Let Mr. Spock Choose Your Plants

Close your eyes . ( tough move – now you ca n’t read this . Change of architectural plan … open up your eyes . Drat ! What if you do n’t see that I just type “ open your eyes ” ? )

Sorry , let ’s come out over . Imagine that you ’re see out the breakfast corner window when an 18 - wheel tractor - laggard jumps the curb , it ’s back - up beeper pierce the other cockcrow calm . Air brakes hiss and the engine revs . The bed tilts skyward . As the tailgate creaks , a river of Ping River - pong balls floods your front yard .

“ What the … ? ! ? ”

You leap from the breakfast board as the truck pluck away . Tying your robe , you and your bunny rabbit slippers shuffle outside to audit this singular payload .

wrangle are impress on each shiny orb : Miscanthus ‘ Morning Light ’ reads one , Cotoneaster dammeri , Artemisia schmidtiana ‘ Silver Mound ’ , on and on , each sphere hold the name of a different plant that grow in your region .

I do n’t do it about you , but that ’s what it seems like when I start a new purpose projection for a client – the kingdom of all possibilities . My Sunset Western Garden Book blow “ Over 8,000 plant ” .

That ’s a smidge too much variety for the average residential plenty . So how on Earth does an adventurous but intellectual nurseryman cull out all those tempting choices down to a doable pallet ?

The Logic of Logic

Simple . Pop an old episode of Star Trek into the Blu - electron beam and unleash your uber - lucid Mr. Spock . keep out down the “ oh - but - it’s - so - cute - with - its - aphrodisiacal - maroon - foliage - bordered - with - a - Darling River - crinkly - chartreuse - leafage - margin ” lobe of your mastermind . Delay your esthetic satisfaction .

If being call a Trekkie by the cool tyke is too much to bear , use this consistent four - step summons to sort through all those plant and create a palette that rewards you with a beautiful , functional , sustainable garden .

Step 1 – flora With intention : Analyze your belongings and deliberate whether any of the plant in that pile can help you . Perhaps you require nicety to make the thousand more comfortable , or want to block an eyesore . Plants can also make effective barrier and lose weight corrosion on hillside . Make a agile cartoon of your property and jot down situations where plant life might lend a mitt ( or branch ) .

dance step 2 – Size matter : Next , assort the plants into four categories : trees , tall ( gamey than eye level ) , intermediate ( knee - high to eye - level ) , and low ( footing level to articulatio genus - high ) . decent now , I do n’t care if they have majestic polka dot leaves , plaid flowers or if they encounter Werewolves of London on a kazoo – I just want to know how big they get so I can put them to play .

If your terrace would be more comfy without the sun vex down , sort through the sea of Ping River - niff testis and create a separate pile of just trees .

If you ’re desperate to block the sight of a billboard for drive - thru dental services , make another bundle of large shrub , or vines you’re able to train on a treillage . A dense waist - high box hedging will channelise the neighbour ’s incontinent wiener hot dog away , and deeply - root primer covers might do a just line of work of stabilize a slope . Step 3 – If It Wo n’t Thrive , It take A Dive : A truly sustainable garden intend using plants that really want to be in your garden – plants that wo n’t just get by , but will flourish with little or no fear from you . ( Who has metre to keep a wimpish small , mealybug - ridden perennial on animation - support ? ) There are scores of plants that would just love to come running all waggy - tush and lick your face when you pull out in the driveway .

Now comes the time when you have to be remorseless , choosing only the works that correspond the grow conditions where you need to engraft them . You ’ll require to do your homework and memorise more about each works you ’re considering . ok Gardening has a keen database of plants in theiron - line Plant Guide . Take it for a spin .

A convenient way to recognize which works will do best in your curtilage is to expect at what ’s kicking butt in your neighborhood . What could be easier than keep which plant exercise nearby and which do n’t ?

footstep 4 – Make It Drop - Dead Gorgeous : By now , you ’ve belike rejected a few thousand ping - pong balls that did n’t make the slice . The fun start when you don your creative person ’s beret and get creative . My advice is to rip out all your back issue of Fine Gardening magazine , thumb through the pages and cull out the picture you drooled on – they ’ll be slenderly colour and easy to find .

debate the style of the garden that attracts you , and whether it makes sensation with your menage . Notice how the designer exploits the gloss of the flowers , but also considers the more permanent attribute like the industrial plant ’s overall form , leafage color , and seasonal traits like bark and fruit . Then plagiarize !

By applying a bit of Vulcan logic to plant survival of the fittest , you really can have it all – a garden that raise out-of-door living , help you avoid the drudgery and real - dollar bill price of inordinate maintenance , is gentle on the major planet , and depend like a million Pearl Sydenstricker Buck .

Yo ! Scotty ! Beaming time …

Fine Gardening urge ware

A.M. Leonard Deluxe Soil Knife & Leather Sheath Combo

ok horticulture receives a commission for particular buy through link on this website , include Amazon Associates and other affiliate advertizing programs .

Miscanthus

Get our late confidential information , how - to article , and instructional videos sent to your inbox .

Signing you up …

How to Choose a Structure for Vining Plants

Mary’s North Carolina Garden

How to Choose Tomatoes for your Garden

How to Choose Chile Peppers for Your Garden

Join Fine Gardening for a free engaging resilient webinar featuring Dr. Janna Beckerman , a famous plant pathologist as well as professor emerita at Purdue University and the ornamentals technical managing director …

When I spotted a particular sand dollar cactus ( Astrophytum asterias ) at the Philadelphia Flower Show a few months ago , I have sex I was in trouble . With a delicious color pattern …

When we only prioritise plant we desire over plant our landscape penury , each time of year is make full with a never - ending leaning of chores : pruning , vellicate , tearing , treating , amending , and fertilizing , with …

miscanthus

Video

Touring an Eco-friendly, Shady Backyard Retreat

You must be careful when you enter the backyard of garden designer Jeff Epping — not because you ’re probable to trip on something , but because you might be dive - fail by a pair …