Tree Planting and Care

10 Fastest-Growing Shrubs For 2022

By Arbor Day Foundation | May 11, 2022

Bushes and shrubs tie a landscape together. Bushes provide a short hedge or screen, protect wildlife and give areas of your landscape privacy. Shrubs provide beautiful colors in the spring or the fall. Whatever bush or shrub you choose, your woody plants will help clean the air, protect the soil, and beautify your home.

If you’re eager to redesign your space check out these 10 fastest-growing shrubs that will transform your landscape with variety and color.

1. Blue Hydrangea

Hydrangea macrophylla ‘Nikko’

The blue hydrangea is the image most of us conjure up in our heads when we think of hydrangeas in general. It’s a timeless landscape plant beloved by many.

Giant, long-lasting, mophead blooms appear in the summer, adding lovely color to the landscape. These shrubs work well as stand-alone specimens or as a hedge.

Hardiness zones 6-9
Growth rate: more than 24″ per year

2. North Privet
Ligustrum x ibolium

This deciduous or semi-evergreen shrub is America’s fasting-growing hedge, growing up to 3′ per year. The shrub’s dense, dark, glossy green foliage makes it an excellent choice for hedges and privacy screens.

If you’re interested in a hedge with a formal appearance, this privet tolerates shearing well. When you grow it as a hedge, shearing it early and often helps to develop thick layers of branches for year-round privacy.

Hardiness zones 4-8
Growth rate: more than 24″ per year

4 Fast-growing Nut Trees

3. Forsythia
Forsythia x intermedia

There’s no better way to welcome the coming of spring than with the profusion of yellow blooms covering graceful, arching branches. The forsythia is a fast-growing, hardy shrub that blooms early—providing a sunny sight before the rest of the landscape greens up.

Forsythias make an excellent choice for those wanting a fast-growing flowering hedge. For best results, plant forsythia 4-6 feet apart when creating your hedge.

Hardiness zones 5-8
Growth rate: more than 24″ per year

4. Crapemyrtle
Lagerstroemia indica

The crapemyrtle is often referred to as the “lilac of the South.” With its striking flowers, handsome bark and attractive foliage, this species is a favorite for landscapes. It can be grown as either a shrub or small tree and is often used in groupings, containers, hedges and screens. You can even find the common crapemyrtle used as small street trees in urban settings.

Hardiness zones 7-10
Growth rate: more than 24″ per year

5. Beautybush
Kolkwitzia amabilis

An easy-to-grow, fast-growing flowering shrub, the beautybush impresses with a fountain-like spray of pink blossoms befitting its name. Blooming later than many others (from late spring into summer—as far as June in some areas), it’s a perfect landscape piece to keep colorful interest in your yard. Striking deep green foliage continues into summer, then turns reddish for great fall interest.

This old-fashioned shrub is perfect for use as a specimen or as a flowering hedge.

Hardiness zones 4-8
Growth rate: more than 24″ per year

6. American Hazelnut
Corylus americana

The American hazelnut (also known as the American filbert) is a native shrub of the eastern United States. The tasty nuts are highly prized by cooks for their easy-to-crack shells and small, sweet kernel. Squirrels love them as well for the same reasons. Hazelnut hedges can be used as windbreaks, visual screens, and to attract wildlife.

If you’re interested in planting hazelnuts for their nuts, be sure you have a bit of space. You’ll need to plant 2 or more shrubs to ensure a good crop.

Hardiness zones 4-9
Growth rate: 13″ to more than 24″ per year

7. Pee Gee Hydrangea
Hydrangea paniculata ‘Grandiflora’

This is the most common H. paniculata form. It can be grown either as a large shrub or small tree, and it is known for its large panicles of white flowers. In fact, with some good pruning, this shrub can produce flower clusters measuring up to 12-18″ in length.

Hardiness zones 3-8
Growth rate: more than 24″ per year

8. Date Night Strobe Weigela
Weigela x ‘WoF/R’ USPPAF, CPBRAF

This shrub is a perfect pop of color with a little twist, known as Date Night Strobe Weigela. With a display of bright pink flowers that bloom in the spring and dark green, bronze foliage that change into orange in the fall, this shrub is an eye catcher. It’s small size and low maintenance make it great as a border shrub.

Hardiness zones 4-8

Growth rate: 13″–24″ per year

9. Lavalamp Candelabra Hydrangea
Hydrangea paniculata

This stunning shrub displays a parade of evolving color in the spring that lasts into the fall. It starts off with silky, white, cone-shaped flowers that turn to a bright pink by the start of fall. Additionally, the contrast of its dark red stems against its green leaves adds even more appeal. The Candelabra produces an abundance of flowers, is easy to maintain, and hardier than other hydrangeas.

Hardiness Zones 3-8

Growth rate: more than 24″ per year

10. Delta Blues Vitex
Vitex agnus-castus ‘PIIVAC-1 PPAF’

The Delta blue vitex is a cultivar that grows as either a small tree or shrub. Aromatic, dark purple flowers burst into bloom in mid-to-late summer and will attract both butterflies and hummingbirds to your yard. This tree is salt-tolerant and works well in borders and butterfly gardens.

Hardiness Zones 6-9

Growth rate: more than 24″ per year

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  • Brad October 24, 2018 at 4:49 am

    Why post an article about fast growing shrubs without giving some frame of reference about how fast they grow. Useless article.

    • Sheereen Othman October 24, 2018 at 9:10 am

      Hi Brad,

      All of these fast-growing shrubs grow more than 2 ft a year. We’ve added the growth rates to each of them for clarity. 🙂

      • Janet Bujarski October 15, 2019 at 6:40 pm

        Thank you for adding the growth rates. Very helpful.

    • Michael Dowell March 13, 2019 at 11:16 pm

      They state the growth at the bottom of each description.

      • Karen H. December 14, 2019 at 7:33 am

        Why list invasive and non- native species instead of promoting the species which our native pollinator require? You’re doing a great disservice to local nurseries and landscapers that know the value of native plants. Everything on your list benefits only the “big box store approach” when you should be promoting diversity.

  • Michael January 6, 2019 at 1:10 pm

    Excellent, Thank you. All information is clearly right there.

  • Michael. Dowell March 13, 2019 at 11:14 pm

    Thanks for the information!
    Found exactly what I’m looking for.

  • Spike March 17, 2019 at 1:44 pm

    Brad, you ok buddy?

  • Pamela April 9, 2019 at 1:42 pm

    Excellent article, thank you

  • Bradley Rice April 10, 2019 at 1:23 pm

    What are the ones in the photo?
    The blue & purple ones at the bottom really stand out and I’d be interested in getting some of those.

    • Terrie April 22, 2019 at 7:35 pm

      They are Hydrangea

  • Pamela Esper April 10, 2019 at 1:59 pm

    Thanks for sharing great info

  • Debra April 10, 2019 at 2:35 pm

    I see the growing zone info but I’m not seeing any mention of water or light requirements. Living in a hot and dry area, that info would be very helpful.
    ps…my maple and crab apple trees arrive tomorrow. So looking forward to them!

    • Sheereen Othman April 11, 2019 at 9:45 am

      Hi Debra,

      All of the shrubs are hyperlinked to send you right to the tree guide where it shares care instructions, including light requirements. 🙂

  • Pops April 10, 2019 at 4:09 pm

    A zone map or a link to one would be very helpful

  • Kay Argroves April 14, 2019 at 8:39 pm

    What is the name of the hydrangea in the first picture? I would like to order one. A golden globe arborvitae does not look like the picture displayed at all. Thank you.

  • Louis May 11, 2019 at 1:37 pm

    Thank you very informative!

  • Elaine Schmerling July 6, 2019 at 8:03 pm

    Privet species are invasive in North America! They are destroying the understory in our woodlands. The birds eat the berries from the shrubs you distribute…and distribute them all over the place, including in the woods, where they are an invasive species and outcompete our native shrubs. I don’t have time to remove all of them in our 50 acres in my community; the state parks have given up. We are losing native shrubs and with them, the insects including butterflies and moths that feed on them. FOR SHAME. You CAN DO BETTER THAN THIS!!! You can distribute regional native shrubs.

    • Sheereen Othman August 27, 2019 at 4:23 pm

      Hi Elaine,

      We do our best to offer a diverse selection of trees and shrubs that will perform well in the communities where they’ll be planted. This includes species native to this continent as well as some well-adapted, well-behaved, exotic species.

      We agree with you on the importance of native plants and we continue to expand our offering of native species, especially as we have been able to find nurseries that grow native trees and shrubs. But we also realize that the adaptations of certain non-native species to our urban environments means better survival and growth in places we need trees the most – our cities and towns. Given the onslaught of insect and disease pests on our urban forests, we want to offer a diverse palette of native – and sometimes non-native – trees to replace what we’re losing.

  • Steve April 16, 2020 at 1:29 pm

    This is a helpful list. Do you know of any fast growing evergreen hedges? I am looking to make a row approximately 250 long, about 15 feet high.

  • Kathleen May 25, 2020 at 1:28 pm

    Shereen, came upon this website and started reading — sorry for the unnecessary tone from some of our fellow human beings — you do an amazing job with your responses — so respectful, informative and helpful. It is difficult to try to please everyone — but you have certainly tried. FOR SHAME! … on them!