It’s time to start thinking about what to do in the yard if you haven’t already. Don’t feel guilty if you haven’t yet. Sometimes the weather doesn’t cooperate or other activities take priority over the garden for a while. Well, just take advantage of any chance you get to be in the garden and if the weather’s not cooperating use the time to plan and get ready for your next opportunity. Chances are that Spring will be over before you know it! So, don’t put it off much longer.
The only limits to a gardener’s creativity are plant requirements which are mostly the plant’s size and its location in the garden. Plants have abilities and characteristics that will be expressed best if it has room to grow in the right place.
Give plants enough room to grow! If you don’t, plants will be unhappy, crowded enough to die out completely, or they will be unable to grow properly and display their distinctive characteristics and personality.
There are a few environmental and physical conditions that any gardener has to be aware of when choosing plants. Cold hardiness is the first consideration. Find out what the USDA cold hardiness zone is and then make sure the plants you get in catalogues are listed to handle the winter cold where you are. Sometimes even local Garden Centers and Nurseries will carry plants that are not suitable for your climate because people buy them. Check the tag for a hardiness zone listing or ask a knowledgeable Nursery Professional at a reputable Garden Center if it will handle your winters. You may have areas near your home that are more protected from harsh winter winds or are near the warm foundation where you can grow plants that are more tender. But you will find there are plenty of great plants for your climate.
A couple of other considerations are heat and humidity. In the high deserts in the western U.S. the atmosphere is thinner than in lower regions making the intensity of the Sun and heat an issue for some plants that like to grow in lower altitudes with similar weather comditions. Combine that with the dry summer heat which burns away mists and humidity in the atmosphere, and we have a region that experiences intense, bright sunlight. I live in central Utah and once tried to calibrate a light meter and was having some difficulty so I called a representative from the manufacturer. After fixing the problem I was having with it and was comfortable that it was working properly, he asked me to tell him what the reading it displayed was. He was in one of the Eastern States and when I told him what the reading was, he said that the thing must have problems still because an atom bomb would have to have exploded nearby to get that kind of reading. It was working. The moral of the story is that, if a plant tag or plant reference books say that a plant grows best in part-shade, it is best to plant it in where it wouldn’t get sun between 2 p.m. and 6 p.m. If they recommend part-shade to shade, plant it in full shade. There are conditions for where you live that favor some plants and may prevent others from performing well. Just do your homework while you plan.
The next consideration is the soil. Soil texture will effect the way your plants perform. You should know whether your soil is sandy, sticky clay, or anything in between. Some plants like well draining soils (more on the sandy or humusy side) while others don’t mind growing in dense clay soil. The soil’s pH will also be a consideration when choosing plants. Some prefer alkaline soils (high pH) and others prefer soils with high acidity (low pH). It’s difficult to change the soil pH or texture with amendments and fertilizers. if you’re diligent and watch plants that may not prefer your soil conditions for signs of stress you can treat them and have some limited success. The wise and more economical thing to do would be to choose plants that like your soil conditions.
The rest is the fun part. Pick out your favorite plants, draw out your landscape plan as close to scale as to allow you to give your plants enough room and then start drawing them in. Keep in mind all the micro-climates: the cool shady areas, the hot sunny areas, the wet and dry areas, the protected areas, etc. That gives you enough to get started and then be ready and willing to modify and make all the changes you want.
One bit of advice… If you want a natural looking landscape, plant in groupings of at least three plants of the same variety and avoid rows of plants. Most people like natural landscapes best but our tendency is to plant a more formal landscape with straight, square beds, and rows of plants along the foundation or fence, or two plants of the same variety on either side of the walk. Use long, graceful curves as borders and look at nature for a lot of ideas.
Creativity means that your personality is reflected in your landscape. It takes a little homework and experience to find out what kind of plant personality you’ve got so look at books and consult the Garden Center often in the creative process.