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Part 2 - Will This Plant Grow In My Yard? Planning Before Planting

© Teresa Watkins

When retirees, young families, and busy professionals move to Florida, one of the first memorable experiences with a new home is that of designing and maintaining a landscape. For some lucky homeowners, it's the first time they have ever had a yard to design or maintain. The amount of ornamental shrubbery and flowers that is available year-round for the planting creates a sense of awe, provoking an overwhelming "child in a candy shop" feeling. Nouveau homeowners purchase and install hundreds, sometimes thousands, of dollars of landscaping - and if the plants live for a week - the eager, confident gardeners proudly return the next weekend and purchase more shrubs, annuals, and perennials for their yard. Their confidence quickly fades, though, through the following year. They watch certain plants wilt, favorite flowers suffer with pests, shrub leaves turn yellow, reluctant to bloom again, and tragically, expensive plantings die. "What happened to my plant?" haunts the new-sprung green thumb as they toss and turn in their sleep, worrying about the rest of their landscape.

Working in a nursery, I know the emotional state of mind that sunshine, seasonal temperature changes, and kaleidoscopic colors invoke, encouraging new homeowners to purchase plants for their yards. I find it re-energizing to get caught up in their verdant enthusiasm; vicariously dealing with my own personal gardening yens while helping others complete their landscape dreams.

The best way to ensure that success will germinate in your garden is to plan your landscape with the 'right plant in the right place' before buying anything. Knowing what you want to accomplish with your landscape design before going to a garden center is a great way to begin. Depending on your garden knowledge and your budget, you have to plan and choose selectively when purchasing your plants. If you are a novice in horticulture, you will probably get more correct information regarding regional flowers, shrubs, trees and pest problems from the 'mom and pop' and local garden centers. If you are buying a large amount of bulk plants and know what you want, the D-I-Y home and garden chains will be a better choice for 12-packs of annuals and bulk orders of tree and ornamental shrubs. Keep in mind that not all garden centers and nurseries can be everything to everyone; during the height of the busy spring and fall seasons, even the best-stocked and well-staffed centers may not have enough horticultural-trained personnel to go around. Some nurseries have so much stock that if you were to hold up a one-gallon perennial and ask a passing employee if the plant will live in your yard, you may not get the best answer. If they have five hundred of them to sell, they will probably answer "yes" even though that plant may not be the right plant for your yard. By the same token, don't be offended if the employee starts asking questions about your landscape. Those employees interested in helping you make the best purchase should and will. He or she is not just answering your question with another question, but rather they are attempting to have enough information to answer your question correctly.