Municipal planting, an idea dreamt up, as far as I can tell, by Winston Churchill in post war Britain. Pre-fabricated houses were all the rage, 500,000 of them went up when the bombs stopped raining down. Despite only being a 10 year emergency plan, a number still exist today. Homes for returning heroes employed fast construction, an aluminium, steel or wooden frame, with all pre-fabricated parts. They must have seemed more like toy houses than anything seen previously in the construction of homes. The largest remaining Prefab’s can now be found in Bristol & South Wales.
What to plant around a house that took days to complete, what would finish off the picture? Plants were needed, quick, easy and cheap plants. So the concept of Municipal Planting was born. The humble Hebe, the Hypericum perforatum, more commonly known as St John’s-wort, a natural anti-depressant. Both shrubs are easy to grow, could flourish in any soil type and would reliable cover ground to suppress unwanted weeds. Both are also free of most pests and diseases. True, they were a little bit boring, but both did flower, providing early and mid summer flowers respectively.
The St John’s Wort in particular reliably provides masses of bright yellow flowers in July and August, which can be tricky hot months where having a shrub that does not need watering a real help. It looks particularly pleasing when planted amongst Rosemary and ferns, to give a shaded feel to a boring North facing side of a house. 
Then there is the much maligned Mahonia, which has interesting flowers and berries. The plant is very spiky, so often used by miserable gardeners to deter small boys from kicking footballs into bushes.
Be aware however that my brother and his friends named the local Mahonia as the bonus shrub, with extra points being awarded if the correct shrub being struck during a game… 
I have noticed that Exeter City Council have recently placed one of my favourite ‘bonus shrubs’ around a local landmark – The Clock Tower. Euonymus fortunei ‘Emerald ‘n’ Gold’. A quiet plant, slow growing and unassuming. It does however have the most amazing lime coloured leaves whilst in heavy growth, and in the dead of winter will gather all the available sunshine to glow through the winter darkness. I have placed one at the foot of a Vine. The plants compliment each other colour wise, the Euonymous providing colour and interest whilst the vine has lost it’s leaves.
So it is good to remember that not every plant in your garden needs to be a rare show stopper. There is room in every garden for the shrubs that hide in the background, that will grow in tricky dry and difficult spots. These plants are excellent for gardeners who want a lot of green but who don’t want to spend every moment weeding and tending to fussy and needy shrubs. I think Exeter City Council need to be applauded for using such a common plant in such a dramatic manner, the Clock Tower, when hit by low sun, looks like something special and clever.