Landscape Design with Hollies, Coral Bells and Yews

Part of the You Can Learn Landscaping and Gardening series.
By Ken Brown
Editor, YouCanLearnSeries.com
Updated: June 4, 2008

This Holly, Coral Bells and Yew Landscape Design can work wonders on the eastern side of your home. This design is simple yet really adds flavor to your yard. It can handle a shady area or partial shade. The plants work together without a lot of flash and magic. The muted greens and maroons send a subtle message of warmth throughout the year.

The three perennials in this show stopper landscape design are the Yew, Coral Bells and the Holly bush. The Coral Bells are known for their leaves. Depending on the lighting the colors can be purplish, metallic, silver or purple bronze. Check out the underside of this plant for additional color as some have a pink, maroon or purplish-pink in some varieties.

The Yew is a classic landscape plant that can be controlled to grow to the size and shape you want. Yews are normally found as foundation plants, in front of porches and under decks. The tree version of the yew is sometimes found as a landscape plant placed on the corner of houses and homes.

The Holly plant will give your family many years of joy. From the leaves that stay evergreen all year long, to the red berries that provide nourishment to birds and small mammals throughout the harsh winter, the Holly will enhance your yard and bring beauty to the landscape.

Use These Perennials for the Eastern Side of Your Home Landscape Design
The Holly adds interest to the winter landscape with it's evergreen winter look.	You can plant two Holly Perennials. Place the Holly in well drained soil in partial shade.
In early spring the Yew sprouts bright green shoots of new growth.	Anchor the design with two Yew plants. The yew will provide green color all year round. It is easy to trim to keep at a size you enjoy. The yew will add some height to the sides of this landscape design and will help balance the design.
The coral bells add color and interest with their muted reds and maroons.	The front of this design calls for five or more Coral Bell perennials. The coral bells will sit low to the ground but will show looks of brownish red and maroon to offset the greens of the Yew and Holly. There isn't a lot of flowers from this design, but the Coral Bells add the color.

This landscape design requires about 15 feet by 6 to 7 feet. It can easily run along side a portion of your home to help hide a foundation wall or to add color to the home. It would be perfect to place below the deck so you don't have to worry about what it looks like under there. The greens work well together and the coral bells add the color you want. This is not a flashy or showy design. This is very muted, requires very little care and is easy to maintain. If you like you can easily reduce the depth of this design to 4 feet. Everything can be scrunched together and maintained as smaller plants.

Recommended Flowers for the Holly, Coral Bells and Yew Landscape Design

Perennial	Quantity	Interest	Color
Coral Bells	5	summer fall	maroon
Holly	2	Evergreen	Red Berries
Yew or Juniper	2	Evergreen	Females only White

The landscape design for Holly, Coral Bells and Yews showcases perennials that do well in partial shade.

This panorama image shows the 3 perennials used in this landscape design side by side. It gives you an idea of how they will all look together.

The plot shows how to position the plants included in this Landscape Design

This is plot of the landscape design for Holly, Coral Bells and Yew perennials.

Partial Shade Landscape Design

This landscape design will surprise you. It doesn't look like much when you first begin thinking about the combination. But, it will definitely add to the landscape in ways you don't realize at first. To begin the design will stay green all year long. The Holly and the Yew don't drop their leaves. The berries of the Holly will add interest in the winter and provide food for winter birds.

To add interest to the design you can replace the yews on the ends with a tall juniper. This will add height to the design and give it a completely different look. It could be a great way to anchor the perennial grouping with height on the ends.

Remember with all of these landscape designs in this web site, they are here to give you ideas. Never feel limited by what you see on these pages. If you love Hollies and Coral Bells but simply detest yews, then add a plant that you like. Replace the plants in the design you don't like with a more attractive perennial or a perennial that flowers. The only thing to remember is to have plants with similar needs for water and care.

I hope you enjoy this design and share with us in the comments below your thoughts on this landscape design for Holly, Coral Bells and Yews.