I'm in zone 4 which limits my choices. I also don't like junipers, potentilla, barberry, or most spireas. So that really limits my choices. :)

But here's what I do like:
- Cool dwarf evergreens. I've got globe blue spruces, 'Waldbrunn' spruce and a newly purchased 'Pusch' spruce. The globes get big, these other two are supposed to stay small.

- Weeping evergreens which can be trained to different heights and configurations. I got a weeping spruce ('Pendula' I think) last year and I just love it. I'm also strongly pondering another one called 'Formanek.'

- Mock orange. I have several of the full-sized 'Blizzard' types but I spy a dwarf one called 'Miniature Snowflake' that is tops on my list for new shrubs to try.

- Ninebark. I know, these get huge but 'Summerwine' is not as huge, and there is 'Little Devil' and 'Dart's Gold' which may stay smaller? I have 3 Summerwine and their color and texture plays really well with roses, coneflowers and grasses.

- I like viburnum but they all seem to get too big. I have some handsome 'Wentworth' in a shrub border where they can get as big as they please.

- Roses. I use big ones like rosa glauca and William Baffin where appropriate, but equally useful are small ones that scale well with perennials. I've had best luck with Nearly Wild, Sunrise-Sunset, Pink Drift, and Morden anything. I have my eye on a small-ish Rugosa called 'Purple Pavement' that I'm keen to try out in the roadside garden.

- Shrubby dogwoods. I've had mixed success with these, and the ol' reliable redtwig seems to be the happiest one here. At the nurseries I've seen a new, smaller one called 'Firedance.'

- Black Lace elderberry. Tough to get established, but wow. A superb presence in the garden.

- Honeybush honeysuckle. Two feet tall and up to 4 feet wide. Pink flowers, easy keeper. What's not to love? Oh, don't confuse it with 'Honey Rose' which I did and I still have the 8 foot monstrosity in the spot where I intended to have a 2 foot accent. Oops.

- Pawnee Buttes sand cherry. Probably this one is just for the western/arid folks but this is a fantastic groundcover shrub. 1-2 feet tall and 3-4 feet wide. White flowers in early spring.

- Dwarf Korean lilac. I took a few out where they got too big and rangy for my tastes but they are nice. If you want yummy lilac fragrance near the house but don't have room for a full-sized one this is a good option.

- Peonies. Yes, I know these aren't shrubs but they are so easy to care for that it's worth listing them anyway.

OK, that's my list - until I walk outside and see one that I didn't list here and think, d'oh! But I'm interested in hearing what works for others. Perhaps we can make a nice reference list that we can use while striving for that optimal shrub/perennial ratio, whatever that may be.

Karin

I'm going exactly the same route with all my garden spaces and using the above as well as peonies, Veronicas, salvias, nepetas, Russian sage, a few select daylilies, a few good clumps of balloon flowers, Caesar's Brother and Snow Queen Siberian iris, bird's nest spruce, Northern lights azaleas, purple sand cherry, red twig dogwood. Nothing that needs a lot of attention.

My house is hidden behind an ancient lilac hedge - just the common syringa vulgaris. Have a mixed shrub border between me and my neighbor - mock orange, more white and burgundy lilacs, Anthony Waterer spirea, viburnums. I do have "Dart's Gold" ninebarks elsewhere with my hostas and ferns. The ninebarks do get quite large, but I love the arching fountain-like branching.

I have ‘Summerwine’ Ninebark and we all really enjoy it. It’s been an easy, reliable shrub. Fairly drought tolerant. It also responds well to renewal pruning and one of the promotional ideas when they presented the shrub was you can cut it back to the ground and it produces a compact shrub in one season. We’ve let ours go and it’s over 6ft at the moment. No pests or foliage issues. It does flower, but briefly. It has a slight change in color in the Fall to red tones.

They have a new Physocarpus, ‘Tiny Wine’ that I’m considering getting. Haven’t seen it in the nursery yet.

I just added a dwarf Philadelphus ‘Buckley’s Quill’ which the jury is still out on. I cannot detect any fragrance and it’s supposed to be and that was the reason I bought it. I am interested in that ‘Miniature Snowflake’ if it is fragrant.

I have Viburnum ‘Wentworth’ and I love it. It gets huge! And I wanted it for a screen at the back of a border which works out great. Lots of berries.

I know it’s very common and I resisted getting one for the longest time, but I added ‘The Fairy’ rose this spring, bare root from Pickering and I’m loving it so far. It’s small so far, but covered in blooms in it’s first season. Compact, healthy foliage, sweet little button flowers. I’m hoping it will repeat bloom all season and remain healthy. The one drawback is it has no fragrance.

‘Julia Child’ is another rose, that I’ve found very reliable, consistent repeat bloom, healthy, hardy and fragrance too. Stays a small to moderate shrub rose.

Syringa palibin I believe is that Dwarf Korean Lilac and I have two of those that my daughter was commenting on this spring, how much she liked them. It definitely stays compact and has good fragrance and no disease or pest problems, blooms in less than full sun and a little later than Syringa vulgaris so you can extend the season. And it has fall foliage too.

I have one Hydrangea that I’m really happy with, no that’s wrong, three. One macrophylla, called ‘Madame Emile Mouillere’. It has stayed under 5ft so far. Has pretty white flowers with edges to the petals that remind me of pinking sheared effect. It has done well, when other macrophyllas have not. Blooms on both old and new wood. Just moved it and it came through with flying colors and is already blooming again. The foliage changes to orange tones in the Fall too.

The other two Hydrangeas are Oakleaf, which I look forward to every year. It stays about 5-6ft tall. And ‘Pink Diamond’ which is a paniculata so it blooms later. I have it in the form of a standard at the back of a bed and that seems to work well.

I’d like to try some of the more dwarf hydrangeas, like ‘Bo Bo’ but haven’t yet. Still thinking about it.

Of course there is always Butterfly Bushes. And Baptisia which resembles a shrub.

I use boxwoods and Taxus for evergreen choices, due to the fact I have no full sun for conifers. I also have an Ilex ‘Sky Pencil’ which I’ve been very happy with. Tall and thin. Puts on a fair amount of growth every season. Growing in very shady conditions and still berries. Great accent in a narrow space. I do tie this up every winter though.

Blueberries are something I’ve added this year. I like the idea of having fruit as an added bonus but the Fall foliage on Blueberries is great. And they stay compact under 6ft usually.

That’s about it. Looking forward to getting some new ideas for a few more additions.

I'm tempted to get 2 Dart's Gold ninebark. Are they worthy? How big do they get? How does sun vs shade affect their leaf color?

Oh, hydrangeas. I wish they could be happy here. Yours sound lovely, PrairieMoon.

I'll report back on 'Miniature Snowflake' mockorange if I get it, which I almost certainly will. My only hesistation was that the flowers had spoiled to brown, but I am wondering/hoping that this was because they were in pots and it had been raining every day for about 2 weeks. I think they would be an excellent replacement for perennials.

Love 'The Fairy' rose. There's a good reason it's common!

I just placed a big Craigslist ad and a Facebook post to re-home daylilies and other perennials. Make way for shrubs!

Some Hostas are about the size of a small shrub. Hosta ‘Krossa Regal’ has an upward vase shape to it.

I’m trying a few new disease resistant roses this year, but too early to review.

I’m looking for a good looking Rhododendron that can take mostly shade, stays under 6ft tall, and can take less than ideal conditions and the leaves don’t curl up in the winter. Is there such a thing? [g] I’m trying ‘Nova Zembla’ near the base of a mature Maple, and it’s hanging in there, but, haven’t had it long enough to know if it is going to work out.

Karin, in zone 4, I’m not sure if there are any Hydrangea macrophylla that are hardy enough, but the paniculatas are pretty hardy. Limelight is said to be hardy to zone 4. And they have a dwarf Limelight now.

Yes, please do report back on ‘Miniature Snowflake’.

What are you growing with your ‘Fairy’ rose?

I picked the Dart's Gold ninebarks because I needed something in a different color green to stand out a bit in a particular spot; the wine shades might disappear for me. Stretched out, I've probably got some 6' branches - but high arching and not hitting the ground. I think if we had longer runs of really sunny days, they'd be a bit more "chartreus-y" than they are now.

I've tried, and killed several paniculata hydrangeas here. It's not the cold hardiness, I don't think, but perhaps the aridity? Or the alkaline soil? I don't see them in anyone else's yard either. The only hydrangea I see around here are Annabelles with their poor, heavy flowers drooping down in the dirt. I'll pass.

I don't grow the 'Fairy' rose (not quite hardy here) but I have a similar one called 'Madison' that is an astonishingly great rose that I can no longer find anywhere. I would buy them by the dozen if I could find them! Anyway, I have it at the front of a bed with nearby 'Happy Returns' daylilies and 'Johnson's Blue' geranium.

Duluth, thanks for the report on Dart's Gold. Sounds pretty big, but I have a lot of space to take up so I might try it. Do you have a picture of them?

Good point that we don't see the shrubs in winter since they are snow-covered. I probably need to broaden my mind more on those. Although I do have my eye on a juniper (Daub's Frosted), of all things! It will be an interesting transition for the gardens, I'm kinda psyched for it!

My other shrubs include curl leaf mahogany, fern bush, buddleia weyeriana, three-leaf sumac, manzanita, vitex and desert willow. I don't think any of these will survive a z4 winter.

Cheryl

- Fothergilla gardenii - which is a smaller species than the usual fothergillas you see. I have this in the backyard but got the bigger 'Mount Airy' to try in the front as I'd like to get a bigger show of fall color there. The jury is still out on Mount Airy as it hasn't been happy - I think the winter might have been too tough on it!

- Exochorda 'The Bride' and 'Snow Day Surprise' - some places list these as hardy to zone 4, but they flower at the end of May and have large buds (the 'pearls' of the pearlbush common name...) so would likely be very vulnerable to frost damage in a colder zone. My 'The Bride' is a few years old now and I've kept it to a single stem and have it staked to try to make it into a sort of weeping small tree! It's very cute in spring :-) Somebody gave me Snow Day Surprise, which is supposed to be a smaller plant - but I think what they gave me might have been a small tissue-culture (?) start as it is still VERY small several years later and has never bloomed. I'm afraid I'm going to forget what it is and yank it as a weed of some sort! My 'The Bride':

- 'Little Henry' Itea - I've tried this several times in different places. It has been short-lived for me - gets winterkilled easily but I keep trying because I like them.

- 'Little Tuff Stuff' hydrangea - I planted this late last summer. It made it through the winter and has flowerbuds now. They aren't kidding about it being little! It's lost under/behind a single peony at the moment and will need to be moved next spring if I'm happy with its flowering.

- Angel roses - these are seed-grown Rosa chinensis minima. It's hard to find a source of the seeds now (I have lots!) Because they are seed-grown species roses, you can't predict what you'll get, but all are cute, tough things in a range of colors from white to deep pinks, some single/some double, some scented/some not. They start off small but get true canes after a couple of years. Mine form a thicket/hedge 30-36" tall. In spring they get whacked down to 12-18". After the flowers fade, they get tiny bright red hips that are very showy and stay on the plant all winter. The robins go nuts over them in the spring! It's hard to get a good picture of them at the moment as the row of pea pots on the driveway are in front of them. You can see double pink ones and double white ones on the left side; the ones on the right were/are mostly singles that are finished blooming and starting to form the hips. There is a clematis (? Prince Charles?) scrambling over them. The OSO Easy roses look somewhat like the Angel roses and they are listed as very hardy (although my Paprika did fine this winter, Peachy Cream is barely hanging on) so you could try those too.

- I have the 'Palibin' Korean lilac and really like it. I was reading a book a year or so ago by a designer in NY (whose name I can't remember....) She was talking about using them in her garden, saying they can be grown and pruned as a hedge to substitute for boxwood! After reading that I now deadhead the shrubs by just taking shears to them and whacking off the messy bits in large chunks. I leave the shrub in its natural shape but don't worry about fussy deadheading to tidy it up after the flowers brown out.

But don't feel like you need to limit your suggestions to my zone - since lots of us seem to be interested in shrubifying our perennial beds these days, bring on the suggestions from all points!

These are the shrubs I like best: First is manzanito panchito. According to the website below it is hardy to Z4b so may survive in Karin's area.
http://plantselect.org/2008/01/panchito-manzanita-a-native-not-to-miss/

I planted one about 6 weeks ago but it may have died due to overwatering by my zealous DH. It is very prone to root rot and diseases if it's too wet. I'm hoping it comes back from the dead. I ran out and bought a second because I want this so badly.

Next is fernbush (chamaebatiara millefolium), aka desert sweet:
http://www.laspilitas.com/nature-of-california/plants/chamaebatiaria-millefolium

We planted two of these at the same time as the manzanita. These have settled down and are showing growth. I've seen these in several local gardens, they look full and deep green even in our desert climate. They are sweetly fragrant. And deer and rabbits ignore them! That's a big plus for me.

Next is buddleia weyeriana X Honeycomb: http://www.perennials.com/plants/buddleia-weyeriana-honeycomb.html

This is a BIG buddleia, supposedly reaching 8' tall x 5' wide. We just planted this yesterday. I saw it on a garden tour and it was love at first sight. It's a stately shrub, tall and wide with attractive rounded shape. The flowers are distinctive, honey gold in little pom poms along the stalks. We have it at the back of a deep border, surrounded by tough native salvias.

Three-leaf sumac (rhus trilobata): http://www.laspilitas.com/nature-of-california/plants/rhus-trilobata

This is another NM native so can take the climate. I have this planted in a wild part of our property. The shape of the shrub is neat, I like the leaf shape, it has interest almost year round and the berries appeal to birds.

Mountain mahogany: http://www.laspilitas.com/nature-of-california/plants/cercocarpus-ledifolius

Our mahogany is actually a cross between cercocarpus ledifolius and c. intricatus (http://plantselect.org/2009/04/little-leaves-little-work-curlleaf-mtn-mahogany/). Karin, littleleaf m. mahogany might work for you. The plants I've seen remind me of conifers, and these are as tough as they come. All the mahoganies produce seeds with curled tails like apache plume, very pretty after the flowers are gone.

The other shrubs we have are probably too big for most gardens, but I'd be happy to give more details for anyone interested. We have vitex, desert willow and New Mexican privet planted to grow as small trees. Typically these grow to 10-15' in this area.

Cheryl

And yep, there are the roses.....although I am horribly picky here with a huge emphasis on species and giant ramblers - afraid to say that a red hybrid tea such as Mr.Lincoln or Oklahoma is never going to be planted here.....although I will happily grow Scharlachglut (very red) and my all-time favourite - R.moyessi. Then there are the tiny burnets/spinossissimas, the bizarre hulthemias, the flailing, scrambling ayreshires and, my most lovely and eagerly awaited early asian yellows (Primula, Cantabridgiensis, hugonis,......and on.....and on.

So yep, shrubs are making a come-back after years of scathing mockery (yet more humble pie).

My Amelanchier stolonifera is about 20 years old and has stayed at about 4 feet tall with a 6 foot canopy spread. I did a bit of selective pruning on it when it was young, so now it almost resembles a small tree. I rarely prune it now. This would make a nice specimen in the right bed.

In spring it's covered with small, greenish white flowers which give way to lots and lots of edible berries right now. The birds go crazy for them. The foliage turns a brilliant orange - gold in fall.

It's kind of hard to see the shrub in this photo because of the surrounding greenery, but you should get the idea.

You also might want to check out some of the dwarf Forsythias. There is at least one ground cover type and others that stay under 3 feet tall. I bought Show Off Surgar Baby last year and it bloomed its little stems off this spring. Here it is at only 7 inches tall.

I think these should do OK in zone 4 especially if you have snowcover.

Kevin

Kevin, very nice amelanchier. Do you have a problem with suckering?

Dee

I would love to grow currants, but they are a host for white pine blister rust and neighbors on both sides have white pines.

Because my garden is so small, this little guy is the only semi-tree-thing I have. It works well for me.

Dee - no suckering at all - ever.

I forgot to say, I have such a good time watching the birds interact with this shrub. Once they see the berries starting to turn red, they check them out everyday, but don't eat them until they turn purple. The Robins especially will hop from branch to branch to branch turning their heads looking at each cluster of fruit. Occasionally they will find a ripe one and wolf it down. When the majority of the berries finally turn, the Robins and Cedar Waxwings will descend in droves and pick the bush clean within a couple of days.

Kevin

Karin, I have many, many viburnums, and with some choice pruning they can be limbed up to nice tree-form shrubs. With the flowers, berries and fall foliage, my garden will never be without them. Please give them another look! Maybe you'll change your mind and try one!

Physocarpus is a great choice with such a range of options now now. I have a standard summer wine that I'm really enjoying with catmint below it. Got rid of all my darts gold. Got too gangly and huge. I couldn't seem to get this one under control with pruning and I can have a pretty heavy hand when it comes to pruning.

So many caryopteris to choose from, and with later bloom the insects are happy.

Karin, I'm curious why you won't do barberry. If they were still available here (on invasive list) I'd plant more. The smaller ones are really nice, and there are columnar choices that I wish I had. The color stays great all season and makes a nice foil to other plants.

I'm not sure why 'Ogon' spirea is not more readily available. Nice yellow, early blooming white, but not the flat-topped flowers and has a nice waterfall form. Color stays yellow all season. Speaking of yellow, 'Sun King' aralia has been great in my garden. Getting bigger each year.

I like dwarf Alberta spruce as an evergreen. Mainly because deer don't bother it and it stays fairly small.

Clethra, Itea and fothergilla are all nice options.

One really underused shrub ( at least around here) is dwarf flowering almond. Gorgeous pink flowers in spring.

I picked up a dwarf pyracantha that I have really been enjoying. I can't remember the exact name if it, but the berries can be seen from VERY far away.

Also have some dwarf sumac that doesn't sucker and gets wonderful fall color.

Hollies are a great choice that I don't think anyone mentioned yet. Deer eat my evergreen ones, but I do like winterberry which has the nice berries when there's not much going on I the garden.

I have tried various evergreens but between deer and harsh winters I'm nearly giving up on them. Covered by snow most winters anyway. I do like the gold thread cypress. Again, I'm heavy handed with the pruners so I keep many shrubs in check with once a year pruning about this time. I prune weigela into standards in some areas of my yard.

Rose of Sharon is a good shrub with many varieties available. Also like hardy hibiscus. Although slow to wake up, can't beat those huge flowers!

So many varieties of hydrangea to choose from. I'm partial to oakleaf which really survive winter well. The dwarf varieties are great. My deer keep them quite dwarf!

Would love to try more deciduous azaleas, but so would the deer!

Leochothoe is a nice shrub, also underused around here. Great copper leaf color in early spring, rich dark green in summer and burgundy in fall. Plus white flowers.

Kalmia and pieris are good choices too. I also prune pieris into tree form. Also if those get a bit too unruly and big can generally be whacked back all the way and they'll sprout anew.

Calycanthus 'Hartlage Wine' could be one of my favorite things in my garden. Have also pruned that into a small tree.

Ok, I'll stop! I love shrubs and small trees as the anchors to the garden. I have a slope that is mainly shrubs with a smattering of easy perennials including a single peony which doesn't require staking. I have a cottage garden that requires a bit more work, and many garden areas already, so when we were installing many more beds in our backyard, I knew I wanted less maintenance, but had to have the interest. Small trees and shrubs were the first things to go in and then I thought about perennials. It has been wonderful. With a good layer of mulch and a once yearly pruning it has been most rewarding without killng myself with maintenance.

Part of the backyard with small trees, shrubs and perennials.

Mixed shrub slope. Long blooming fairy roses follow.

What honeysuckle shrub are you talking about? An actual Lonicera, or Diervilla lonicera? The shrub Lonicera typically gets huge. My plants once got to about 15 feet. Diervilla is a great compact guy though. They can sucker, but not rampantly.

Just planted a 'Foxi Pavement' rose for a client of mine. The whole series smells phenomenal!

The landscapers use a lot of 'Little Devil'. Nice upright shrub. Make sure not to plant near a sprinkler- mildew can be an issue.

'Kelsey' is a dwarf shrub dogwood- same great stem color.

You might try 'Black Tower' sambucus. Narrow and upright and more vigorous.

'Bloomerang' is a dwarf lilac that tends to have some re-bloom.
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I've been considering adding more shrubs too, as there were a number of perennials that died out on me over last winter.

I snagged a wonderful dwarf 'Mariken' Ginkgo this spring, which is hardy to z3! Also got a couple of unique plants from Iseli Nurseries "mini conifer collection". A 'Whipcord' Arborvitae and Hinoki 'Chirimen'. I will undoubtedly be adding in more specimen conifers at some point too.

I've had 'Little Gem' Spruce for years and love it. Very compact.

Have you thought about Hemlock for the more shaded areas? Wonderful cultivars available...some nice and compact like 'Gentsch White'.

Broom...if you need to cover a good portion of ground. 'Gold Flash' is hardy for you. Not sure about 'Lydia'...
CMK

-Susan, great pic by the way!
CMK

Duluth, I'll second the recommendation of alpine currant. I also have a little hedge of them and they are real troopers.

Susan, your hillside is a great inspiration pic for me - that is the exact direction I'm moving in. You've pulled that off beautifully!

For my yard (and I'm trying not to make this all about my yard!) I agree about viburnums, I love them too but I was worried that they're too big, but I will keep them on the short list. Good point. Barberry, yeah the invasive problem and plus, have you noticed how dang thorny they are?

CMK, the honeysuckle is Lonicera periclymenum 'Honeybush' and I linked it below. After I bought my original three I have never seen them anywhere.

I do like hemlock but I don't think they do well here. But I'll have to look into that more. But that 'Black Tower' sambucus sounds excellent.

Kevin, your amelanchier stolonifera is darling! I would love to find something like that. Unfortunately deer eat our amelanchier which some can tolerate and some can't. One of mine get smaller every year and it was so pretty when I got it, sigh. But yes, the robins and waxwings are all over those plants, which is so enjoyable to watch.

Just tons of great ideas here - thanks all!

We bought a dwarf Snowflake Mock Orange from Wayside Gardens and had the landscapers put it in the year we had all the landscaping done. Love it! It bloomed the next year after it was planted and it is extremely fragrant. Great plant! We also put in the dwarf forsythia Show Off Sugar Baby that Kevin mentioned two years ago and love it too. Added an Endless Summer Hydrangea a couple of years ago and it stays fairly small because it dies back quite a bit from the winters - especially last winter- but blooms nicely on new wood during the summer.

Keep your suggestions on smaller plants/shrugs for the landscaping coming. They are so helpful.
Linda

I also think Winterberry hollies (Ilex verticillata) are very attractive shrubs; I don't know why this shrub is so under-used in these parts...

Diervilla "Cool Splash" is a great shrub for a refreshing pop of white and green foliage and does well in sun or part-shade.

Don't forget tree peonies; even if they didn't bloom, I'd grow them for the outstanding foliage.

Rugosa roses are tough as nails, they will laugh off your Zone 4 cold.

I'm not sure about just how drought tolerant any of these are, though. I do know Ilex prefers moist soils but will tolerate some degree of dryness. Hydrangeas are NOT going to like it arid/dry, so I would advise against hydrangeas unless you are willing and able to provide supplemental water. The oakleafs are a bit more tolerant of dry conditions, but not by a whole heck of a lot.

Linda

I have a rugosa rose (not sure which one) and it is made of steel. It even withstood the Japanese beetles.

I LOVE dwarf fothergilla but don't have any at this house (yet!)

Shrub-like herbaceous plants that have done well by me are peonies and hydrangeas... just planted a few Baptisia 'Purple Smoke' and am hopeful they will do well.