It’s easy to go to the local garden center and fall in love with all of the great plants. I have done this more times than I care to think about. “This is SOOOO cool, I have to have it, I’ll find a place for it” is, in reality, not a good buying strategy. Plants need proper homes for their particular sun/shade and soil and moisture conditions. If you buy it without a plan in mind, your new favorite plant may end up having to be thrown away because those needs were not met.
“What will it look like when it grows up?” Plant tags will help you with this information. And if you’ve done your internet homework, you can probably find a picture of a mature specimen of the plant you have in mind, and also a range of mature sizes for the variety. Make sure you’re choosing something that fits in the space allotted. A few years ago, I planted “miniature” crape myrtles. I suspect I was overly hopeful about what that would look like: I planted 3 beautifully rounded shrubs in a space about 6’ by 9’, fully expecting what would become bonsai crapes.
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Back in 2000, these newly planted 'miniature' crape myrtles excited this naïve home gardener. Fourteen years and lots of training and experience later, they were each 7' tall and had to go.
Or maybe not. For the last few years, I’ve had to reshape these guys at least once a year to keep them off the front sidewalk. These were all eliminated in our current front yard re-do. They were each 7’ tall.
Another hazard of falling in love at the garden center is that your garden becomes a collection of plants and not a cohesive garden. If you have enough space, you can create separate garden areas for different colors and moods, but within each area it needs to feel as if it belongs together. A cleaner visual will be much more harmonious.
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These perennials are massed together and bloom over several months. They create a cohesive space with similar colors and flower heights.
If you have the time, ask what day the garden center gets new material. They will be happy to tell you so you can come and buy. Your goal, however, is to go on the day before the new things arrive. This gives you the opportunity to see what the plant looks like on a bad day. Now it’s your opportunity to see if you still want a “date” with this individual. You don’t have to buy the ugly one, but at least this process will give you the opportunity to question your commitment to a particular choice.
Bottom line: work out a plan for your garden, and buy what you’ve planned. If you need to use annual material to fill a space while your shrubs grow, by all means do that, but don’t overcrowd the space. Work with a small section of the garden at a time and remember to put in the things you want, not just what’s on sale. You’ll find that spending your garden dollar wisely helps you enjoy the garden even more.
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