PLANTING PLAN

Finally we have arrived at the area a lot of us have a good amount of fun, frustration, trials, continual research and a sense of accomplishment. Here we get to view the vast world of plant life and see how we can select, combine and nourish the choices we would like in our gardens. To often we are attracted to the individual beauty of the plants we see and forget to think how they will fit into the scheme of things in our gardens, or if they will even survive. If we like a particular plant it is usually worth the effort to give it a try or go with the advise of fellow gardeners experiences rather than just follow rigid advice from a book that tells us we can't plant it. Although we can gain quite a wealth of information from books (and most of us have good libraries), we will need to view our particular area individually as there may be certain pockets that contain micro-climates, among other things (soil conditions, light requirements, etc.) that affect our choices. We always want to be aware of growth habits and check descriptive labels or look them up in a book. Most plants look real cute in the little containers we see at the nursery, but if planted in the wrong place they can be nuisances once they reach the mature size (this is probably one of the most common mistakes made).

Thinking 3-dimensional (although tough for many people) is better than just making choices based on the space the plant requires as drawn on a flat piece of paper. For the do it yourself people, or for general interest, one of the best things to do is use some of the books out there that will give you all the particulars of the plant you are interested in. There are also some good garden encyclopedias available on CD-ROM for your computers that will also help find companion plants to the ones you've chosen, and tell you how to pronounce the Latin names.

There are a lot of fellow gardeners in our local areas or in various locations on the Internet that are willing to share a lot of advice. A landscape architect, or designer can be very helpful in pulling together your planting plan and will usually charge a fee for this service. A local nursery will usually be able to help you with your various plant selection needs, and normally do not charge a fee for this service unless they go to your site.

Here are a few things to consider. Remember to expand as necessary to fit your garden.

Is there anyone with allergies?

Are there kids, pets, or people that may get into plants that are poisonous?

Annuals for seasonal color

Perennial borders

Bulbs & bulb like plants

Herbs for cooking, crafts or medicinal purposes

Fresh vegetable plants for cooking, or canning

Edible berries, fruits, and nuts

Fragrant plants

Colorful berries & fruit

Plants with colored foliage

Flowers for cutting, bouquets & crafts

Edible flowers

Autumn foliage color

Native plants

Plants for erosion control

Groundcovers & lawn substitutes

Low maintenance

Plants that attract butterflies & hummingbirds

Plants that attract birds

Like type cultural requirements

Climate

Light requirements

Watering needs

Soil needs

Foliage textures

Bloom succession

Vines & climbers

Plants for hedges and screens

Trees

Remember that although a plant may be listed in a book, to plant it in your garden it must be available for purchase, trade or by some other method. As the subject of plant selection has been written about in many books, and covers very specific topics such as a single genus, or single color schemes, we will not cover more here ourselves. We would like to suggest that you pick from some of the following titles to help you out.