One of the most common questions we get is, “What can I plant at the corner of my house to add some height?”

Planting this close to the house can be difficult because you don’t want to have large limbs hanging over your roof, or roots disrupting your foundation but don’t think your options are limited! Here we are sharing a few ideas for some ‘under the gutter’ plants.

Weeping Redbuds

These trees are trained to cascade and only grow down, never up. In general, they’ll get eight to ten feet tall at most. The real selling point of these trees is the fantastic foliage colors and beautiful spring blooms. 

Golden Falls, Flamethrower, and Ruby Falls are a few of our favorites.

Dwarf Crabapples

Varieties like the Tina and Firebird Crabapple have a short growth habit, allowing us to use it in tighter spaces than a typical Crabapple. They grow about six feet tall and ten feet wide with a round canopy. 

April Showers Crabapple has the same beautiful spring blooms but is another cascading option. These reach about eight feet tall and six feet wide.

Japanese Maples:

These come in many different shapes and sizes, so be sure to look up each variety, or ask us for help when picking them out. A couple of options would be Mikawa Yatsubusa or Tamukeyama, but there are several more to choose from. 

They are a great specimen tree that will stand out nicely from the rest of the plantings.

Shrubs:

There are also several large shrubs that can be left to fill the space or be limbed up to transform into a small tree. Again, be sure to keep an eye on the size range needed. Anything in the 8-10’ range should work great. By keeping shrubs in mind, you open your landscape up to even more bloom and foliage options. Here are a few suggestions:

Korean Spice Viburnum grows to about 8’ tall and wide and has a large fragrant bloom in early spring.

Chaste Tree may need to be trimmed hard after each winter but easily spring back to their full height each year. They have an amazing summer bloom that pollinators love.

Smokebush Winecraft Black not only has a fun texture when blooming, but the foliage color is hard to compete with. These quickly reach about 8-10’ tall and wide. 

The staff at Superior Garden Center would love to show you around or you can check out the Plant Finder tool on our website to help find you the perfect ‘under the gutter’ plant to prevent calling tree trimmers or foundation fixers.

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Kelly McBride
Rost Landscaping

Kelly McBride grew up in Columbia just down the road from Rost Inc., and she’s happy to still call Columbia home. She has a degree in plant science and landscape design from MU and was hired as Rost’s landscape maintenance manager after graduation. Her love for plants makes this job very enjoyable when assisting clients with their outdoor tasks. Outside of work, you can find her cooking, gardening, sewing, or doing other outdoor activities.

(573) 445-4465 | rostlandscaping.com