A Place For Plants

Advice on how to avoid buying the wrong plants for your garden

In a few weeks the annual migration of irrational plant buyers begins. This phenomenon is marked by the purchase of millions of the wrong plants from garden centres the length and breadth of this green and pleasant land. No wonder considering we spend almost half of the year over wintering in front of the Television. Its so grim out there that we cant enter the garden without being washed away by a flash flood or freezing to death. Come spring we are gripped by a sort of madness, so we head for the local garden centre, driven by some primal need to plant something - anything.

But before even thinking about going to the garden centre you need to know what your letting yourself in for, and what you need. Buying a plant is not unlike having a convenient pet, or a very easy going child. Its alive, it grows, and it needs love and attention.

So here in a nutshell are the key factors you need to think about:

Size matters - If you have a small garden then look for plants that will grow slowly and wont get to big - mound forming alpines and smaller Hebes are perfect, as are smaller ornamental grasses. You will also want to use plants that look good for longer - such as evergreens, or plants with architectural form or foliage, such as Hostas, fatsia or ferns. Don't be afraid to splash out on specimens - a single Japanese maple can be a garden in its own right. In gardening more is quite often less.

Death by misadventure - All plants have adapted to live in different environments, so do your home work before choosing plants for your garden. We in Brighton are lucky enough to have a fantastically mild, if rather wet, climate, which is great if you're a plant. However our soil is usually slightly Alkaline - so avoid acid loving plants such as Rhododendrons, Pieris and many heathers. Be warned - just because garden centres stock plants does not mean they are suitable for your area. Get to know your soil, do a pH test and ask your knowledgeable neighbour.

Give me sunshine - Available light - this is vitally important. Many of town gardens are shaded by surrounding buildings and hedges. Such shady gardens often suite large leaved shade tolerant planting; these are plants with form -producing few flowers - yet often having an exotic jungalistic quality. Examples include Ivies, Hosta, ferns, Mahonia, Ficus and Fatsia.

However those lucky enough to have a south facing garden can be more adventurous. For the dry sunny garden consider Mediteranian plants and climbers, which will flourish in hot sun and dry soils. Most plants with silver / grey foliage relish these kind of conditions. Lavender's, Artemisia, Salvia's and Sedum's to name but a few. But the garden with the most scope for planting is the sheltered garden in full to half sun, where the marjority of plants can flourish.

The Knowledge - finding exactly which plants to choose can often be difficult and time consuming process - but then so is felling an out of control conifer or willow, which might just have taken a shine to your underground services as well - which is expensive!

So the best advice is to do your homework and select plants well in advance of actually buying. This is where gardening turns all year round; when you get to spending some of those long winter nights reading those garden design and plants books you got for Christmas, that way your well ahead of the pack when you come to cruising the isles of your local garden centre.

The Royal Horticultural Society have produced a good range of plant reference books, as have reader digest; there are also numerous CDRoms which will help you choose the right plants fro your garden. Online plant finders also exist, of which FindmePlants.co.uk is but one, so have a good look around and always think about planting combinations of flowers and foliage that will look good together. Again there are many great books out there which will help you work out planting combinations and colour combinations that look good together. Finally visiting local gardens is a great way of getting inspiration for what looks good where and when.