Need some advice on what bushes to buy

As the title says.

Here's my main criteria:

- Nice and leafy, the denser the better

- Preferably flowers for at least three months of the year

- Not worried about the height or the spread - the more the better.

- and here's a weird one - not too invasive of a root system, in other words doesn't have really tough and thick roots that get everywhere. This one is important because somewhere under the area where I plan to plant the bushes is the flexible pipe from my septic tank, therefore I don't want the roots to cause any problems with the pipe (even though it is, I ASSUME, at least two or three feet underground, probably more).

 

By bushes, I assume you want shrubs rather than herbaceous? Remember that most plants have a root system about the same scale as their top growth, so if the pipe is only 2-3 foot underground, you'd need pretty small ones not to start encroaching on it.
Flowers for that amount of time suggests roses, potentillas, but after that I'm struggling...

 

Cistus, Aucuba, rosmarinus......

 

Thanks. Yes, shrubs is what I'm after.

 

Rosemary, some of the salvias (including culinary), Veronica (spreads near the surface, rather than deep roots).
Lavenders have a surprisingly long flowering time, as even when they go over, they look good. If you “harvest” the first flower stems, they will often do a later, gentler flush of flowers.

 

The only shrub that I know of that reliably and continuously flowers for months on end is Anisodontea. It's not got the tidiest habit or attractive foliage but definitely flower-power. Hebes are better-looking and evergreen.

 

Agree with many of the suggestions above, but you don't say what the soil is like where you are planning to plant, nor how much sun. Rosemary, lavender and a lot of the salvias will prefer better drained sunnier conditions than other suggestions. Also how cold do you get in a typical winter.
If your flexible pipe is plastic I think it is unlikely that plant roots will cause problems with it.

 

Looking at the OP's location, I imagine the climate would be similar to yours or mine....just maybe slightly damper....with more sheep!

 

Problem is at least 3 months flowering, Salvia microphylla, S greggi and S rosmarianus if not too wet, a bit wetter and not too cold S guaranatica (might not be leafy enough though). A number of viburnums would meet everything but 3 months flowering. Ugni molina, Amomrytus luma, Myrcia selloi, Correa, Clethra, Dipelta yunnanensis, Camellia (acid soil) and Philadelphus meet most requirements, but don't flower for three months; a combination would be in flower for far more than 3 months Colletia, Berberis and Mahonia are guaranteed sheep proof also human resistant.
In my experience few shrubs flower well for 3 months.

 

Buddlejas.
I would suggest Buddleja x weyeriana 'Sungold' - mine started flowering at the end of July and still had a few flowers on it today. Buddleja mostly have their roots near the surface; they spread out rather than going deep.
'Sungold' isn't fussy, but needs decent drainage and full sun for at least part of the day.

 

Just remembered a shrub that will meet the 3 month at least flowering requirement. Gorse, Ulex europaeus, will cope with most soil conditions except too wet, its leafy and with several of these you will have bright yellow scented flowers most of the year. They are also sheep proof and cheap.

 

I don't think @TheMadHedger mentioned sheep
They are in my area of uk, and I find the damp hits some things hard here. An anisodontea El Royo that flowered 365 days a year in Nottinghamshire died in a year or so here, and its roots looked terrible when I dug it up. Lost lots of salvias, cistus etc last year, so even though they're floriferous, they are risky.

 

Thanks for all of the very helpful replies.

I'm surprised about the Buddleia suggestion, I always thought that they had very invasive root systems (hence why they shouldn't be planted near a building because their roots can cause issues with foundations). At least that's the extent of my knowledge on the matter, I may be wrong of course!

As an aside, any recommendations for a good online supplier of shrubs and the like please? Somewhere that provides good quality plants and good customer support, etc.

 

Buddleias dont have big root systems. One advantage of them is that they're easy to move because it isn't hard to dig them out. It's also the reason for cutting them back a bit in autumn, as it helps prevent them being pulled out the ground in strong winds. In an open exposed area that can easily happen as they can be very top heavy.

 

Thank you, I didn't know that.

Is there any recommended online store to buy Buddleia?