The Overall Best Tall Garden Plants to Grow
If you don't have real tall garden plants in your green space, you're missing out. Tall garden plants are excellent for adding structure, privacy, absolute highlights, and windbreakers to any landscape or garden.
In this user-friendly, no-fluff article, we reveal the overall 10 best tall garden plants that we've actually seen and grown ourselves, each of them brings unique characteristics and benefits.
Bamboo
There are many types of Bamboo but most of them can reach over 10 m (30 ft), is ideal for creating natural screens or tall hedges. It thrives in full sun to partial shade and prefers moist, well-drained soil. Bamboo is fast-growing and comes in both clumping and running varieties, with the former being more suitable for controlled growth.
English Yew
This type of evergreen garden plant, also known as Yew, often reaches a height of 10m to 15m (33–49 ft) and is also considered to be low maintenance and great for landscaping. The bush is compact and high, which makes it a good natural fencing plant for all four seasons.
Prunus Laurocerasus
We saw that this Bush is a widely cultivated as an ornamental plant, used in gardens and parks in temperate regions worldwide. Prunus Laurocerasus is often used for hedges, as a screening plant for privacy similar to the English Yew, and as a landscaping plant. They can withstand difficult growing conditions, including shaded and dry conditions, and respond well to pruning.
Yucca
Yucca plants bring a tropical vibe with their sword-like leaves and towering flower spikes. Growing up to 3 meters (10 feet) tall, Yuccas are low maintenance cactus plants that prefer sunny spots and a bit of neglect, making them perfect for a hassle-free garden with a tropical vibe.
Tall Ornamental Grasses
Ornamental Grasses, varying in height but some reaching over 2 m (6 ft), are excellent for adding texture and movement. They thrive in full sun and well-drained soil. Varieties like Miscanthus and Pennisetum provide year-round interest with their tall, feathery plumes and are ideal for creating soft borders as container thriller plants or as standalone features.
Gray Ghost Organ Pipe
Native to the warm regions of southern and central Mexico, the Gray Ghost Organ Pipe cactus reaches a good height of 4.9-6.1 meters (16-20 feet). Its body is gray-green with small spines. Parallel to most of the tall and high cactus plants, it is best to water it in the growing phase once per week and in the dormant period about everey 4 to 6 weeks.
Angel's Trumpet
Angel's Trumpet is known for its large, orange flowers native to South America, which look very nice, especially in the evenings and nights. The flowering tree-like bush reaches up to 2-5 m (6-16 ft) and loves full sun to partial shade and well-drained soil. It's important to note that all parts of Angel's Trumpet are toxic, so it should be planted with caution, especially in gardens frequented by children and pets.
Thuja Occidentalis
Often confused with Cypress shrubs, Thuja Occidentalisis is a conifer, which is native to eastern Canada and the north-central and northeastern United States. The conifer is used all over the world as an ornamental tree, particularly for screens and hedges, in gardens, parks, and cemeteries.
Sunflower
Sunflowers can be grown as tall flowering perennials or annuals. They reach heights of 1.5-3 m (5-10 ft) and are iconic for their large, sunny blooms. Thriving in full sun and well-drained soil, the plants are easy to grow from seed and attract pollinators. Sunflower plants also produce seeds that can be harvested for extracting their well-known Sunflower oil or to feed birds but these yellow flowers can also be grown as ornamental plants.
Elephant Ears
Elephant Ears, reaching heights of 1-3 m (3-10 ft), are known for their massive, tropical-looking leaves. They thrive in partial shade and moist, well-drained soil. These plants are ideal for creating a bold, exotic look in the garden and can be grown in large containers for a dramatic effect.
Sources
Nature and Sustainability uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies to support the facts we describe in our articles. Please read our editorial policy to learn more about how we keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.
Prunus Laurocerasus: https://plants.ces.ncsu.edu/plants/prunus-laurocerasus/
Sunflower: https://plants.ces.ncsu.edu/plants/helianthus-annuus/
Thuja Occidentalis: https://plants.ces.ncsu.edu/plants/thuja-occidentalis/
Ornamental Grass: https://www.homesandgardens.com/advice/how-to-grow-ornamental-grasses
Angel‘s Trumpet: https://www.thespruce.com/angels-trumpet-brugmansia-spp-3269243
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Calin has been in the garden industry for 5 years and knows a lot about gardening and plants. He owns this website and is responsible for most of the content.