DESIRABLE SPACES
Questions before you start buying plants
Getting the details right is the key to planting a garden: determining whether plants you like will survive the winter, calculating whether they will grow to the size that fits the space, determining the proper balance of sunlight and shade. There are plant databases to consult for information, and Facebook gardening groups can offer advice about local considtions.
We buy new plants because we fall in love with them. But love is blind and our judgment becomes skewed by all that passion and beauty. The plants come home with us to live, yet they die. We cry, then the compost heap is fed yet again.
Such failure is painful and expensive if you know little about a prospective date before stepping out. With people, a quick check online can reveal details about the person’s family, interests, employment, etc., to see if any red flags pop up. Do the same for any prospective new plant to check its statistics too.
Designers think deeply and on different levels about each plant before including it on the plan. They visualize it in the space at maturity. They draw it that way too as a failsafe to ensure they’ve matched the right dimensions to the space provided.
Here are some of those details to help you verify any new plants for this year’s garden improvements. You’ll find this info on the plant label or if not, look it up online by botanical name. Will it survive the winter? Know your USDA Hardiness Zone and make sure the plant is designated as winter-hardy in that zone. Will it fit? Learn the shape, size and diameter of the plant at 3/4 maturity, and use those as your criteria for whether it works or fits in the spot you have in mind. It should mature naturally without any need for pruning or shearing to keep it smaller. Will it grow? Plant labels stipulate the amount of sunlight required, typically full sun, part sun and full shade. Problems arise when the designation doesn’t include regional differences: Full sun in Arizona will be more stressful than full sun in Seattle.
Climate change and drought have brought many new plants into the market that are unknown to gardeners. Research them before spending money to make sure they are reliable in your area, particularly in colder or very arid climates. Buying locally native plants ensures they will be climatically adapted, but they should be vetted for suitable size and exposure too.
Getting these details right is how to plant your garden properly. One of the best plant databases online is at the Missouri Botanical Garden. Their Plant Finder leads searches to an enormous number of really detailed plant profiles prepared in the middle of the U.S. so you won’t get too far afield regionally with the content. I believe this is the best universal database for average gardeners.
If you do live in an extreme climate such as the far northern states, or perhaps Florida, where conditions are unusual, stick with those regional databases. They offer all the general criteria plus helpful local details such as soils or diseases that afflict certain regions. A last resort is to vet an unknown plant with an inquiry on a local Facebook gardening group page. This is where you’ll find unpublished but vital details about that plant’s behavior on a microlocal level under conditions going on right now.
With landscape plants getting very expensive, it pays to do your homework. Unlike quick herbaceous plants that die and may be replaced in a season, long-lived landscape plants are a far greater investment in time. Recovering from a loss of that magnitude requires the same amount of time to replace, time many of us don’t have. Do homework and stifle your passions to bring home sensible beauty for that special place.