13 Shrubs You Should Buy Bare-Root

Bare-root shrubs take advantage of the dormant season. Many quit actively growing, storing nutrients as reserves in their roots, stems, and buds. Deciduous species are more likely to enter winter dormancy than evergreen plants.

Growers dig up the shrubs from their fields, knock the soil off the roots, and store them in bins of sawdust or similar materials. Some nurseries let you choose the tree you’d like from a bin. Others sell their best plants online and ship them from fall through spring.

Soilless shrubs are more ideal than potted plants for a few reasons. They adapt quickly after transplanting, they need less water their first season, and they produce healthy root systems with little need for maintenance. Though ideal, they’re only available after plants enter winter dormancy from fall through spring. 

Without further ado, here are the 13 shrubs you should consider buying bare-root this season. 

Thornless Blackberry Bush

Unlike other blackberry varieties, Prime-Ark® Freedom thornless blackberries produce fruit on new wood. You should experience a good crop even in the first year! In years 2+, you’ll see two harvests, with your first harvest from the new canes and a second harvest later in the season from the prior year’s canes.

Buy at Epic Gardening

Rose

	common name Rose
	botanical name Rosa spp.
	sun requirements Full sun
	height 1-8’
	hardiness zones 5-11

Roses are the shrub to buy bare-root! Their woody stems hold up well during transplanting, and their hardy frost resilience allows them to sprout roots earlier than most other species. They are available everywhere, from big-box garden centers to specialty rose sellers.

Rose varieties and species offer unique flower colors, shapes, and fragrances. Some sprout off of climbing, tendril-like shoots that clamber up trellises. Others bloom on large towering specimens, while new varieties offer dwarf structures with the same number of blossoms as large types.

Lilac

	common name Lilac
	botanical name Syringa spp.
	sun requirements Full sun to partial shade
	height 4-16’
	hardiness zones 3-8

Lilacs come in all different shapes and sizes. Some are short, shrubby specimens while others have tree-like statures. The blooms are incredibly fragrant; they emerge from flower buds in early spring. Lilac shrubs with bare roots are ideal for planting, as they’ll take to your garden quicker than container plants.

Which lilac is best for you depends on your tastes. Korean lilacs work well in warmer climates in zone 8, sprouting fragrant blooms that enchant visitors to your garden. ‘Miss Kim’ is the most popular Korean lilac, and for good reason! It stays under nine feet tall, and the blossoms emerge purple at first before changing to white.

Forsythia

	common name Forsythia
	botanical name Forsythia spp.
	sun requirements Full sun to partial shade
	height 3-10’
	hardiness zones 5-8

Forsythia shrubs erupt with yellow blooms on naked stems as spring begins. They’re an early bloomer with a slight fragrance that smells like witch hazel. You’ll see them in sawdust bins in fall or early spring while they’re dormant. Get them in the ground quickly to protect their sensitive roots.

Though frost-hardy, forsythia flowers may suffer if temperatures hover below -5°F (-21°C). Protect emerging blossoms with frost cloth if the hard freezes are forecast. Otherwise, let the bare stems dance in the wind until they’re ready to flower and grow leaves.

Witch Hazel

	common name Witch Hazel
	botanical name Hamamelis spp.
	sun requirements Full sun to partial shade
	height 6-20’
	hardiness zones 3-9

Arching stems and spider-like blossoms with spindly pedals are some of the gorgeous features witch hazel has to offer. This shrub decorates forest floors and emits a familiar fragrance—witch hazel shrubs are the source of the astringent beauty product of the same name! Native and non-native varieties offer the ultimate selection.

Cold-hardy and frost-tolerant, witch hazel is ideal for bare-root transplanting. Aim to plant this shrub on a relatively warm day without significant frost, but don’t let the bare roots sit outside the soil for more than a week. They’re prone to drying out—keep them in a container with water or inside a bin of sawdust until you’re ready to plant. 

Buttonbush

	common name Buttonbush
	botanical name Cephalanthus occidentalis
	sun requirements Full sun to partial shade
	height 5-8’
	hardiness zones 5-9

Native plants are always an excellent choice; they provide valuable nectar, pollen, and habitat space for at-risk local animals. Insects, birds, and mammals all rely on plants to survive. Buttonbush is a native shrub that feeds hummingbirds, butterflies, and songbirds. Fothergilla-like blooms emerge in spring that feed foraging pollinators. 

Though frost-tolerant, buttonbush needs consistent moisture to perform well. Ensure the ground isn’t frozen at the time of planting, and keep the ground moist throughout the growing season. This woody perennial works well alongside streambanks, fountains, and other garden water features.

Dappled Willow

	common name Dappled Willow
	botanical name Salix integra ‘Hakuro Nishiki’
	sun requirements Full sun to partial shade
	height 5-6’
	hardiness zones 5-8

Many willows are available bare-root but the dappled willow is a choice variety. It’s unlike any other, with red stems, pink-white new growth, and green old growth. Plants in containers are expensive, especially during the growing season when their leaves are on display. Buy one now without all the extra soil on the roots and you’ll save money for more plants!

Other shrubby willows are available without soil. Look for willow stakes if you want to try creating a living fence. They’re straight cuttings of willows that quickly grow roots after planting. Twine them together to create intricate living art displays in the garden. 

Rose of Sharon

	common name Rose of Sharon
	botanical name Hibiscus syriacus
	sun requirements Full sun to partial shade
	height 8-12’
	hardiness zones 5-9

Rose of Sharon is a hardy hibiscus that thrives in temperate climates. If you struggle to grow tropical hibiscus, a rose of Sharon may be the perfect alternative for your landscape. A single shrub may reach 12 feet tall with many stems sprouting off a squat trunk, growing quickly from bare-root plantings.

The flowers are a blend of purple, maroon, and blue in a cotton candy-like mix, though some types offer white, pink, or red blooms. If you’d like white blossoms, choose a cultivar like ‘White Chiffon.’ Most types have petals of one color with a circle at their center of a different color. Select whichever variety has your favorite colors! 

If you live in an area where rose of Sharon is invasive, opt for another plant on this list.

Korean Spice Viburnum

	common name Korean Spice Viburnum
	botanical name Viburnum carlesii
	sun requirements Full sun to partial shade
	height 4-6’
	hardiness zones 4-7

Many viburnums offer ornamental blossoms for the curious gardener. The Korean spice viburnum is a choice selection. It produces little balls of white blooms that are fragrant, with a sweet honey-like aroma. Find them in sawdust at a local nursery, or search for them online.

Some special varieties may be hard to find but worth the search. ‘Compactum’ stays shorter than the species, topping out at four feet tall. ‘Aurora’ has flower clusters that are larger than the other types. 

Dwarf Fothergilla

	common name Dwarf Fothergilla
	botanical name Fothergilla gardenii
	sun requirements Full sun to partial shade
	height 1-3’
	hardiness zones 5-8

Dwarf plants are essential in landscapes. They tuck in well among taller shrubs and trees, and they offer backdrops for herbaceous perennials that emerge in spring. Dwarf fothergilla is perfect, as it’s small but has excellent flower power. Its blooms are little clusters of spindly stamens where pollen dusts off. They’re fragrant, emitting a sweet scent as they emerge. 

Dwarf fothergilla also goes by the name witch-alder. It’s a native plant to the southern U.S., growing wild in swamps, bogs, and moist woodlands. Plant one while it’s dormant and soilless and it’ll adapt to your yard’s dirt quicker than a container specimen would.

Raspberry

	common name Raspberry
	botanical name Rubus idaeus
	sun requirements Full sun to partial shade
	height 3-8’
	hardiness zones 4-8

Ornamental plants aren’t the only kinds you can plant bare-root! Fruiting species like raspberries are perfect for cool weather planting, as they’ll produce bigger harvests than container specimens come harvest time. 

Though you may see raspberries in bags at the grocery store, avoid buying those. You can’t inspect their roots and they often sit in warm temperatures that lead to premature sprouting. Play it safe by sourcing soilless raspberries from nurseries, online retailers, and farms.

Blackberry

	common name Blackberry
	botanical name Rubus spp.
	sun requirements Full sun
	height 3-8’
	hardiness zones 5-9

Like raspberries, blackberries are cane-producing plants that resemble shrubby plants. Their thick, woody stems emerge in spring; some flower and fruit their first year, while others withstand the winter and fruit the next year. They’re easy plants to transplant bare-root because they’re frost-hardy and enter winter dormancy.

Though blackberries are prolific producers, they often have thorns that make cultivation difficult. Try growing a variety like ‘Prime-Ark® Freedom.’ It’s a thornless blackberry bush that fruits on new wood. It’s prolific, easy to cultivate, and perfect for the home garden.

Blackcurrant

	common name Blackcurrant
	botanical name Ribes spp.
	sun requirements Full sun to partial shade
	height 4-6’
	hardiness zones 3-7

Blackcurrants are edible berry-producing perennials with woody stems. They grow well in cool, temperate regions without droughts or excessive heat in summer. Many blackcurrants exist, though two main species are the best to grow bare-root in North American gardens.

The first is the American blackcurrant, Ribes americanum. This species has less tolerance for heat than the European blackcurrant, Ribes nigrum. Try growing the American one, though if you live in a warm zone like 6 or 7, the European species will perform better in your climate. 

If you live in an area that has rising incidences of white pine rust, it is illegal to plant these. Consult your local extension office before deciding to grow currants.

Honeyberry

	common name Honeyberry
	botanical name Lonicera caerulea
	sun requirements Full sun to partial shade
	height 4-6’
	hardiness zones 2-7

Honeyberry is an underutilized shrub in the edible berry garden! It’s a type of honeysuckle with elongated blueberry-like fruits. They’re sweet, tasty, and juicy! Extremely cold tolerant, this shrub survives winters in zone 2 and is ideal for planting with bare roots during the dormant season. 

Because honeyberries aren’t as common as other fruit-producing plants, they may be hard to find. Look online from specialty retailers, or join a local plant club. Permaculture enthusiasts often grow honeyberries and might gift you a cutting or two.