Garden Planning: Choosing the Right Plants for Your Garden

One of the most important rules of creating a garden is to ensure that you have the right plants for the right place.

There are many plants that will suffer if they aren't growing in conditions that are suited to them, and by planting in these conditions you will always be fighting a battle to have them looking their best simply because they will always be struggling to survive.

(Photo credit: Wikipedia)

If you have a specific theme that you would like to follow when planning your garden and that theme doesn't suit the growing conditions you only have two alternatives: You can change the plants you intend using to something more suitable but still in keeping with your overall theme, OR you can try to change the conditions that the plants will be growing in.

While it is not possible to change the climate, you can make changes to the layout of the garden and surrounding area to create your own 'micro-climate' with other plants or trees offering shading or shelter.

You can plant windbreaks or construct them to reduce the effect that the wind might have on some of the more fragile plants.

If you are looking for a specific color in your garden but the plants you prefer would suffer in the conditions your garden presents, then look for alternative plants that can offer the same color but are more suited to those conditions.

By using native plants that are more suited to the conditions, they will thrive better and require a lot less maintenance while still giving you the 'look' you desire.

It's all about getting your planning right before you even buy the first plants. If the plan is well executed the garden will look better, be easier to maintain, and you will enjoy ownership more than a garden that is a constant struggle.

Choosing Healthy Plants for Your Garden

Whether you are buying or receiving plants from someone there are a few things that you need to look at before deciding to plant them in your garden.

You will generally get a better quality plant from a garden center and it will be less likely to have disease or other problems that could spread to other plants in your garden. But there is still the possibility that the garden center plant might not be the healthy specimen that you might expect so you should still check it out before parting with your money.

Image via Flickr

The first thing you need to do is look at the plant and see whether it looks healthy. This might seem very obvious but we often assume that buying from a garden center will assure us of a healthy plant when in actual fact even garden centers can have problem plants and you don't want to be the new owner of their problems.

Plants are very good at showing any signs of distress so if a plant doesn't look healthy, it generally isn't.

Check the conditions of the leaves, stems and roots of the plant where possible. You should also look at the condition of the soil that it has been growing in, as this will have had an effect on its health.

If you are buying flowering plants it is always best to buy the ones that have yet to flower, as they will withstand the trauma of transport and transplanting better than those that already have flowers. If there is no alternative but to buy or receive plants that already have flowers then many people suggest that you should remove all the flowers to give the plant a better chance of survival.

While you might be reluctant to do so, you will probably have a better plant that will be stronger and healthier and produce more flowers in the future.

If there is anything on the plant that concerns you, seek advice or decide against having that plant in your garden.

Choosing The Right Plants for Your Sustainable Garden

When it comes to gardening plants, there are too many to name.  Gardening plants can refer to flowers, shrubs, herbs, vegetables, fruits, and many more.  There are also gardening plants that are in season at different times of the year, some in fall and winter, others in spring and summer. Whatever type of gardening you decide is your forte; there are plenty of gardening plants available to suit your preferences.

Image via WikipediaIf you want gardening plants that you can actually use instead of just look at, vegetables, herbs, and fruits are all very satisfying.  Edible plants add an excitement to gardening because of the produce available at harvest time.  The main vegetables grown in smaller, home gardens as well as larger ones include corn, peas, cucumbers, potatoes, squash, peppers, onions, carrots, spinach, lettuce, and beets.  Popular fruits are pears, plums, tomatoes, blueberries, apricots, cherries, and strawberries.  Herbs are used for their wonderful fragrances, to spice up a salad, and in cooking.  Herbs that are often home grown include thyme, sage, dill, mint, lavender, and chives.

It is fairly easy to have a colorful garden in the spring and summer months, but it is a whole different ball-game during the cold, winter months.  Even though it is difficult, with planning and a little more care you can have a colorful garden year round.  One gardening plant that thrives in the fall and winter months is the Rudbeckia, a beautiful yellow perennial.  Others include the Christmas rose, the Japanese Anemone, and Cosmos.

Image by RaeAllen via FlickrWhen you think of flowers you might automatically think of a spring garden full of many different, beautiful colors.  Spring and summer gardening plants are some of the prettiest things on earth and give inspiration to all who grow them.  Some of the most grown spring plants are tulips, daffodils, and violets.  Favorites of the warmer months of summer are lilies, dahlias, and roses.

When gardening, many people will opt for decorative grasses or shrubs.  Monkey grass is an all time favorite, especially for a sidewalk.  These will gardening plants can be for looks, can act as a border or fence, and can be used for privacy.  Shrubs are easy to take care of and add a defining look to any yard or garden.

There are so many different kinds of gardening plants available.  Many gardening plants actually have a purpose and can be used, whereas many of them are just for looks.  The kind of plants you choose to have in your garden is completely up to you, but remember, no matter what kind it is, it will require some maintenance and without proper care you will end up with a garden full of just dirt! (Check out http://www.newholisticliving.com/sustainablegardening.html for some helpful sustainable gardening tips and resources.)

Choosing the Best Plants for Your Garden

Good morning!

I hope you are enjoying the sustainable gardening series so far. We have a lot more great topics to cover, but today we are going to talk about how to choose the right (and healthiest) plants for your new garden.

Choosing the Right Plants for Your Garden

Pink hyacinth from my garden.

Many times we purchase plants on impulse then find there is nowhere in the garden that really suits them. Before buying plants, you should carefully examine your garden to see how much sun and shade it gets (more on this in the next newsletter!), whether the soil is well drained or waterlogged and whether your aspect is sheltered or windswept. You’ll then be better equipped to go and buy the best plants for your situation: shade-loving plants for the sheltered areas, sun-lovers for the warm spots, drought-resistant plants for the parched areas which may be either sunny or shaded, and swamp plants for the poorly-drained parts.

But first, it’s a good idea to test your soil, to determine the pH level of your soil and what kind of nutrients you need to add, if any. Is the soil acid or alkaline? Most plants prefer soil that is slightly acidic, but there are some that must have alkaline soil to grow. You can alter the soil’s pH level, but it’s much easier to simply plant for the soil you have. (Keep your eye out for more on soil preparation in a future issue!)

Now you are ready to plant. Well – almost…. Will you plant in groups or singly? If you buy ‘one of everything’ your garden may seem rather spotty. Group plantings are organized, harmonious and you can vary the flower or foliage color for visual interest.

Picking Healthy Plants
When it comes to getting started with your garden, you have two choices; planting seeds, or buying whole plants. Both have their own benefits. If you plant seeds and care for them every day, you will find it is a much more rewarding experience when you have a full, healthy plant. However, this method is a lot more risky. I can’t tell you how many seeds I’ve planted and never seen any trace of whatsoever, or else the seedlings germinate, but don’t grow very strong or very quickly.

If you choose to buy the plant from a nursery and install it in your garden, it reduces a lot of the work involved in making it healthy. However, I have found in the past that many incompetent nursery workers will absolutely ruin the health of the plant by putting certain chemicals or fertilizers in. I have adapted to this incompetence by learning to choose the healthiest plant of the bunch. Here I will discuss some of the techniques I use in my screening process for plants.

It may sound superficial, but the one thing you need to check for on your prospective plants is how nice they look. As far as plants go, you can truly judge a book by its cover. If a plant has been treated healthily and has no diseases or pests, you can almost always tell by how nice it looks. If a plant has grown up in improper soil, or has harmful bugs living in it, you can tell from the holey or yellowed leaves and wilted stems.

If you’re browsing the nursery shelves looking for your dream plant, you want to exclude anything that currently has flowers. Plants are less traumatized by the transplant if they do not presently have any flowers. It’s best to find ones that just consist of buds. However if all you have to choose from are flowering plants, then you should do the unthinkable and lop off all of the blooms. It will be worth it for the future health of the plant. I’ve found that transplanting a plant while it is blooming results in having a dead plant seventy to ninety percent of the time.

Always check the roots before you plop down the money to purchase the plant. Of course if the roots are in absolutely awful condition you will be able to tell by looking at the rest of the plant. But if the roots are just slightly out of shape, then you probably won’t be able to tell just by looking at it. Inspect the roots very closely for any signs of brownness, rottenness, or softness. The roots should always be a firm, perfectly well formed infrastructure that holds all the soil together. One can easily tell if the roots are before or past their prime, depending on the root to soil ratio. If there are a ridiculous amount of roots with little soil, or a bunch of soil with few roots, you should not buy that plant.

If you find any abnormalities with the plant, whether it be the shape of the roots or any irregular features with the leaves, you should ask the nursery employees. While normally these things can be the sign of an unhealthy plant, occasionally there will be a logical answer for it. Always give the nursery a chance before writing them off as horrendous. After all, they are (usually) professionals who have been dealing with plants for years.
So if you decide to take the easy route and get a plant from a nursery, you just have to remember that the health of the plants has been left up to someone you don’t know. Usually they do a good job, but you should always check for yourself. Also take every precaution you can to avoid transplant shock in the plant (when it has trouble adjusting to its new location, and thus has health problems in the future). Usually the process goes smoothly, but you can never be too sure.

Also, before transplanting your new plants outside, place your chosen plants around the garden bed in their pots to see how they will look. Re-arrange them until you are satisfied.

When planting flowers, grouping plants in sets of threes or fives usually looks better than planting in groups of even numbers. Be sure that you have an interesting combination of colors and textures. Tall plants should go to the back, or the center if your garden will be viewed evenly from all sides.

Spring flowers in my garden.

The right color pallette is one way to maintain the harmony in your garden. Imagine the color of the flowers when they are in bloom. Some colors may conflict with others, but can still be planted side-by-side if they have a different blooming season. Foliage color is also important. Many flower plants have silver, grey or purplish foliage that is just as attractive as the flower. This means that they are still attractive well past the blooming season and so have added value.

Try to keep your plants away from trees. The roots of trees are ferociously competitive and will steal all the nutrients and moisture meant for your garden.

Hopefully this will help in choosing the right plants to put in your new garden, and making sure you get the healthy ones, if you purchase them pre-started.

Stay tuned for our next blog, when we will get into the real nitty-gritty, and start talking about planting!
See you then!
Rose.

P.S. I hope you enjoy the pictures — they are from my garden this spring!