Picking the best plant for the right place in the landscape would seem to be an easy task, but it's not.
Plants, just like people, come in all shapes and sizes, and have a multitude of different growing requirements.
All of us have seen situations where plants have outgrown their surroundings. This is a common problem in the home landscape, one that is doubly irritating when the location is rather small and confined. Because we sometimes choose a plant based only on its flowers or foliage, we end up planting it in an inappropriate place. This results in severe pruning or butchering a plant to keep it in bounds.
Head off a problem at the start by selecting a plant with the same shape as the space you are trying to fill. Also, check on how high the plant will reach at maturity and make sure it will fit the space.
If the planting area is less than four feet wide, ground covers, perennials, or annuals are usually the best choices. A few shrubs might work, but these would have to be plants with a shape and rate of growth that would not encroach into the walk.
Where there is considerable space, be sure to locate plants well back from the walk. Few shrubs, even dwarf ones, should be planted closer than 2 feet (from the center of the plant) from the walk. Most of the spreading junipers and all the larger growing plants should be planted even farther from the walkway; otherwise these plants will grow out over the walk. When this happens, the only solutions are either unsightly pruning or removal of the offending shrub.
Patience is an often-overlooked aspect when developing an attractive, low-maintenance landscape. For immediate results we sometimes turn to fast-growing plants as the answer.
Fast-growing plants need constant attention to keep them trimmed and looking neat. Because they will outgrow their location, severe pruning is necessary to keep them in bounds, resulting in misshaped plants that completely lose their natural or characteristic shape.
Voids or gaps that exist in the landscape while slower growing shrubs mature can be filled in by using annuals.
You also need patience regarding trees in the landscape. Quite often trees that grow quickly also die quickly. In their hurry to have an established looking landscape, homeowners choose rapid growing trees and then frequently wind up replacing them much earlier and more often than if they had used slower-growing, longer-lived trees.
There are a few instances in which the use of fast-growing plants may be desirable such as quick cover for erosion or sun control.
There are many slow-growing, dwarf varieties of shrubs available. Because they are slow growing and never grow taller than a few feet, some might never need pruning.
Trees are such an obvious and dominant element of the landscape they should be thought of as permanent. Choose one that is long lived and will have the least amount of problems.
Sid Mullis is the director of the University of Georgia extension service office for Richmond County. Contact him at (706) 821-2349 or smullis@uga.edu.
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